[media-credit name=’SUNDEEP MALLADI/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]A bill that would end the carryover of sick-leave benefits from year to year for all state elected officials passed its first marker Wednesday.

The proposal was approved 5-2 by the state Assembly Committee on Labor and Industry.

Under current law, legislators and other elected officials receive sick-leave credits and may accumulate unused credits year to year. If officials meet certain requirements, their unused credits may be used to pay premiums on health insurance offered by the state.

No amendments were offered at the brief public hearing of the committee, and only two people testified: the bill's author, Rep. Patricia Strachota, R-West Bend, and Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids, who opposed the bill.

Schneider said at the meeting that the bill could keep some people from running for office, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. He also said any elected official can opt not to use the sick leave benefit.

The most heated debate Tuesday morning did not surround the bill's provisions or language, but rather the procedure by which it was approved — a rare public hearing and vote in the same meeting.

Committee Chair Mark Honadel, R-South Milwaukee, said he thought the bill was a "no-brainer," and therefore did not require a second meeting to vote.

"We had a brief discussion. … The amount of input we had was next to nothing," Honadel said in an interview with The Badger Herald. "I, for one, did not see the need to prolong [the process] … and waste taxpayer dollars."

Before discussing the sick-leave bill, Honadel had introduced a list of procedural rules to the committee because it was the group's first meeting this session. One rule said the committee would not hold public hearings and vote on the same day.

After discussing the bill, Honadel motioned to vote, and Rep. Terry Van Akkeren, D-Sheboygan, quickly objected because it violated the chair's new rules. Honadel responded to the complaint with a rule that allows the chair to override procedure.

Akkeren said he voted against the bill solely because he disagreed with the decision to vote Tuesday.

"By doing it all in one meeting, we're not allowed to go back and talk to our constituents," Van Akkeren said. "I'm not against the bill."

At the meeting's conclusion, Akkeren tore up Honadel's procedural rules and walked out of the room.

"If the rules aren't going to be followed, we shouldn't have the rules," Akkeren said. "There was absolutely no reason to vote."

Honadel said it was unfortunate Akkeren became upset, but for a first meeting, Honadel was happy with the progress that was made.

"[That was] not the way I will run my committee all the time," Honadel added.

State Rep. Michael Sheridan, D-Janesville, voted against the bill with Akkeren, but did not return messages from The Badger Herald seeking comment as of press time.

Committee members Scott Newcomer, R-Hartland, and Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, did not attend the meeting. Newcomer's Capitol office said he had an excused absence. Nass said in an interview with The Badger Herald that he supports the bill.