This week's survey

Last week, the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means held an informational hearing. The Department of Revenue and the Legislative Fiscal Bureau provided the committee with updates on revenue outlooks through the next fiscal year. 

It goes without saying that the pandemic has largely impacted state revenue. One of the major factors was an increase in tax collection from the Department of Revenue's audit program. FY20 audits were $191 million higher than FY2019. The majority of the audits resulted in tax collections from out-of-state businesses. The audit program costs approximately $10 million, but generated $385 million in collections. That is a 38 to 1 ROI.

DOR uses sales tax as a barometer for where the economy is heading. The department's projections showed modest growth for Wisconsin in FY22 and FY23. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau agreed that DOR's estimates were reasonable. 

Based on economic forecasts, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau expects Wisconsin's economy to be fully recovered by FY22 or FY23.

During the next months, I will keep these projections in mind as the legislature develops Wisconsin's next budget. Governor Evers' budget address is scheduled for February 16, 2021.

Please, take just a minute to answer this week's survey question relating to your preferred budget priorities. 

Click here for my survey

Survey Results

Thank you to everyone who answered last week's survey question regarding a ten-year extension of the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program. 

In total, 116 individuals responded, with the overwhelming majority, 60 percent, expressing support for a ten-year extension; just 22 percent of respondents supported reauthorizing the program for two-years. A paltry ten percent of respondents opposed extending funding for another ten years. 

What is more, 7 percent of respondents voted "other." Responses included:

"I think there could be a middle ground here. I worry that with just a two-year extension, this very worthwhile program could wind up being cut in the face of "more urgent" needs, as often happens to things like parks and libraries in local government. Perhaps this would be a good time to consider a 5-year extension as a compromise."

"Allow private donations to run it through their volunteer service opportunities." 

"While I could support a two-year extension, I think the dollar amount is excessive in a pandemic budget. There are more important priorities at this time."

Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections

This Friday, the Assembly and Senate Elections Committees will be holding a joint investigatory public hearing on the 2020 elections. The hearing will be streamed live on WisconsinEye.

Over the past several weeks, I have heard from hundreds of you who have shared your concerns about the results of the November election. Whether you like the outcome or not, it is important to ensure that Wisconsin has a voting process we can all trust. 

As such, the Senate and Assembly Elections Committees will be holding public hearings to review the administration of Wisconsin's 2020 elections. For weeks, the committee has been collecting affidavits from citizens who have witnessed irregularities and/or voter fraud. Those individuals have been invited to testify before the hearing. Members of the committee have been given full investigatory and subpoena power. 

My staff and I will be closely following this hearing closely. 

New social media account

As noted, I have joined the new social media platform, Parler. For those of you have yet to do so, please consider following me at @RepRobBrooks. Like we do with Facebook and Twitter, my staff and I will make it a priority to respond to your comments, questions, and concerns in a timely manner. I look forward to hearing from you.

Stay up to date

One of the best ways to date with what is happening in Madison is to sign up for the legislature's notification tracking system. This service affords you with the opportunity to track legislative activities in Madison. Upon creation of a free account, you can sign up to receive notification about specific bills of committees as well as legislative activity pertaining to a subject (i.e., health care, education, etc.).