Budget Update: Potential Timeline

Earlier this month, Governor Walker presented his proposed 2017-2019 biennial budget bill to the people of Wisconsin. When he made his remarks, the Governor provided legislators and the public with a document titled, “Budget in Brief” which provides his narrative on budget proposals. Much of the reporting on the budget that you have seen or heard is based upon this document.

Presently the budget bill is in the Joint Finance Committee (JFC). Over the next month, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau will analyze the legal language of the 989 page budget bill, which has been assigned the number Assembly Bill 64 (AB 64). When the analysis is complete, state government agency staff will appear before JFC to explain portions of the budget related to their departments and to answer questions. When that process is complete, JFC will hold a few public hearings on the bill. The number of hearings and locations for these hearings has not yet been determined.

Once the public hearing process is completed, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau staff will prepare papers on each budget topic. The papers explain the issue in detail, restate the position of the Governor and then outline options for the members of JFC to consider. Members of JFC are also free to introduce their own budget motions. By June, JFC should have a substitute version of the budget that will be sent to the Assembly and Senate to be acted on by each house.

The goal is to have a new budget passed and in the Governor’s hands so it can be signed and in place for the next fiscal year which begins on July 1st. Unlike the federal government budget process, if a new state budget is not in place by July 1st, things do not come to a standstill.  State government programs and agencies continue to operate under the current budget. However, extended delays in the passage of a state budget can have detrimental impact on the budget process of schools and local governments.

Throughout this process I will be working with other legislators to support provisions in the budget that move our state forward. I will also work to see the most egregious provisions removed.  

Tax Policy in the Budget

We have all heard the old adage that if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. That adage holds true when it comes to Republican tax gimmicks in the state budget.  The Governor and Republicans in the legislature insist that family supporting jobs are created by giving tax breaks to Wisconsin’s wealthiest individuals. Unfortunately, this too-good-to-be-true fallacy is costing us all.

Take, for example, the Manufacturing and Agriculture Tax Credit, passed in a previous budget by the Republican majority. Sounds good, right?  When the Wisconsin economy did well, we were among the leaders in family supporting manufacturing jobs. The problem with this particular tax break is that there is absolutely no job creation requirement needed to actually claim the credit.  Worse yet, 11 people making over $30 million claimed a full $22 million in giveaways under this credit, and not a single new job needed to be documented.

Even something that sounds good, like increasing the School Levy Tax Credit by $87 million in the second year of the budget is problematic. There is no income ceiling to the credit and, rather than limiting the credit to taxpayers with their primary residence in Wisconsin, the credit can be claimed on commercial and vacation properties that aren’t even owned by Wisconsin residents.   These giveaways to wealthy out-of-state residents are particularly alarming given that the second year of the Governor’s budget is projected to end with a $738 million structural deficit. 

Feeling Climate Change

While the Walker Administration has taken steps to scrub the Department of Natural Resources website of references to climate change and is seeking to eliminate the subscriber supported publication of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine – fortunately he does not control the news media.

Since Saturday, weather forecasters have reported on high temperature records being broken – every day.  Records are expected to fall this entire week. Having record high temperatures recorded for two or three days in a row in a single given year has occurred in the past.  Not only are we seeing year-after-year in which the average high temperature for the year is the highest on record, but if the forecasts hold true for this week, we will see an inordinate number of record setting days in a row. 

We have to recognize that climate change is real and scientifically proven and take steps to reduce our impact on the environment. Governor Walker’s insistence on sticking his head in the sand and denying the reality of climate change will have disastrous consequences for the people, wild life and future of Wisconsin.

2017-2018 Official State Highway Maps

My office has received the new 2017-2018 official state highway maps. If you would like one, please feel free to stop by my office, call, or email your request. If you can’t get to our office to pick yours up, we are happy to mail maps to you.

Fun Wisconsin Fact

In honor of Black History Month, all of February’s fun facts will be about African American contributions to Wisconsin’s history.

Louis Bennett Butler, Jr. was the first – and currently the only – African American Justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Butler was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Jim Doyle in August 2004 and served until his term expired on July 31, 2008.

Butler served as an assistant state public defender from 1979 to 1992, and was then appointed to the Municipal Court in Milwaukee. He served as a municipal judge until 2002, when he was elected to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court. Butler also served as an adjunct professor at Marquette University Law School.

President Barack Obama nominated Butler to serve as United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, but was never confirmed.

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