Four GOP senators who are likely to be targeted in their re-election bids have an average of $104,000 each in their bank accounts as they gear up for 2018. But their warchests range from Sen. Terry Moulton’s some $34,000 in
The state’s take from fees tacked onto what people owe state agencies, courts and the UW System could hit $15 million over the next two years, under a plan in the guv’s budget to expand debt collection. Debt collectors in
GOP legislative leaders reported progress on hammering out a budget deal today but will meet again tomorrow as they work through major items like K-12 education, taxes and transportation. Participants’ spokespeople provided no specifics, though, and a notice for a
To break the state budget impasse, GOP lawmakers need three dominoes to fall. The most important for the general fund piece of the budget is an agreement on the benchmark they’ll use for the property taxes on the median-valued home
Wisconsin Republicans today announced plans for a center at UW-Madison named after former Gov. Tommy Thompson, whose tenure was highlighted at an all-day symposium at the Capitol. They said the center would foster research into public policy and bring speakers
GOP tensions over the state budget continued to spill into the open today as JFC Co-chair John Nygren accused Senate Republicans of allowing a handful of members to “railroad” the process. Fellow Co-chair Alberta Darling acknowledged her Senate GOP colleagues
The co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee say their caucuses are debating whether to sign off on the guv’s push to eliminate the forestry property tax. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Realtors Association has launched a paid broadcast and mail campaign pushing
Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke says his new bill aimed at setting up periodic reviews of administrative rules would help lawmakers avoid the “logistical nightmare” of conducting those reviews all at once. Steineke, R-Kaukauna, said Republicans have learned that trying
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
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
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
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
Gov. Scott Walker and DOA Secretary Scott Neitzel today knocked the Joint Finance Committee’s plans to reject the administration’s moves to self-insure state workers. Walker tweeted about the JFC co-chairs’ comments that they expect the committee will reject the contracts
JFC Co-chair John Nygren said repealing the prevailing wage on state projects could still work its way into the budget as part of an overall package to address transportation funding. Fellow Co-chair Alberta Darling, meanwhile, said Senate Republicans are working
An Assembly committee today signed off on four GOP-authored bills to address homelessness, with two of them passing unanimously. One bill from Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, would create an interagency council that
Advocates fighting homelessness praised four GOP-authored bills today that they said are a much-needed step forward, though they won’t fully solve the problem. The advocates said at a committee hearing there’s much more the state needs to do, particularly on
A group of Assembly Republicans today outlined a package aimed at giving resources to homeless people and helping prevent the issue in the future. The GOP lawmakers said today they want to help the more than 26,000 people in Wisconsin
Joint Finance will work off the guv’s budget as it begins making changes except for the Department of Transportation, where the committee will use current law as its starting point, according to a memo distributed today. The decision ends weeks
The Joint Finance Committee co-chairs said today lawmakers haven’t yet decided whether they’ll work off agencies’ base budgets or instead make changes to Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal, as they’ve done in the past. Walker, meanwhile, called on lawmakers to
State Superintendent Tony Evers said today he’s pleased with Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal to add $649 million toward K-12, though he’d like some changes in the budget. That includes Walker’s proposal to allow permanent licenses for teachers and administrators
Four GOP senators who are likely to be targeted in their re-election bids have an average of $104,000 each in their bank accounts as they gear up for 2018. But their warchests range from Sen. Terry Moulton’s some $34,000 in cash on hand to Sen. Howard Marklein’s nearly $187,000, according
The state’s take from fees tacked onto what people owe state agencies, courts and the UW System could hit $15 million over the next two years, under a plan in the guv’s budget to expand debt collection. Debt collectors in the private sector are generally banned under the Wisconsin Consumer
GOP legislative leaders reported progress on hammering out a budget deal today but will meet again tomorrow as they work through major items like K-12 education, taxes and transportation. Participants’ spokespeople provided no specifics, though, and a notice for a possible Joint Finance Committee meeting on Thursday hasn’t been sent
To break the state budget impasse, GOP lawmakers need three dominoes to fall. The most important for the general fund piece of the budget is an agreement on the benchmark they’ll use for the property taxes on the median-valued home in 2018. The most difficult, budget watchers say, will be
Wisconsin Republicans today announced plans for a center at UW-Madison named after former Gov. Tommy Thompson, whose tenure was highlighted at an all-day symposium at the Capitol. They said the center would foster research into public policy and bring speakers to System campuses from diverse viewpoints. Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester,
GOP tensions over the state budget continued to spill into the open today as JFC Co-chair John Nygren accused Senate Republicans of allowing a handful of members to “railroad” the process. Fellow Co-chair Alberta Darling acknowledged her Senate GOP colleagues are not on the same page yet on the guv’s
The co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee say their caucuses are debating whether to sign off on the guv’s push to eliminate the forestry property tax. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Realtors Association has launched a paid broadcast and mail campaign pushing GOP lawmakers to back the proposal, and the conservative Americans
Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke says his new bill aimed at setting up periodic reviews of administrative rules would help lawmakers avoid the “logistical nightmare” of conducting those reviews all at once. Steineke, R-Kaukauna, said Republicans have learned that trying to “review all 1,100 pages of administrative rules at one
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.
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
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 years beyond the growth LFB had projected in January. But
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 Justice spent on “swag.” Dems have been taking shots at
Gov. Scott Walker and DOA Secretary Scott Neitzel today knocked the Joint Finance Committee’s plans to reject the administration’s moves to self-insure state workers. Walker tweeted about the JFC co-chairs’ comments that they expect the committee will reject the contracts his administration reached as part of the self-insurance plan. “Wrong
JFC Co-chair John Nygren said repealing the prevailing wage on state projects could still work its way into the budget as part of an overall package to address transportation funding. Fellow Co-chair Alberta Darling, meanwhile, said Senate Republicans are working on their own transportation package. Both lawmakers called the issue
An Assembly committee today signed off on four GOP-authored bills to address homelessness, with two of them passing unanimously. One bill from Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, would create an interagency council that would find ways for state agencies to collaborate on the
Advocates fighting homelessness praised four GOP-authored bills today that they said are a much-needed step forward, though they won’t fully solve the problem. The advocates said at a committee hearing there’s much more the state needs to do, particularly on preventing homelessness. But they also noted the effort is the
A group of Assembly Republicans today outlined a package aimed at giving resources to homeless people and helping prevent the issue in the future. The GOP lawmakers said today they want to help the more than 26,000 people in Wisconsin who experienced homelessness last year, with almost 2,000 of them
Joint Finance will work off the guv’s budget as it begins making changes except for the Department of Transportation, where the committee will use current law as its starting point, according to a memo distributed today. The decision ends weeks of speculation over whether the committee would ignore Gov. Scott
The Joint Finance Committee co-chairs said today lawmakers haven’t yet decided whether they’ll work off agencies’ base budgets or instead make changes to Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal, as they’ve done in the past. Walker, meanwhile, called on lawmakers to work from his K-12 education budget rather than scrapping the
State Superintendent Tony Evers said today he’s pleased with Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal to add $649 million toward K-12, though he’d like some changes in the budget. That includes Walker’s proposal to allow permanent licenses for teachers and administrators by eliminating their expiration dates. Evers told the Joint Finance