Four agencies have been asked to testify on the state budget next week as the Joint Finance Committee again cut back on the number of departments asked to appear before the panel. The committee today noticed that Public Instruction and Workforce Development have been invited to testify April 6, while

Along with increasing taxes by a net $1 billion, Gov. Tony Evers’ budget would hike fees $17.2 million, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. The budget’s enhanced collection efforts also would generate an additional $78 million in revenue over the biennium. When Evers rolled out his budget last month, the

Wisconsin’s state and local governments, along with its educational institutions, could receive $8.7 billion from the latest federal COVID-19 stimulus bill, according to an estimate from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. A new LFB memo summarized the package’s wide-ranging impact on programs from child abuse prevention grants to aid for the

The $594 million tax cut Gov. Tony Evers signed last month leaves his 2021-23 budget nearly $300 million in the red, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Evers introduced his budget two days before he signed the bill that included a series of changes in the tax code, including

Expanding Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act would generate an additional $1 billion in general purpose revenue savings thanks to provisions in the COVID relief bill that cleared Congress this week, according to a new Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo. That additional savings, however, would be temporary, lasting only two years

The Joint Finance Committee will hit three Wisconsin cities for in-person public hearings on the guv’s budget with a fourth that will be virtual as lawmakers begin the process of reviewing the two-year plan. The first public hearing will be April 9 at UW-Whitewater followed by April 21 in Rhinelander

The Legislature’s top Dem leaders in a WisPolitics.com luncheon today voiced support for Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposals to raise the minimum wage and allow for expanded local sales taxes.  Evers’ budget proposes raising the state $7.25 minimum wage in three steps to $10.15 an hour on January 2, 2024,

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said Gov. Tony Evers’ proposal to allow local governments to increase the sales tax through referendums is dead on arrival. Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley also had an exchange over the sales tax proposal in which the

GOP lawmakers today asked Gov. Tony Evers to prioritize schools that have offered in-person instruction with $20.8 million in federal funding that the governor has sole discretion to distribute. It’s the latest attempt by Republicans to place an emphasis on funding schools that have offered in-person instruction over those that

Gov. Tony Evers’ budget doesn’t envision closing the state’s troubled youth prisons in northern Wisconsin until after a new juvenile facility in Milwaukee would be completed in early 2024. But that’s nearly three years past the statutorily required deadline to shut them down. Last week, Evers said his budget sought

The state’s transportation fund is expected to end the fiscal year June 30 with a deficit of about $172 million, according to DOT. Still, in a letter to the co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee, Transportation Secretary Craig Thompson noted the state is also expecting an influx of federal funds.

Gov. Tony Evers’ capital budget calls for nearly $2.4 billion in projects that he says would impact 31 counties. Evers called the latest proposal an investment in the “up-keep of our infrastructure for longevity and public safety and in the future we want to build for our state.” But JFC

Gov. Tony Evers is proposing $2.3 million to support the use of body cameras for Capitol Police, DNR wardens and the State Patrol as part of his budget. The proposal comes on the heels of a DOJ survey that found more than a third of Wisconsin law enforcement agencies don’t

The Joint Finance Committee today reworked Gov. Tony Evers’ special session bill to modernize the state’s unemployment insurance system, adding a Republican provision to provide businesses and others liability protections from COVID-19 lawsuits. The amended bill doesn’t provide the $5.3 million in state funds that Evers had requested in the

In his budget address tonight, Gov. Tony Evers will tell Wisconsinites to ignore those who say the state can’t make health care more affordable while fully funding schools and cutting taxes. What’s more, Evers will argue the state also has the means to support farmers, rural communities and small businesses

The Joint Finance Committee voted 11-4 today to ensure Wisconsin businesses that received PPP loans aren’t taxed on the expenses they covered with the money, saving those companies $419 million through mid-2023. That’s one of more than two dozens changes the bill would make to match state tax laws with

The Joint Finance Committee voted along party lines today to use more than $65 million in federal COVID funds to reward districts that have been offering in-person instruction and encourage others to get kids back in the classroom. But the plan wouldn’t impact the $617.5 million in federal COVID relief