On May 27th, the Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) had an executive session for the Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin Technical College System, and University of Wisconsin System.

On June 2nd, the JFC had an executive session for the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Workforce Development, and the Department of Safety and Professional Services. 

Each agency briefing follows this basic format:

1.) The secretary or department head provides a brief summary of what their agency does and will go over their major budget appropriations.

2.) Committee members ask the secretary and their staff numerous questions on specific programs and funding requests. Each committee member is allotted a certain amount of time or number of questions per agency. 

Below, I will briefly discuss some of the requests made from the agencies mentioned above. As there are always changes to the proposed budget, agencies rarely are ever granted their full wish-list. 

Department of Public Instruction 

Democrats on the committee offered a motion which was nearly identical to Governor Evers' proposal. Below are the details of this motion:

General School Aid

• Allocation over $1.556 billion in GPR total school aid, which is an increase of 12.4%. 
  • $612.82 million in general aid while increasing revenue limits (per pupil adjustments) by $200 and $204 in 2021 and 2023. 
  • Increase in the flat per pupil aid by $8 per pupil in regular aid and $75 per pupil in high poverty aid. 
  • The motion also made a few adjustments to how the department calculates per pupil aid. 

Categorical Aid

• $709.5 million in special education aid, bringing the state reimbursement to 45% in 2021 and 50% in 2022. 
• $46.5 million investment in school mental health 
• $28 million in bilingual bicultural aid 
• $19.96 million in sparsity aid 
• $4 million in high cost transportation aid
  • Included an increase in the transportation reimbursement for pupil transported over 12 miles to school by 10 dollars: $365 to $375.

The General School Aid and Categorical Aid detailed above were all a part of the same motion; however, the motion failed along party lines: 4-11.

In return, Republicans on the committee moved a motion which included a GPR increase of $128 million in total K-12 funding. Details of this motion are below:

• Provides an increase of roughly 1% over the base year and 0.5% in 2021. 
• Provided just 10% of what Governor Evers proposed for K-12 funding. 
• This motion passed along party lines: 11-4
  • If funding in this motion is not increased, Wisconsin will not meet the maintenance of effort to qualify for federal COVID-19 funds. This means Wisconsin will not qualify for any of the federal funds available to us that are offered through the CARES Act, the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), or the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) -- which offers Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) for our schools. 

Higher Education 

Democrats offered a motion which would have funded  the Wisconsin Technical College System, Higher Educational Aids Board, and the UW-System at Governor Evers' proposed level. This included fully funding the UW tuition freeze for the next two year and $187 million additional state tax investment in higher education. 

• This motion failed along party lines: 4-11

Republicans offered a motion which included no general aid increases for the UW-System or the Higher Education Aids Board. 

• $27 million of additional state tax investment in higher education over the next two years versus the $187 million. 
• This motion included no action on the UW-System tuition freeze, which under current law expires at the end of the 2019-21 biennium.  
• This motion passed along party lines 11-4 

If funding in the passed motion is not increased, Wisconsin will not meet the minimum maintenance of effort requirements to qualify for federal funding. To be clear, both proposed levels of funding for K-12 and higher education do not meet the maintenance of effort requirements.  

Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection

Democrats on the committee took up a DATCP omnibus motion which included medical marijuana provisions from the 2019 budget along with the rest of the Governor's 2021 DATCP budget provisions. The committee chair ruled this motion was out of order due to a prior motion which stripped all marijuana items from further consideration. 

Furthermore, Democrats offered another motion which removed the items relating to marijuana. Below are details of that motion: 

• $10 million in each year for Food Security and Food Waste Reduction
• $2 million for the Meat Processor Grant
  • An additional $1.6 million for Dairy Promotion and Processor Grants. 
  • 6 positions for the Meat Inspection Program
• $2.16 million in an effort to improve Wisconsin agriculture products
• $200,000 for farmer mental health assistance program 
• Motion failed along party lines: 4-12

Republicans countered with this motion: 

• $400,000 for Meat Processor Grants and $400,000 for Dairy Processor Grants 
• Funds farmer mental health assistance program at a one-time $100,000. 
• $1.16 million for Wisconsin Initiative for improving agricultural exports
• Adds 2 positions to the meat Inspection Program 
• Motion passed along party lines: 12-4

Department of Natural Resources & EIF 

Democrats on the committee offered two separate motions: one for DNR and one on Environmental Improvement Fund (EIF).  

DNR Motion

• Increase funding to equip DNR wardens with a radio upgrade, body-worn cameras, and Narcan. 
• $1 million for Deer Carcass Disposal Grants 
• $540,000 for a program to manage invasive species 
• Increase of waterfowl stamp by $5 to $12 
• Provide funding for ATV, UTV, and Snowmobile trails for improvement
• Motion failed along party lines: 4-12

EIF Motion 

• $40 million to address lead remediation in Wisconsin 
  • This would create a program which authorizes DNR to award principal forgiveness for up to 50% of the cost of private lead service line replacement projects. 
• Motion failed along party lines: 4-12 

Republicans on the committee countered with a motion which included both DNR proposals and EIF: 

• Funding of DNR wardens with body-worn cameras, but put funding for a radio upgrade in the JFC supplemental fund. 
• Did not fund either the Deer Carcass Grant or invasive species grant.
• Did not include any lead lateral remediation funding 
• Included increasing the waterfowl stamp 
• Included funding for ATV, UTV, and Snowmobile trails for improvement 
• This motion passed along party lines: 12-4

Department of Workforce Development

Democrats on the committee offered a motion which would fund several important programs offered by DWD: 

• Creation of the Worker Connection Pilot Program and provide $9.7 million to fund the program 
• Provides $8 million for grants to local workforce boards to fund pandemic recovery efforts 
• $200,000 for health care job recruitment programs 
• $1 million for green jobs training grants
• $500,000 for youth and adult apprenticeship programs 
• $15 million for unemployment insurance administration to avoid delays in appeals and adjudications in the future. 
• This motion failed along party lines: 4-12

Republicans on the committee offered a motion which would modify Governor Evers' proposal for the youth and adult apprenticeship program by transferring funds from the Early College Credit Program to the department for the youth and adult apprenticeship program. 

• Rather than the $15 million to fix the unemployment insurance issues, this motion provided $25,000 to the department to study how they can improve the system. 
• Provided none of the funding listed above in the Democratic motion
• This motioned passed along party lines: 12-4

Department of Safety and Professional Services

Democrats on the committee offered a motion which would fund several positions that would add to staffing the department to decrease wait times for licenses. Below are a few more proposals included in the motion: 

• Funding to modernize IT for the licensing application the department utilizes. 
• Included changes to the Private Wastewater Treatment System Grant Program, which included $1.68 million in program funding to reinstate the program. 
• This motion failed along party lines: 4-12

Republicans on the committee offered a motion which put the funding for extra staffing in the JFC supplemental fund. They also did not reinstate the Private Wastewater Treatment System Grant Program. 

• This motion passed along party lines: 12-4

Upcoming Executive Sessions 

Below are the following executive sessions which will be taking place tomorrow, June 8th:  

• Military Affairs
• Division of Gaming 
• Building Commission 
• Building Program 
• Department of Transportation Funding 
  • Local Transportation Aid 
  • Local Transportation Assistance 
  • State Highway Program
  • Motor Vehicles
  • State Patrol 

Stay tuned for future updates on the above agencies!

Until next time,

Steve