Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Gov. Tony Evers today announced that he has signed legislation delaying the closure of Wisconsin’s troubled youth prisons by six months. And right on the heels of Evers signing the bill Friday, a new report finds conditions have improved significantly at Lincoln

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — 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 their version

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — 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 originally proposed.

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — WEDC CEO Mark Hogan today said he will step down from his role in the coming months. Hogan confirmed his plans at the Milwaukee Rotary Club this afternoon but failed to provide a specific date for departing the state’s jobs agency. WEDC

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — GOP state Sen. Andre Jacque said he’s received assurances from legislative leaders a coming budget amendment will add more assistant DA positions and an additional pay raise for prosecutors as part of his ask to secure his vote for the document. Jacque,

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Assembly Speaker Robin Vos today said Republicans aren’t looking to make “dramatic changes” to the JFC’s budget ahead of next week’s planned votes in the Assembly and Senate. As an example, Vos said lawmakers are looking to bring property taxes lower than

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Newly elected UW Board of Regents President Drew Petersen gave credit to the system’s chancellors, provosts and faculty for helping to convince the Joint Finance Committee to make a “very strong investment” in Wisconsin’s public universities. In an interview with WisPolitics.com, Petersen

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Property taxes on a median-valued home would go up the same amount under the GOP’s budget plan as they would under Gov. Tony Evers’ original proposal, according to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis. That’s despite JFC Republicans last week pumping $58.6 million

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Gov. Tony Evers today said he will not make a decision on how to use his partial or full veto authority on the state budget until lawmakers present him with a finalized version. The Joint Finance Committee last week wrapped up its

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — With the Joint Finance Committee finishing its work on the budget today, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said he will begin meeting with his members Tuesday to see where they stand on the document. Already, Sen. Dave Craig, R-Big Bend, has said

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — A bipartisan group of lawmakers today urged a joint panel on criminal justice to quickly approve legislation that would push back the closure of Wisconsin’s troubled youth prisons and give counties more time to apply for grants to build regional facilities. Under

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — The Joint Finance Committee gaveled in shortly after 4 p.m. today, but won’t take up taxes today. The posted agenda includes the capital budget, DATCP, Juvenile Corrections, the Stewardship Fund and Veterans, which Co-chair John Nygren, R-Marinette, said the committee will take

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said today cutting taxes for the middle class continues to be a priority for his caucus. But he says that can be accomplished without raising taxes on others. “Because of our good budgeting and the great economy, we

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — JFC Republicans are proposing increases in the registration and title transfer fees as part of a $483.7 million transportation package they plan to take up this evening. The plan, which doesn’t include a gas tax increase, would boost the registration fee for

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald told reporters today that Senate Republicans are looking at a $10 bump to the state’s $75 vehicle registration fee along with an increase to the title fee. But Fitzgerald continued to rule out a gas tax increase,

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — The Joint Finance Committee was in a holding pattern late this afternoon as GOP members tried to work out final details of a deal on the departments of Health Services and Children and Families. The committee was scheduled to convene at 1

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — With Republicans rejecting his call to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, Gov. Tony Evers today announced a new partnership aimed at boosting the number of state residents enrolled in the existing program. In a news conference on the steps of the Capitol, Evers

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — A broad bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and activists today touted a measure that would encourage the growth of the state’s fledgling hemp industry. But the measure faces opposition from law enforcement agencies who worry that a provision in the bill would allow