AB 684

Current law requires the Department of Transportation to study the impact of

raising the legal drinking age to 21 and report the results to the legislature by

January 1, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991. This bill repeals this provision.

Under current federal law, the REAL ID Act of 2005 (REAL ID Act) prohibits

a federal agency from accepting for any "official purpose," including boarding

commercial aircraft and entering federal buildings, an operator's license or

identification card issued by a state unless the state satisfies requirements

contained in the REAL ID Act. While the provisions of the REAL ID Act became

effective on May 11, 2008, the federal Department of Homeland Security regulations

promulgated under the REAL ID Act gave states additional time to implement the

REAL ID standards. The 2007 biennial budget act,

2007 Wisconsin Act 20

, contained

provisions incorporating into state law requirements contained in the REAL ID Act.

However, most of these provisions were subject to a contingent effective date; the

provisions would not become effective until the date specified in a notice provided by

DOT after DOT had determined that it was ready to fully implement the REAL ID

Act. On November 30, 2012, DOT published the required notice, stating that

January 1, 2013, would be the effective date for full implementation of the REAL ID

Act.

This bill removes the statutory references to the contingent effective date.

This bill repeals the occupational tax on controlled substances.

Under current law, the state imposes an occupational tax on a person who sells

illegal controlled substances in this state. Before selling an illegal controlled

substance, the person must pay the tax and affix tax stamps to the product in order

to prove that the person paid the tax. In 2004, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh

Circuit held that imposing a criminal penalty for both possessing a controlled

substance and failing to pay the occupational tax on the substance violated the

double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution

which, generally, prohibits convicting an individual twice for the same crime. See

Dye v. Frank

, 355 F.3d 1102 (2004).

For further information, see the

Notes

provided by the Law Revision

Committee of the Joint Legislative Council.