Rep. Dana Wachs pulled in nearly $42,000 in the first half of the year, far outpacing his Assembly colleagues. But the Eau Claire Dem, who’s weighing a bid for governor, also spent $44,186 over the period, leaving only $13,497 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
Suburban school districts are applauding an open enrollment aid boost in the Assembly GOP education plan, saying it would direct dollars to those actually teaching the transferring students. But rural districts and others that lose large numbers of students to
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
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
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
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 JFC co-chairs also applauded Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, for putting forward a transportation plan, and Nygren said he was disappointed in the guv’s response. Over the weekend, Walker knocked the proposal as a gas tax hike. It would lower
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
Two GOP lawmakers took to Twitter and statements this afternoon to debate the UW System budget and the tuition freeze. It began when Sen. Steve Nass sent out a press release criticizing comments that Joint Finance Committee Co-Chair John Nygren
Municipalities and schools have been fleeing a state-run insurance fund Gov. Scott Walker wants to kill, spooked by his 2015 attempt to wipe out the program and a more than 70-percent rate hike to shore up the sagging fund, according
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
Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp today defended a budget provision that nixes the agency’s magazine, saying that there’s a “tremendous opportunity for someone in the private sector to take this over.” The provision, which would cut the Wisconsin
Lawmakers on both sides said they have deep reservations on Walker’s self-insurance proposal, questioning Department of Employee Trust Funds officials on whether the agency’s savings estimates will pan out. Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Brookfield, noted a consultant had estimated that the
Rep. Dana Wachs pulled in nearly $42,000 in the first half of the year, far outpacing his Assembly colleagues. But the Eau Claire Dem, who’s weighing a bid for governor, also spent $44,186 over the period, leaving only $13,497 in the bank. The next highest fundraiser was Rep. Bob Kulp,
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
Suburban school districts are applauding an open enrollment aid boost in the Assembly GOP education plan, saying it would direct dollars to those actually teaching the transferring students. But rural districts and others that lose large numbers of students to other districts through open enrollment worry that giving up an
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
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
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
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 JFC co-chairs also applauded Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, for putting forward a transportation plan, and Nygren said he was disappointed in the guv’s response. Over the weekend, Walker knocked the proposal as a gas tax hike. It would lower the excise tax, add the state sales tax to fuel
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
Two GOP lawmakers took to Twitter and statements this afternoon to debate the UW System budget and the tuition freeze. It began when Sen. Steve Nass sent out a press release criticizing comments that Joint Finance Committee Co-Chair John Nygren has made, showing he’s open to ending the in-state tuition
Municipalities and schools have been fleeing a state-run insurance fund Gov. Scott Walker wants to kill, spooked by his 2015 attempt to wipe out the program and a more than 70-percent rate hike to shore up the sagging fund, according to a WisPolitics.com review. Local governments persuaded lawmakers two years
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
Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp today defended a budget provision that nixes the agency’s magazine, saying that there’s a “tremendous opportunity for someone in the private sector to take this over.” The provision, which would cut the Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine in February 2018, has received a loud
Lawmakers on both sides said they have deep reservations on Walker’s self-insurance proposal, questioning Department of Employee Trust Funds officials on whether the agency’s savings estimates will pan out. Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Brookfield, noted a consultant had estimated that the state could lose $100 million in switching to self-insurance. Walker’s