Last week was the week of agency briefings for the Joint Finance Committee (JFC). Over three very long days, almost every state agency secretary and their staff came before the JFC to talk about their portions of the budget. They also faced questions from committee members on their budget items.
Sometimes the questions got a little heated as the members worked to understand the details of each proposal. Other times, the agency heads requested additional funding from what was included in the Governor’s budget.
Each of the 21 agency briefings followed the same basic format:
The secretary or department head provided a brief summary of what their agency does and goes over their major budget appropriations.
Committee members ask the secretary and their staff questions on specific programs and funding requests. Each of the 16 committee members is allotted a certain amount of time or number of questions per agency so you can see how these briefings lasted from one hour to almost four.
There is no way to adequately cover over 30 hours of testimony so consider these the highlights. Because the issues covered by each agency overlapped (as did the questions from the committee members), I’ve organized this summary by issue area instead of agency.
Public Education and Self-Insurance
This budget includes $11.5 billion to public, charter and private schools over the biennium with $649 million in new spending. But a significant portion of that new money ($60 million) is expected to come from the savings of switching public employees to a self-insurance plan. Committee members from both sides of the aisle questioned whether it was wise to count on the self-insurance proposal, which consultants project could range from $40 million in savings to $100 million in added costs. Committee members have already begun debating removing the risky provision from the budget.
State Superintendent Tony Evers spoke to the JFC about his concerns that over half a billion dollars in new school funding will only be given to school districts that require their staff to pay 12% toward their health care costs (part of Act 10). Majority and minority members of the committee said they have heard from school districts who expressed confusion about whether or not they would be considered in compliance with the requirement. Superintendent Evers urged the committee to remove this specific provision from the budget.
Transportation
The number one issue that I have heard from my constituents on is transportation. Our roads are crumbling and the Governor’s budget proposal continued the trend of borrowing for maintenance and new construction instead of finding a long-term funding solution. Both JFC Republicans and Democrats expressed frustration that the budget delays some major highway projects and borrows to fund others. They also spoke of how local governments are suffering from the lack of available funds to fix town and county roads. Other members argued that it is time to raise the gas tax to meet our transportation needs. JFC members in the Senate and the Assembly are looking to remedy this by making changes to the Governor’s budget proposal even after the Governor threatened to veto any increase in the gas tax.
Natural Resources and the Environment
Another issue that has been getting a lot of attention is the Governor’s proposal to eliminate the DNR Magazine, a move which would save the state no money. Members of the JFC questioned the DNR Secretary about the logic behind that decision. They also raised concerns about the DNR removing references to climate change from their website, the loosening of penalties against polluters and the latest attempt to deregulate high capacity wells.
UW System
The President of the UW System spoke to the committee about the Governor’s proposed $135 million in new funding for the state university system. However, the President expressed concerns about the planned 5% tuition cut, advocating instead for using the money to invest in need-based financial aid to students. The committee also discussed the fact that many system building projects were denied or delayed as part of the Governor’s capital budget. Members expressed concern that delaying these projects will ultimately increase their costs.
With the agency briefings behind them, the JFC members are hitting the road next week for public hearings. While none of them are in our neck of the woods, Wisconsinites from all over the state are invited to each hearing.
If you can’t make it but you have thoughts to share with the JFC, you can email them to BudgetComments@legis.wisconsin.gov or by mail to the JFC Clerk Joe Malkasian, Room 305 East, State Capitol, Madison WI 53702.
And of course, you can send your thoughts to me and I will share them with the Committee.
Until next time,
Steve
STEVE DOYLE State Representative 94th Assembly District
| State Rep. Steve Doyle - PO BOX 8952, Madison 53708 |
