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Posts from before May 2025 can be viewed below.
The co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee today floated the possibility of breaking transportation off from the budget and putting it into a separate bill as their caucuses continue to be at odds over how to fund road work for
A Wisconsin driver who owns a typical sedan would pay $39 more in taxes on their fuel purchases annually, while the owner of an SUV would pay $54 more a year, under Rep. Dale Kooyenga’s transportation and tax plan. In
The Joint Finance Committee will start to work through the Department of Administration when it meets Tuesday. The committee, which next meets tomorrow, also will take up the Elections and Ethics commissions, the Department of Children and Families, and State
Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, says the latest Fiscal Bureau projections showing flat revenues from earlier estimates is good news. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau today informed the Joint Finance co-chairs the state likely wouldn’t see additional revenues in the next few
Some Wisconsinites would end up paying more in income taxes under Kooyenga’s plan compared to current law, according to a new analysis by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Those paying more would fluctuate over the next dozen years as the state
The committee shot down Dem amendments seeking to force AG Brad Schimel to spend more money to process sexual assault kits and to reduce the agency budget following a report by a liberal group on how much the Department of
The committee tweaked the guv’s plan to provide $1 million annually to reimburse cities for the overtime costs racked up by beat patrol police officers. JFC changed it to require the Department of Justice to lapse $2 million from settlements
The committee approved 14-2 requiring WEDC to provide a $100,000 grant in 2017-18 from existing funds to the Marathon County Economic Development Corp. for a revolving fund to support minority-owned businesses. To qualify, 30 percent of the business would have
The Joint Finance Committee signed off on Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to bring back WEDC’s loan program, but tweaked his proposal to give the agency more flexibility in how it funds the loans. Walker had proposed only allowing the agency
The Joint Finance Committee is expected to reject the contracts Gov. Scott Walker’s administration reached as part of a plan to move toward self-insurance for state employees, the co-chairs said today. Co-chair John Nygren, R-Marinette, said the committee would instead
Assembly Republicans today pitched eliminating credits for married couples and renters and stopping local governments from enacting new wheel taxes as part of a far-reaching plan that would raise revenue for transportation while putting Wisconsin on the path to a
The Joint Finance Committee will take up Veterans Affairs, the PSC and the Medicaid Services Administration when it meets May 11. The committee also plans to take up Financial Institutions and Safety and Professional Services. It’s scheduled to meet at
The Joint Finance Committee will vote on WEDC’s budget along with the guv’s proposals for the Department of Justice and the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board when it meets May 9. The other areas on the agenda are: secretary
The JFC voted unanimously to approve the guv’s call to add $5.8 million in general obligation bonding authority for the safe drinking water loan program, which provide low-interest loans to municipalities for public drinking water systems. Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee,
The Joint Finance Committee today nixed Gov. Scott Walker’s plans to transfer the Judicial Commission to the state Supreme Court and eliminate the Judicial Council. But it put off action on his call to give judges a 2 percent race
The Joint Finance Committee will take up the court system, Insurance and Employment Relations when it meets Monday for its first executive session on the budget. That includes the Judicial Commission, which Gov. Scott Walker wants to put under the
The state would use up to $1.9 million from the Stewardship Fund to purchase 990.55 acres in Dunn County, though several Republican committee members continued to raise concerns about the DNR’s appraisal process for proposed land deals. The committee last
Low-income families would no longer face a “cliff” where they lost eligibility for Wisconsin’s child care program as their incomes rise, under legislation the Joint Finance Committee approved today. Now, the program is limited to those with a gross income
The Joint Finance Committee approved two GOP-authored bills to address homelessness. AB 234 would create a 13-member interagency council that would find ways for state agencies to collaborate on the issue. The bill would create a director who would serve
The Joint Finance Committee today signed off unanimously on a “clean” version of legislation that would alter the criteria for broadband expansion grants and make $18.5 million more available to target rural areas. The committee had already approved the bill
