Wisconsin State Journal from Madison, Wisconsin • 4

PAGE4, SECTION 1 WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1980 Johnson is elected Assembly floor leader closing (budget) balance at the end of the biennium is estimated at $9.8 million," he said. "We'll certainly have to exercise some fiscal restraint." A few weeks ago, the budget's June 30, 1981 surplus was estimated at $44 million. A native of Beloit, Johnson was graduated from Beloit College and has done graduate work at UW-Whitewat-er. His 45th Assembly District includes the City and Town of Beloit. Johnson and his wife Heather have two children.

By Thomas W. Still agency in Chicago. It took Johnson two ballots to defeat Rep. Thomas Hauke, D-West Allis, a conservative, and Rep. Tom Loftus, D-Sun Prairie, one of the Democrats' more liberal members.

The lawmaker expected to give Johnson the stiffest competition for the job Rep. Kdward McClain, D-Wausau withdrew from the running minutes before the vote. After Loftus was eliminated on the first secret ballot, Johnson captured 35 of the Democrats' votes to win. Johnson, who was regarded as a Rep. Gary Johnson, a five-term lawmaker from Beloit, defeated challengers from the ideological ends of his party Wednesday to become floor leader of the Assembly's 60 Democrats.

Johnson, 40, co-chairman of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee since 1977, will succeed resigning Majority Leader James Wanner, D-Milwaukee. Warmer, who led Democrats on the Assembly floor for three years, is leaving the legislature to take a $50,000 job with a federal emergency planning "centrist candidate," admitted that one of his goals Ls to close ranks within his often-feuding party. "There is a degree of factionalism within the Democratic caucus," Johnson said. "I think it's going to take a great deal of effort" to narrow some of the gaps. Some of that factionalism became apparent when McClain announced his decision to pull out of the race.

McClain, also considered a moderate within the party, said he was dropping out to avoid further "devisiveness." Johnson, a former high school civics teacher first elected to the Assembly in 1970, will take over the majority leader's post this week. He will relinquish his job on the Joint Finance Committee, the Legislature's budget-making arm. His successor will be appointed most likely this month by Assembly Speaker Kdward Jacka-monis. Johnson, who served eight years on the committee, said budget considerations will continue to weigh heavily on his mind. "I think the major problem we're going to have this spring is that our Villi Rep.

Gary Johnson Mandatory prison for armed felonies advances being sentenced as a criminal. Under the proposed law, sexual deviates would be treated like any other person convicted of a crime. The crime victim's package, introduced by Sen. James Flynn, D-West Allis, would increase the maximum compensation from $10,000 to $15,000. Passed on a 330 vote, the bill (SB 344) removes prohibitions against paying victims when a family or sex uai relationship is involved.

Under a companion bill (SB 345), the crime-victims program will be removed from the Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations and placed under the Department of Justice. The program, a part of DILHR's workers-compensation bureau, has been assailed for sluggish handling of claims, poor public visibility arid a lack of sensitivity to Scott McCallum, R-Fond du Lac, advised his GOP colleagues not to get caught up in political posturing and concentrate on improving crime legislation. Democrats Carl Thompson, D-Stoughton, and Warren Braun, D-Milwaukeee, argued that Wisconsin maximum security prisons were overcrowded and that mandatory sentencing would aggravate the problem. Introduced by Sen. Lynn Adelman, D-New Berlin, the sex-crimes bill (SB 339) would treat all persons who commit such crimes within ordinary criminal sentencing procedures.

Under current law, persons convicted of sex crimes are sent to mental health institutions for a pre-sentence examination by the Department of Health and Social Services. If declared deviates, they are committed by a judge for treatment instead of ure's provision for a presumption of mandatory-minimum sentencing. It also would change a state tradition of indeterminate sentencing, a senator said. Senators upheld Risser's ruling, 17-16, although Democrats Peter Bear of Madison, Kurt Frank of Milwaukee, John Maurer of Kenosha and Marvin Roshell of Chippewa Falls voted with Republicans to overrule Risser. The spat over the weapons bill lasted for hours and triggered caucus sessions in which both parties struggled for a unified position.

After speaking at length on his amendment, Hanaway ended up voting for the milder version. Hanaway said that he had worked with Democratic senators on the crime agenda and that a vote against the measure would be a sign of bad faith. Krueger, who voted against the measure, said Wisconsin residents are "tired, absolutely disgusted" with the current legal system and its failure to deter crime. He warned Democrats that crime will be a major campaign issue this year and that legislators were ducking their responsibilities. In its second day cff a week-long session on crime and energy, the Senate also: Passed.

33-0, and sent to the Assembly a stiffer sex-crimes bill. Sent to the Assembly two bills revamping the crime-victims program. Continued work on an omnibus energy and transportation package, laced with more than 200 amendments, covering such areas as solar tax credits, weatherization, ride sharing for state employees and home-energy audits. Under the dangerous-weapons bill (AB 413), subsequent convictions would require sentences of at least five years with no probation or parole. However, a key exception was provided that would enable a judge to ignore the mandatory feature if the court were to "place its reasons for doing so on record." Led by Krueger and Assistant Minority Leader Roger Murphy of Waukesha, Republicans argued that that feature would permit judges to "continue coddling criminals." Instead, Krueger favored an amendment by Sen.

Donald Hanaway, R-De-Pere, that would eliminate the provision that a court could ignore the mandatory sentence factor. But Senate President Fred Risser, D-Madison, ruled Hanaway's amendment not germane because it went beyond the scope of the original meas- By Paul A. Rix Or The State Journal Despite charges that the bill still is too soft, the state Senate on Wednesday passed legislation encouraging mandatory prison sentences for persons convicted of committing felonies while armed. On a 26-7 vote, members sent to the Assembly a bill providing a mandatory sentence of at least three years in prison for persons convicted of a felony while armed with a dangerous weapon. While the sentence would be mandatory, the criminal could be eligible for parole before three years under Wisconsin's indeterminate-sentencing structure.

Majority Democrats argued that the bill was a tough piece of anti-crime legislation, but Senate Minority Leader Clifford Krueger of Merrill led the attack for a stiffer bill. Aged-battery bill toughened GREENHOUSE get our message, and that message is punishment," Rep. Wayne Wood, D-Janesville, said. In other action, the Assembly voted, 91-5, to eliminate the controversial 10 percent cash-bail provision used extensively by Wisconsin judges. The Senate voted, 29-3, on Tuesday to abolish the practice of allowing people to walk away from jail after posting 10 percent of their bail.

Assembly concurrence in the Senate's action, which had been expected, came after the lower house decided to require judges to record their reasons for setting bond in felony cases. Although criticized as a "waste of time and manpower" by some lawmakers, the amendment's backers said the requirement would force judges to make public their bond-setting decisions. 730 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 1978. In Wisconsin, there were 130 violent crimes for per 100,000. Rep.

Joanne Duren, D-Cazenovia, said the lawmakers pushing for mandatory sentences are the same people who oppose building more prisons. Yet with mandatory sentences, she argued, Wisconsin prisons will overflow. "It's a huge mistake on the part of this Legislature. It's just going to mean more costs for this state," Miss Duren said. Rep.

Michael Ellis, R-Neenah, said the era of giving Wisconsin judges more discretion in criminal matters has passed. "We have given maximum flexibility to our court system, and what have we seen: People committing serious crimes, only to have their hands slapped before they are released," Ellis said. "The track record on the permissiveness of the courts has been atrocious." Democrats voting with the Republicans pointed to what they perceived as a "get-tough" public attitude toward crime. "We want criminals to MAKE ROOM FOR SPRING SALE MORE THAN 50 VARIETIES AND SIZES Over 7,000 Green Plants On Sale (UP Vz Argentine takeover A military junta took over the government of Argentina in 1955. JANUARY 25, 26, 27 FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY if ir i i 1 -v liHiiaHKorAii By Thomas W.

Still Of The State Journal Under a bill endorsed on Wednesday by the Assembly, battery of Wisconsin's elderly or disabled citizens would be a crime that would cost assailants a mandatory year in prison. Despite warnings that mandatory sentencing often backfires, the Assembly voted, 53-43, to make battery of people who are 62 or older punishable by an automatic year in jail. The mandatory sentence, sought by Assembly Republicans, was attached to a Senate-passed bill (AB-8) that makes battery of disabled or elderly people a felony. The bill will return to the Senate, where the mandatory sentence amendment will not be greeted warmly by majority Democrats. "It will prove to be difficult in the Senate," Majority Leader William Bablitch, D-Stevens Point, said of the Assembly's tough-minded changes.

"That kind of piecemeal, scattergun approach to the problem is not well thought out." Two legislative committees are studying determinate sentencing, Bablitch said, and lawmakers should wait to review their reports. With the current indeterminate-sentencing law, the sentence, imposed by a judge is the maximum, and a criminal often is paroled much sooner. Under the Senate-passed version, battery of the elderly or disabled would be a "Class felony, punishable by a maximum $10,000 fine and two years in prison. The crime now is a misdemeanor, punishable by a $10,000 fine and nine months in jail. Assembly Republicans, headed by Minority Leader John Shabaz, R-New Berlin, argued that making the crime a felony would not solve the problem.

"I think this (a mandatory sentence) is the deterrent which we need. People are dying without it," Shabaz said. Rep. Edward McClain, D-Wausau, said mandatory sentences often prove counterproductive to curbing crime. "Judges will dismiss borderline cases, rather than find guilty people guilty," said McClain, chairman of the Assembly's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.

"And juries will be more reluctant" to hand down guilty verdicts on close cases, knowing that a year's prison term is the only option. McClain said that Florida, which has mandatory sentences, recorded MEAT VALUE Pot Reg. Quantity Size Common Name Botanical Name Price 214 3" Cactii Cactii 1 95 185 3" Burro's Tail Sedum morganianum 195 358 3" Norfolk Island Pine Araucaria heterophylla 1 50 318 3" Dragon Tree Dracaena marginata 129 258 3" Wax Vine Hoya carnosa 1 50 497 3" Assorted Fern Pteris Adiantum 150 937 3" Assorted Ivy Hedera helix 1 29 247 3" Anthurium Anthurium 150 121 4" Rex Begonia Begonia ssp 3 50 178 4" Anthurium Anthurium 350 78 4" Pony Tail Beaucarnea 3 50 121 4" Norfolk Island Pine Araucaria heterophylla 3 50 88 4" Baby Tears Pilea depressa 350 61 4" Philodendron Philodendron 350 76 4" Jade Crassula argentea 350 139 Weeping Fig Ficus benjamina 3 50 121 4" Chinese Evergreen Aglaonema 4 50 290 4" Dragon Tree Dracaena marginata 3 50 83 4" Birdsnest Sanseveria Sanseveria 3 50 240 4" Fatsia Fatsia japonica 350 61 5" Birdsnest Fern Asplenium 395 190 5" Zebra Aphelandra 500 140 5" Table Fern Pteris fern 395 63 5" Maiden Hair Fern Adiantum 5 50 143 5" Parlor Palm Chamaedora elegans 500 24 6" Yucca Yucca 10 00 91 6" Dragon Tree Dracaena marginata 750 41 6" Parlor Palm Chamaedora elegans 7 50 117 6" Croton Codiaeum 6 00 87 6" Rex Begonia Begonia 6 00 63 6" Coffee Plant Coffea 7 50 141 6" Scheftlera Brassaia actinophylla 730 28 6" Leea Leeacoccinea 750 58 6" Jade Crassula argentea 15 00 36 8" Rubber Plant Ficus decora elastica' 15 00 41 8" Jade Crassula argentea 25 00 38 8" Dieftenbachia Dieffenbachia 1750 32 8" Dieffenbachia Dieffenbachia 15 00 36 8" Peace Lily Spathiphyllum 2150 118 8" Weeping Fig Ficus benjamina 17 50 112 8" Scheftlera Brassaia actinophylla 15 00 73 8" Fatsia Fatsia japonica 2150 41 8" Chinese Evergreen Aglaonema 17 50 36 8" Aralia Dizygotheca elgantissima 15 00 39 8" Areca Palm Chrysalidocarpus lutescens 1750 48 8" Hawaiian Scheftlera Scheftlera arbicola 17.50 31 8" Leea Leeacoccinea 1500 29 10" Peace Lily Spathiphyllum 27 50 36 10" Scheftlera Brassaia actinophylla 27 50 41 10" Chinese Evergreen Aglaonema 38 50 18 10" Janet Craig Dracaena 'Janet Craig' 38 50 94 10" Norfolk Pine Araucaria heterophylla 28 50 18 12" Weeping Fig Ficus benjamina 42 50 110 12" Norfolk Island Pine Araucaria heterophylla 38 50 21 12" Areca Palm Chrysalidocarpus lutescens 42 50 78 12" Weeping Fig Ficus benjamina 48 50 19 12" Dragon Tree Dracaena marginata 42 50 27 12" Scheftlera Brassaia actinophylla 42 50 BASKETS 63 6" Baby Tears Pilea depressa 500 53 8" Philodendron Philodendron cordatum 10 00 72 8" Ivy Hedera 10 00 79 8" Boston Fern Nephrolepis exaltata 10 00 38 8" Wax Vine Hoya carnosa 12 50 42 Ivy Hedera 1250 87 10" Boston Fern Nephrolepis exaltata 15 00 29 10" Wax Vine Hoyacaronsa 1500 61 10" Arrowhead Syngonium 1250 Sale Price 1.50 1.50 .79 .96 1.19 I. 19 .96 .96 1.95 1.29 1.95 1.95 1.95 1.95 1.95 1.29 2.95 1.95 1.95 1.95 2.29 2.95 I. 95 3.95 3.95 5.95 4.95 4.95 3.95 2.95 3.95 3.95 4.95 10.95 8.95 18.50 12.95 9.95 14.95 II.

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