(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s new laws for the new year are mostly notable because there are so few, and the changes are relatively small.
Many states see hundreds of new laws with each new year. Illinois, for example, will see nearly 300 news laws on New Year’s Day.
In Wisconsin, however, many new laws become effective as soon as the governor signs them.
That means 2025 will not kick off with a wave of new rules.
Wisconsin, instead, will see some technical changes, and off-the-beaten-path laws.
One of them will be the change to annual state park passes.
Wisconsin’s old state park passes were good from the day you bought them until the end of the calendar year. That meant passes that people bought in January were a far better deal than passes people bought in July. The new change means that state park passes are valid for 12 months after you buy them. Which means January passes are good until the next January, and July passes are good until the next July.
Wisconsin is also making a change for people with foreign medical training to practice medicine in the state. Starting on Wednesday, Wisconsin will begin to offer provisional medical licenses for people who were trained in other countries.
Supporters say the move could ease the doctor shortage that parts of Wisconsin are seeing.
The state is also beginning a new tax on electric vehicle charges.
The tax was sold by lawmakers as essentially a gas tax for electric vehicles. Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation says the new tax will bring in more money that is earmarked for road repairs in the state.
The same law that created the new electric vehicle charger tax also allowed gas stations, most notably Kwik Trip, an easier path to installing electric charges at their stores across the state.
Wisconsin lawmakers also gave physical therapists the power to hand out handicapped placards to injured drivers. And there’s a New Year’s Day tweak that will allow disabled people in the state a chance to create a new savings account for their transportation needs. That law changes some of the technical requirements to allow people on government benefits to have more assets.