The recently-enacted biennial state budget bill reduced the level of bonding from Governor Walker’s recommended $1.3 billion in new bonding to $500 million, and allows for an additional $350 million in general obligation bonds to be issued upon approval by the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee (JFC). This $350 million in contingent bonding may be used […]
Governor Walker Urges Legislature to Release $200 Million in Additional Bonding for Transportation
Date Thu, Oct. 29, 2015 - 9:52pm By Hamilton
Wisconsin DOT Announces Projects Delayed
Date Wed, Oct. 14, 2015 - 4:12pm By Hamilton
Governor Urges Legislature to Release Additional Dollars The recently-enacted biennial state budget bill reduced the level of bonding from Governor Walker’s recommended $1.3 billion in new bonding to $500 million, and allows for an additional $350 million in general obligation bonds to be issued upon approval by the legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance. This $350 […]
Newsmakers with DOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb
Date Thu, Sep. 17, 2015 - 3:10pm By Hamilton
In a recent interview, Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb sat down with Wisconsin Eye to discuss the state of Wisconsin’s transportation issues. In the interview, Gottlieb talks about the budget, bonding, the extra Joint Finance Committee authorization, and the state of Wisconsin’s roads. The interview can be seen here.
State Budget: Prevailing Wage Reform
Date Wed, Jul. 8, 2015 - 9:45pm By Hamilton
After much debate over whether prevailing wage reform would be passed as separate legislation, the changes were ultimately placed into the state budget and passed. Sen. Frank Lasee (R-De Pere) and Rep. Hutton (R-Brookfield) led the effort to include prevailing wage reform in the budget. Otherwise known as the “Lasee/Hutton Plan,” the changes reformed the […]
State Budget: Transportation
Date Wed, Jul. 8, 2015 - 8:13pm By Hamilton
The governor’s recommended transportation budget did not include tax or fee increases to help balance the Department of Transportation (DOT) budget. Overall, the governor’s transportation budget recommended providing $6.4 billion to build and maintain transportation projects and relied on $1.3 billion in new bonding to fund transportation projects. His proposal also included $836.1 million over […]
Bills of Note: 30 Bills Signed Into Law
Date Wed, Jul. 8, 2015 - 7:12pm By Hamilton
Governor Scott Walker signed 30 bills into law at the Capitol on July 1. This included bills relating to motorcycle lighting, air pollution, controlled substances for optometrists, microbeads, GPS tracking, camping units and election law changes. Motorcycle Lighting Introduced in March by Representative Jagler (R–Watertown) as Assembly Bill 100, this bill permits a motorcycle to […]
Bills of Note: Changing the Rules
Date Fri, May. 15, 2015 - 10:05am By Hamilton
In this week’s edition of Bills of Note, we provide an update on the ride-sharing bill, a description of major reforms being circulated to change Wisconsin administrating rule-making processes, and a bill that would increase funding for law enforcement grants. Ride-Sharing Bill A bill we introduced in Bills of Note in mid-April has quickly gone […]
Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin President Builds Case for Prevailing Wage Repeal
Date Fri, Apr. 17, 2015 - 9:16am By Hamilton
Wisconsin Independent Businesses President Impugns Credibility of Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance John Mielke, president of Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin (ABC-WI), appeared recently on Wisconsin Public Television’s “Here and Now” to discuss repeal of Wisconsin’s 80 year old law requiring state mandated wages to be paid on public construction projects. ABC-WI is the Wisconsin chapter […]
Bills of Note: Signed, Sealed and Soon to be Delivered in an Uber
Date Fri, Apr. 17, 2015 - 9:11am By Hamilton
Over the last two weeks, there has been extensive bill movement as Governor Walker signed eleven bills into law on April 8th and this week, the State Assembly took up a long list of bills. This included legislation on the ban of microbeads and a bill that would allow for popular ridesharing companies such as […]
Hutton, Vukmir Champion Bill to Repeal State’s Prevailing Wage Law
Date Fri, Apr. 3, 2015 - 9:03am By Hamilton
Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance Study Concludes Law is Flawed, Annually Costing Taxpayers Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Representative Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield) and Senator Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) have introduced Assembly Bill 32/Senate Bill 49, companion bills to repeal the state’s prevailing wage law. Wisconsin’s prevailing wage law requires state and local units of government to pay […]