In the final Assembly session of the year Thursday, legislators passed bills addressing mental health crises in the state, eliminating waiting periods for strip searches and preventing county executives to serve in the legislature.

Strip searches bill

Despite privacy concerns, the Assembly passed a bill that would make strip searches easier to perform in correctional facilities.

Under current law, inmates have to be detained in correctional facilities for at least 12 hours before strip searches can be performed. This bill would get rid of that time period.

The 12-hour waiting period was instated last session, but Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, said law enforcement told him the waiting period wasn’t working.

Rep. Evan Goyke, D-Milwaukee, said in the Assembly session that though strip searches are necessary in correctional facilities, the 12-hour waiting period was a better balance between safety and privacy.

“Strip searches are necessary in many contexts to protect the safety of our jails and our prisons,” Goyke said.”However, it’s a balance of individual liberty — of not having to strip down naked in front of a stranger.”

Strip searches bill aims to make jails safer, opponents say it ‘strips rights away’

Kleefisch, author of the bill, said the 12-hour waiting period could allow drugs and weapons to be snuck into the jail.

“While I do have empathy for the [discomfort] of a strip search, we need to listen to our law enforcement too and consider the safety of not only inmates, but those who work with them,” Kleefisch said.

The bill next heads to Gov. Scott Walker’s desk.

Alzheimer’s and dementia package

All 10 Alzheimer’s and dementia health care reform bills passed through Assembly Thursday.

The package would provide additional training for care providers and increase funding for in-home treatment programs, mobile crisis units and research. The legislation was created by a bipartisan task force who met with experts in the field to determine actions that would be most impactful.

One measure in the package would be to invest $1 million in respite care programs, which would allow patients to be treated within their homes.

Alzheimer’s and dementia affects 160,000 families and individuals throughout Wisconsin, Rep. Beth Meyers, D-Bayfield, said.

Rep. Mike Rohrkaste, R-Neenah, said these diseases affect everyone in the state, and will become even more prevalent as the baby boomer population ages.

“It doesn’t strike just rich or poor, young or old — it strikes all,” Rohrkaste said. “I think it’s very important that we keep the conversation open and keep the research going.”

Legislation package aims to combat Alzheimer’s and dementia health crisis

Another bill, authored by Rep. Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, provides University of Wisconsin with $50,000 in grants for researching cures. The measure passed in a 94-0 vote.

The bills next head to the Senate.

County Executives ‘double-dipping’ bill

A bill to prevent county executives from serving simultaneously in the legislature passed on a 53-40 vote.

Rep. Gordan Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said the bill was created by Republicans to discourage Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris from running as a Democrat in the upcoming Senate race.

But Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said the bill was in no way targeted toward Mark Harris, but rather to prevent “double-dipping” in two different government positions.

The bill next heads to Walker’s desk.

Mental health reform

The Assembly also passed a number of bills to increase support for mental health.

The bills aim to reduce Wisconsin’s growing psychiatrist shortage, increase accessibility to mental health care and provide incentives for further reform.

According to the Department of Health Services, there was a shortage of 270 psychiatrists in Wisconsin in 2015, which might be higher now, Rep. Paul Tittl, R-Manitowoc, author of the bill package, said. 

“We need to do something about mental health crisis,” Tittl said. “It’s nationwide and it won’t just go away.”

The package now heads to the Senate.