After being approved unanimously (9-0) last week by the Assembly Committee on Local Government, Assembly Bill 836 has now been scheduled for a floor vote in the state Assembly today, Feb. 20.

AB 836 would change 246 statutory references "500,000 or more" to 750,000 to ensure "populous county" references continue to only apply to Milwaukee County after the 2020 census - including the provision that allows Milwaukee County to unilaterally transfer sections of county trunk highways to cities and villages.

Assembly Bill 836 and its Senate companion bill, Senate Bill 709, are technical bills meant to simply update the population threshold for populous counties from 500,000 to 750,000. The 500,000 population threshold for nearly 100 years has been used as a unique identifier in state statue to describe Milwaukee County.  Dane County is expected to surpass this population threshold in the upcoming 2020 Census, making the statutory reference obsolete and in need of updating.

This legislation will not change the current powers or duties of the county or local governments. The intent of the legislation is to maintain the status quo.  Both bills still need to pass the Senate.