As expected, on June 15, the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) unanimously rejected the governor’s self-insurance proposal. After rejecting the contracts, JFC co-chairs Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) and Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) put forth their own budget motion, which passed unanimously and still achieved the savings target ($63.9 million general purpose revenue (GPR)) over the […]
JFC Meets Thursday, June 15 on Self-Insurance, Corrections
Date Fri, Jun. 23, 2017 - 10:15am By Hamilton
On Thursday, June 15, the Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) met after a weeklong break, to take up the governor’s self-insurance proposal, the Department of Employee Trust Funds and the Department of Corrections. JFC has not reconvened since the June 15 meeting, as the Assembly and Senate leadership and JFC co-chairs hash out the remaining […]
JFC Meets May 31, Postpones This Week’s Meetings
Date Fri, Jun. 9, 2017 - 11:03am By Hamilton
This week, the budget process came to halt, as the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) remains at an impasse on education, transportation and property taxes. After the long Memorial Day weekend, JFC met only once last week on Wednesday, May 31. As the Assembly and Senate tried to smooth over their differences on the remaining items, […]
Assembly Republicans Release K-12 Budget Plan
Date Fri, Jun. 9, 2017 - 10:46am By Hamilton
On Tuesday, June 6, Assembly Republicans released their own K-12 funding plan for the 2017-19 state budget. The proposal increases general school aids and lowers property taxes, but not to the same level as Governor Walker’s plan. The governor has said he would veto a budget that increases property taxes above 2014 levels. Sen. Majority […]
JFC to Vote on Self-Insurance Contracts Next Week
Date Fri, Jun. 9, 2017 - 9:20am By Hamilton
As expected, the Joint Finance Committee objected to the Department of Employee Trust Funds’ signed contracts to self-insure the state employee’s health plan. JFC’s passive review of the contracts required an objection, otherwise the state would be able to move forward. The three-year contracts include contracts with a statewide/nationwide vendor and four regional vendors. The […]
LFB Releases Transportation Fund Memo
Date Fri, Jun. 9, 2017 - 8:58am By Hamilton
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) released a memo last week revealing a $94 million increase in the balance of the state’s transportation fund. LFB had originally estimated the 2017-19 biennium-ending fund balance at $8.4 million. However, mainly due to projections of higher fuel tax revenues and lower debt service costs, LFB re-estimated the fund balance […]
JFC Continues Budget Votes (May 16-25)
Date Fri, May. 26, 2017 - 10:04am By Hamilton
May 16 Kicking off the third week of executive sessions, on Tuesday, May 16 the Joint Finance Committee continued to take votes on pieces of Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed 2017-19 budget. The May 16 session included issues in Elections Commission, Ethics Commission, general items in the Department of Administration, care and treatment services in the […]
JFC Takes First Executive Action on 2017-19 State Budget
Date Fri, May. 12, 2017 - 10:13am By Hamilton
Monday, May 1 The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) held its first executive session on May 1 on Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed 2017-19 state budget. As with previous years, JFC typically takes up the less controversial, smaller budget items first and saves the big items – transportation, education and Medicaid – for last. Kicking off their […]
LFB Maintains January Revenue Estimates
Date Fri, May. 12, 2017 - 8:26am By Hamilton
On Wednesday May 10, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau released their revenue projections for the current fiscal year (2016-17) and for the upcoming biennium (2017-19). This May release is timed with the Joint Finance Committee’s budget votes, allowing for JFC to utilize updated revenue numbers. In their memo, LFB Director Bob Lang explained that their January […]
Assembly Republicans Release Transportation Plan
Date Thu, May. 11, 2017 - 5:00pm By Hamilton
On Thursday, May 4, the Assembly Republicans held a press conference to announce a transportation budget proposal. The proposal, authored by Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) aims to reduce the level of bonding in Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed transportation budget by $300 million and to increase tax revenues to the transportation fund. Additionally, the proposal aims […]