JFC to take up Tech College System, Shared Revenue next Thursday

The Joint Finance Committee is taking up the state’s Tech College System when it meets next Thursday. Also on the schedule is Shared Revenue, the Historical Society and the Labor and Industry Review Commission. See the session notice: https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/20170511JFCExec.pdf …

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JFC spars over funding for vets programs

The Joint Finance Committee jousted today over funding for Wisconsin veterans programs, particularly for the home in King, which has been the subject of several critical stories over conditions there. GOP Rep. Dale Kooyenga, the only veteran on the committee,

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JFC approves state money to help buy new WisconsinEye cameras

The Assembly and Senate would provide a combined $412,600 in GPR over the next two years to help cover the costs of 21 new cameras in the Capitol for the public affairs network WisconsinEye, under a motion JFC approved. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, would provide $37,800 during 2017-19 to help

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Senate committee approves two Vukmir crime bills

The last two bills in the GOP Victim Prevention Package passed the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee today, and each picked up some Dem support. The bills were originally scheduled to be taken up when the committee met on Tuesday and passed six other bills in the package, but

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Ryan: Independent investigation on Russia not a ‘good idea’

House Speaker Paul Ryan today rebuffed renewed calls for an independent investigation into Russian interference with the November election following President Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, and the reason I say that is we have three investigations going on right now,”

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JFC co-chairs float possibility of separate transpo budget

The co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee today floated the possibility of breaking transportation off from the budget as their caucuses remain at odds over how to fund road work for the next two years. But the guv and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald oppose the idea, their offices said.

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JFC to take up Tech College System, Shared Revenue next Thursday

The Joint Finance Committee is taking up the state’s Tech College System when it meets next Thursday. Also on the schedule is Shared Revenue, the Historical Society and the Labor and Industry Review Commission. See the session notice: https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/20170511JFCExec.pdf … Please log in to access subscriber content. If you don’t

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JFC spars over funding for vets programs

The Joint Finance Committee jousted today over funding for Wisconsin veterans programs, particularly for the home in King, which has been the subject of several critical stories over conditions there. GOP Rep. Dale Kooyenga, the only veteran on the committee, bristled at Dem complaints over how the programs are funded

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Committee shoots down Walker plan to exempt journeyman plumbers, electricians from exam after apprenticeship

The committee unanimously shot down Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to no longer require journeyman electricians, plumbers and automatic fire sprinkler system fitters, along with cosmetologists and barbers, to take an exam to become licensed if they have completed an apprenticeship. Walker’s plan originally included automatic fire sprinkler contractors as well.

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JFC nixes Walker’s plan to kill the stray voltage program

The committee rejected the guv’s proposal to eliminate the program that aids farmers who believe their dairy herds are being affected by stray voltage. The program, housed at the PSC and DATCP, is funded by nearly $1.1 million over the biennium in assessments on some electrical utilities and cooperatives. There

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JFC approves broadband expansion grants for a third time

The committee for a third time approved putting more money into broadband expansion grants. But JFC tweaked how it would impact a funding source going forward. A bill to expand the grants has already passed the committee twice and cleared both houses of the Legislature. The motion approved today largely

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LFB: State won’t see revenue bump beyond prior projections

JFC Co-chair John Nygren says the latest Legislative Fiscal Bureau projections showing flat revenues from earlier estimates is good news. The LFB today informed the Joint Finance co-chairs the state likely wouldn’t see additional revenues in the next few years beyond the growth the agency had projected in January. But

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Fitzgerald doesn’t ‘see the momentum’ for Assembly GOP transpo plan

The tension between Republicans on transportation funding hit a new level today, with Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald saying he doesn’t “see the momentum” for the new Assembly Republican plan. Assembly Republicans, meanwhile, said the Senate should lay out its own proposal so lawmakers and the guv could “negotiate a

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DOR prepares analysis of Kooyenga transpo and tax plan

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 addition, a married couple with one child and an income

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