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Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling today re-appointed fellow Dems Jon Erpenbach and LaTonya Johnson to the Joint Finance Committee. Erpenbach, D-Middleton, was first elected to the Senate in 1998, did a stint as minority leader in the 2003-4 session and
A top Kimberly-Clark official says he has “no interest in a bidding war” between Wisconsin and Arkansas over keeping a plant open in their respective states. The company has faced a choice between shutting down the Neenah Cold Spring facility
Republican backers of a bill to provide tax incentives to Kimberly-Clark say the package is the last chance to save hundreds of union jobs and a diverse industry in northeastern Wisconsin. But Dems pushed back on the legislation, arguing the
The Joint Finance Committee today quickly approved Tony Evers’ request for $94,600 to fund his transition team. The proposal was introduced and adopted by unanimous consent in just a matter of minutes, a rarity for the committee. Lawmakers also didn’t
Speaker Robin Vos has reappointed Rep. John Nygren co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee. Nygren, R-Marinette, has served as co-chair of the powerful budget committee since the 2013-14 session. Vos said Nygren’s job is “even more important this next session
Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, has been re-appointed co-chair of Joint Finance, tying her for the most terms leading the powerful budget committee. Darling has led the committee since the 2011-12 session other than a brief period when Dems won
The state finished the 2017-18 fiscal year with $579 million in the general fund, a slight improvement from previous projections, the Department of Administration announced late this afternoon. The final accounting for the fiscal year found the state had $41.2
The property tax bill for the median-valued home came in $27 higher than the Legislative Fiscal Bureau originally estimated, according to a new analysis from the agency. That bill of $2,876 last year is below the $2,963 for a median-valued
State agencies have turned in requests for an additional $2.45 billion in the next budget so far, driven largely by the departments of Public Instruction, Health Services and Corrections, according to a WisPolitics.com tally. And the total could climb higher.
State Superintendent Tony Evers is asking for an additional $1.4 billion in state money over the next two years to fund K-12 education, more than double the boost schools got in the 2017-19 budget. The request comes as Evers challenges
The UW System is requesting an increase of $108 million in state aid during the next two-year budget, much of it through the performance-based funding championed by Gov. Scott Walker and GOP lawmakers. Under the request, which the Board of
The Walker administration plans to begin collecting on Oct. 1 sales taxes from online retailers with no presence in Wisconsin, a projected $90 million boost to state coffers in the current fiscal year, according to a new LFB memo. The
The Department of Health Services is now projecting the state will have a GPR surplus of $102.4 million in the Medicaid fund at the end of the 2017-19 budget. The report on the fourth quarter, marking the halfway point of
The Joint Finance Committee tweaked Gov. Scott Walker’s plan for a boost in federal highway aids, putting more of the money toward fixing Wisconsin’s deteriorating bridges and less into knocking out I-94 north-south to, at least partially, benefit the Foxconn
State Sen. Lena Taylor was ordered to undergo training after it was found she bullied an employee who filed a complaint against her as well as other staffers, according to newly released documents. Along with giving Taylor three months to
The Joint Finance Committee signed off today 11-4 along party lines on the UW System’s plan to divvy up $26.3 million in outcome-based funding. The debate over the proposal, which outlines how the university would measure campus success to get
The Joint Finance Committee today approved 11-4 along party lines reallocating $7.1 million in existing Corrections funds to address a shortfall in the general operations budget driven by continued high inmate health costs. The department budgeted $80.6 million in 2017-18
The Joint Finance Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to change the guv’s rural economic development fund program to target some of the money to local development organizations. Gov. Scott Walker called for directing $50 million annually to the 56 rural counties
The committee voted 16-0 Tuesday to approve requiring DWD to approve an incentive grant program for school districts that create programs to train individuals for occupations as firefighters and emergency medical responders. Currently, the Department of Workforce Development must award
The Joint Finance Committee unanimously voted Tuesday to approve an additional $8 million in 2018-19 to increase child care subsidies under the Wisconsin Shares program. The program helps low-income working families cover the costs of quality child care when the
Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling today re-appointed fellow Dems Jon Erpenbach and LaTonya Johnson to the Joint Finance Committee. Erpenbach, D-Middleton, was first elected to the Senate in 1998, did a stint as minority leader in the 2003-4 session and has served on the budget committee since the 2015-16 session.
A top Kimberly-Clark official says he has “no interest in a bidding war” between Wisconsin and Arkansas over keeping a plant open in their respective states. The company has faced a choice between shutting down the Neenah Cold Spring facility or one in Arkansas, both of which produce adult and
Republican backers of a bill to provide tax incentives to Kimberly-Clark say the package is the last chance to save hundreds of union jobs and a diverse industry in northeastern Wisconsin. But Dems pushed back on the legislation, arguing the incentives are too large and that they haven’t been part
The Joint Finance Committee today quickly approved Tony Evers’ request for $94,600 to fund his transition team. The proposal was introduced and adopted by unanimous consent in just a matter of minutes, a rarity for the committee. Lawmakers also didn’t comment on the proposal before adopting it. Most of the $94,600
Speaker Robin Vos has reappointed Rep. John Nygren co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee. Nygren, R-Marinette, has served as co-chair of the powerful budget committee since the 2013-14 session. Vos said Nygren’s job is “even more important this next session with divided government.” “I’m confident in his abilities to deliver
Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, has been re-appointed co-chair of Joint Finance, tying her for the most terms leading the powerful budget committee. Darling has led the committee since the 2011-12 session other than a brief period when Dems won back control of the Senate after the June 2012 recall
The state finished the 2017-18 fiscal year with $579 million in the general fund, a slight improvement from previous projections, the Department of Administration announced late this afternoon. The final accounting for the fiscal year found the state had $41.2 million more in the bank than what was estimated when
The property tax bill for the median-valued home came in $27 higher than the Legislative Fiscal Bureau originally estimated, according to a new analysis from the agency. That bill of $2,876 last year is below the $2,963 for a median-valued home in 2010 but is higher than 2014, the low
State agencies have turned in requests for an additional $2.45 billion in the next budget so far, driven largely by the departments of Public Instruction, Health Services and Corrections, according to a WisPolitics.com tally. And the total could climb higher. Eight budget requests hadn’t been posted to the Department of
State Superintendent Tony Evers is asking for an additional $1.4 billion in state money over the next two years to fund K-12 education, more than double the boost schools got in the 2017-19 budget. The request comes as Evers challenges Gov. Scott Walker this fall with education funding one of
The UW System is requesting an increase of $108 million in state aid during the next two-year budget, much of it through the performance-based funding championed by Gov. Scott Walker and GOP lawmakers. Under the request, which the Board of Regents is set to consider later this week at its
The Walker administration plans to begin collecting on Oct. 1 sales taxes from online retailers with no presence in Wisconsin, a projected $90 million boost to state coffers in the current fiscal year, according to a new LFB memo. The guv’s office told WisPolitics.com that it plans to use the
The Department of Health Services is now projecting the state will have a GPR surplus of $102.4 million in the Medicaid fund at the end of the 2017-19 budget. The report on the fourth quarter, marking the halfway point of the current two-year budget, is an improvement from the projected
The Joint Finance Committee tweaked Gov. Scott Walker’s plan for a boost in federal highway aids, putting more of the money toward fixing Wisconsin’s deteriorating bridges and less into knocking out I-94 north-south to, at least partially, benefit the Foxconn plant in Racine County. The discussion turned into a rehash
State Sen. Lena Taylor was ordered to undergo training after it was found she bullied an employee who filed a complaint against her as well as other staffers, according to newly released documents. Along with giving Taylor three months to complete training on anti-harassment, anti-retaliation and anti-bullying provisions, the Milwaukee
The Joint Finance Committee signed off today 11-4 along party lines on the UW System’s plan to divvy up $26.3 million in outcome-based funding. The debate over the proposal, which outlines how the university would measure campus success to get the money, included a rehashing of introducing outcome-based funding to
The Joint Finance Committee today approved 11-4 along party lines reallocating $7.1 million in existing Corrections funds to address a shortfall in the general operations budget driven by continued high inmate health costs. The department budgeted $80.6 million in 2017-18 for some inmate health costs, but is now expected to
The Joint Finance Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to change the guv’s rural economic development fund program to target some of the money to local development organizations. Gov. Scott Walker called for directing $50 million annually to the 56 rural counties that would qualify under the program administered by the Wisconsin
The committee voted 16-0 Tuesday to approve requiring DWD to approve an incentive grant program for school districts that create programs to train individuals for occupations as firefighters and emergency medical responders. Currently, the Department of Workforce Development must award incentive grants to school districts in the amount of $1,000
The Joint Finance Committee unanimously voted Tuesday to approve an additional $8 million in 2018-19 to increase child care subsidies under the Wisconsin Shares program. The program helps low-income working families cover the costs of quality child care when the parents are working or participating in another approved activity. The