Governor Walker presented his 2015-2017 state budget proposal to the Legislature on Tuesday, February 3.  The proposal has been introduced as Assembly Bill 21 and Senate Bill 21.  Over the next several weeks, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, a nonpartisan agency that researches and analyzes fiscal issues, will be going over the budget and "translating" it into digestible terms.  The LFB maintains a budget page, to which it will add information throughout the process (here is the 2013 budget page, to give you an idea of what to expect).  In the meantime, the Department of Administration has condensed the 1,839-page bill into a 91-page "Budget in Brief".

Eventually, the Legislature's joint finance committee will begin holding hearings.  It will first hold agency hearings, in which state department heads and other officials will make their cases and answer committee members' questions.  After the agency hearings, the finance committee will go on the road and hold several hearings around the state.  (Locations and dates have not yet been determined.)

Now that the budget bill has been introduced, it is important to bear in mind that AB 21/SB 21 is only a starting point.  If history is any indication, the finance committee is almost certain to make substantial changes over the coming months.  In other words, the budget will be very much a work in progress until the final vote is taken.  Once any amendments have been accepted or rejected and that final vote comes, I will have to vote either yes or no on the budget as a whole - no picking and choosing - and  I will make that decision based on whether the good in the final bill outweighs the bad.  I look forward to your comments throughout the budget process to help me make that determination.

Last Wednesday, January 28, the Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, and Menomonie chambers of commerce held their annual "Chippewa Valley Rally" in Madison.  A large number of area business representatives, government and UW officials, and other stakeholders came to the Capitol to visit with legislators and promote issues important to the region, including the Confluence Project.  At the rally luncheon that day, Governor Walker announced $15 million in state matching funds for the project.