The Joint Finance Committee unanimously approved releasing $45 million for the UW System over the next two years after Republicans proposed tweaking the allocation to reduce the state’s ongoing commitment to the university in future years. The debate over the
The Joint Finance Committee unanimously backed releasing $220,000 appropriated in the budget for a suicide prevention line after adding new reporting requirements and redirecting it through a different agency. As they have over multiple issues with the budget, the committee
The Joint Finance Committee approved requests from the departments of Administration and Tourism to release money, but only after Republicans added new reporting requirements to track the funds. The additions — approved 12-4 along party lines — drew sharp exchanges
The Joint Finance Committee unanimously approved DATCP’s request to put $200,000 in general purpose revenue into a program providing mental health assistance for farmers, but only after Republican members accused the agency secretary of playing politics with the issue. Rep.
Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee today rejected Dem Josh Kaul’s request for explicit authority to move forward in settling an undisclosed lawsuit despite the AG’s warning that the state faces a Friday deadline to take action. In the first
Dem members of the Joint Finance Committee today ripped into their GOP counterparts as the body ground to a halt during a rare — if not unprecedented — closed-door session to discuss a settlement AG Josh Kaul reached in a
The Joint Finance Committee unanimously approved moving $2 million in the Department of Health Services’ budget to cover a shortfall at the state’s two mental health institutes. In the process, Dems slammed Republicans for refusing to accept federal money to
The Joint Finance Committee approved transferring $3 million in unused funds from the state’s “fast forward” workforce training program to help pay for youth apprenticeship grants. While the move was approved 11-0, the debate had both digs on GOP actions
The state faces a structural deficit of nearly $1.4 billion heading into the 2021-23 biennium following Gov. Tony Evers’ actions on the new budget, according to a projection from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. That’s an improvement both compared to the
Gov. Tony Evers signed the two-year budget Wednesday, but only after using his partial veto authority to pump nearly $87 million more into per-pupil school aid than what Republicans had proposed. Evers said he seriously considered vetoing the entire budget
Wisconsin governors have issued on average 137 partial vetoes to the budget bills that have reached their desk over the last 30 years, according to statistics from the Legislative Reference Bureau. That jumps to 242 partial vetoes during bienniums in
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos today said he wants the Assembly to look at legislation that would legalize medical marijuana when the body returns from its summer break in the fall. The Rochester Republican told reporters that he has long been
An hour after Tony Evers called for lawmakers to send him the budget, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said the “worst thing, I think, in the world” would be if the guv vetoed the entire thing. GOP lawmakers today touted
Senate Republicans today put the finishing touches on the GOP’s $81.7 billion version of the state budget after turning back a series of Dem amendments hoping to make the bill look more like the $83.8 billion plan Gov. Tony Evers
GOP state Sen. Chris Kapenga said today he will vote for the budget when it comes to the Senate floor. He also pushed back on criticism over a provision included in the document that was designed to help secure his
