Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he spoke with Gov. Tony Evers this morning about negotiations on the state budget after the Senate stepped away from bipartisan budget talks last week.
“So we’re staying in regular communication, and we continue to work through it. I think the most important thing for us though is to figure out if everybody wants to be at the table so that we have the ability to finish our negotiations,” Vos said, adding “it takes three people to tango.”
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said in a statement his members of the Finance Committee are ready to continue deliberations, “but it is hard to imagine that a budget will pass next week.”
“The Senate Republican caucus is still concerned with the level of ongoing spending being negotiated,” LeMahieu said. “We need to responsibly invest in core priorities and cut taxes without creating an unsustainable deficit.”
>> Follow the Budget Blog by entering Budget Blog into the keyword section here.
During a stop yesterday, Dem Gov. Tony Evers said he wouldn’t sign the budget unless it put state money into subsidies for child care providers. So far, the guv has been using federal COVID-19 funds to cover the costs of Child Care Counts, but that money runs out next week.
Earlier during the pre-floor session press conference, Vos confirmed Assembly Republicans have been discussing options for funding for child care providers and the Universities of Wisconsin with Evers. Vos previously said his caucus backed an $87 million cut to UW.
He said the talks are “very preliminary.” He noted his caucus would support more targeted child care relief for those in need, and wouldn’t just “write checks out to providers.”
Joint Finance Committee Co-Chair Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said Assembly members of the committee are prepared to finish the budget in the coming days.
“We’re hopeful that our Senate colleagues will join us in the next couple of days and get this budget out of the committee, a good compromise budget out of the committee, and to both houses, and get this budget passed for the people of Wisconsin because this caucus is here to lead and this is what’s best for the state of Wisconsin,” Born said.
