The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) has continued to meet in executive sessions to vote on the 2019-21 state budget. Over the past two weeks, JFC has moved into some of the bigger budget items, including Tourism, Education, and Natural Resources. JFC plans to meet next Tuesday, June 4 but has not yet announced which agencies […]
May 28 – JFC Takes Up DNR, UW System, District Attorneys/Public Defenders
Date Fri, May. 31, 2019 - 9:59am By Hamilton
Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) rejoined the committee on May 28 after a medical absence over the past few weeks. With the full committee present again, JFC took up the district attorneys and public defenders, the University of Wisconsin System, and the Department of Natural Resources. Under District Attorneys and Public Defenders, Gov. Tony Evers […]
May 23 – JFC Passes Education Budget
Date Fri, May. 31, 2019 - 9:58am By Hamilton
The Joint Finance Committee took up the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) budget in their May 23 executive session. JFC Democrats presented an omnibus motion to adopt Gov. Evers’s DPI proposals. Because the motion included items already removed from the budget in JFC’s first executive session, JFC chair Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) ruled the motion […]
May 21 – JFC Reworks Gov. Evers Tourism Budget, Approves State Employee Pay Raises
Date Fri, May. 31, 2019 - 9:57am By Hamilton
Under Tourism, JFC voted to add $1.5 million over the biennium in the JFC supplemental appropriation for general tourism marketing. The amount reflects adjustments for Midwest inflation and is an overall 42 percent increase of GPR Tourism Marketing dollars, however significantly less than the $5 million proposed by the governor. The Department of Tourism would […]
LFB Releases Updated Revenue Projections
Date Fri, May. 17, 2019 - 11:13am By Hamilton
As the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) continued budget votes this week, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) released updated revenue numbers projecting the state will collect $753 million more in general fund taxes than previously estimated. Overall, the new projections give the state $2.9 billion more to spend in the 2019-21 budget than in 2017-19. According […]
May 16 – JFC Votes on Property Taxes, Military Affairs, Workforce Development, Other Agencies
Date Fri, May. 17, 2019 - 11:07am By Hamilton
Under, Shared Revenue and Tax Relief — Property Taxation, Democrats moved to pass several of the governor’s recommendations to expand levy limits, including: Repealing levy limit adjustments for covered services. Current law requires that municipalities receiving new revenues from fees for services previously funded by taxes reduce their levies by the new fee revenues. Creating […]
May 14 – JFC Approves Governor’s Clean Water Proposals, Rejects Lead Pipe Replacement Funding
Date Fri, May. 17, 2019 - 11:06am By Hamilton
Under the Environmental Improvement Fund, JFC approved several of the governor’s clean water proposals. JFC approved an additional $13.5 million in bonding for the clean water fund, an increase of $3.55 million in bonding for the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program (SDWLP), and increased the maximum loan term for SDWLP loans from 20 to 30 […]
May 9 – JFC Removes Key Provisions of Evers Budget
Date Fri, May. 17, 2019 - 11:04am By Hamilton
In their May 9 executive session, the Joint Finance Committee began by removing 131 major policy and fiscal provisions Gov. Tony Evers had proposed, including the removal of the governor’s plan for Medicaid expansion. (Read more about notable provisions removed.) JFC approved removing the items on an 11-4 party line vote. The committee also rejected […]
Joint Finance Committee Begins Budget Votes
Date Fri, May. 17, 2019 - 11:02am By Hamilton
The Joint Finance Committee has begun taking votes on the 2019-21 state budget. Departing from previous sessions’ procedures, JFC is working from the previous base budget instead of the governor’s proposal. If no motions are offered on a particular area, then that item remains at the base funding level. So far, JFC has voted to […]
JFC Removes Worker’s Comp Provisions from Gov. Evers Budget
Date Fri, May. 10, 2019 - 9:51am By Hamilton
In its first executive session on the 2019-21 state budget on May 9, the Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted to remove provisions of Gov. Tony Evers’s proposed budget making changes to worker’s compensation procedures. Evers’s budget had proposed unifying worker’s compensation proceedings under the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) by moving disputed worker’s compensation […]