|
Reactions to the Governor's proposed $68 billion budget keep pouring in, as the Legislative Fiscal Bureau prepares its detailed summary of what all the changes mean. While legislators wait for that analysis, there has been no shortage of suggested changes to some of the more controversial items like the cuts to UW, bonding in the transportation budget, and substantial changes to the courts, DNR and the school choice program. Hamilton Consulting is doing its own deep dive into the budget, including a review of the Department of Natural Resources recommended budget in this week's Tidbits.
In addition, this week the legislature has introduced and voted on bills, which you can read about in "Bills of Note" section and after this edition, we will have introduced all 27 freshman legislators.
And don't forget to vote next week if you're in the 20th Senate District! The special primary election to fill U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman's old Senate seat is February 17, and with no Democratic candidates, the new senator will almost assuredly be the winner of next week's election.
If you wish to receive additional information about a topic addressed in Tidbits, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Hamilton Consulting Team.
|
| 2015-2017 State Budget: DNR Budget Summary |
Governor Walker submitted his 2015-17 biennial budget to the legislature on Tuesday, February 3. The governor's recommended budget for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is $554 million in FY 2016 and $550 million in FY 2017 for all funds (General Purpose Revenue - GPR, Federal Revenue - FED, Program Revenue - PR, Segregated Revenue - SEG). This is a 3.6% percent decrease from the adjusted 2015 base over the recommended FY 2016 budget and .7 percent decrease in the budget from 2016 to 2017. Over the biennium, the governor recommends a $24.5 million reduction to DNR's budget. This includes eliminating 67 positions for savings of $5 million in each fiscal year of the biennium.
Read the summary.
|
|
Governor Walker Releases 2015-2017 State Budget
|
Governor Walker introduced his 2015-2017 executive budget to the legislature on February 3rd. In his budget proposal, the governor recommends a $35.9 billion operating budget in fiscal year 2015-2016 and $32.3 billion budget in fiscal year 2016-2017. This includes all major funding sources (general purpose revenue - GPR, segregated revenue - SEG, federal revenue - FED, and program revenue - PR). The governor's GPR budget is $15.8 billion and $16.9 billion in fiscal year 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively. This is a .3 percent decrease in state spending for fiscal year 2015-2016 over the 2014-15 base, and a 6.7 percent increase in spending in fiscal year 2016-2017.
Read more... |
| Governor Walker's State Budget Address |
 | | Gov. Walker's State Budget Address |
Watch the governor's address, or read the transcript.
|
| WEDA Legislative Day 2015 | |
The Wisconsin Economic Development Association (WEDA) held its annual legislative day this week, with nearly 70 WEDA members participating.
WEDA members met with approximately 90 legislators and staff from the Senate and Assembly. This face time with legislators gave WEDA members the opportunity to discuss the WEDA legislative agenda and connect the impact these legislative changes can have on economic development projects in the legislator's district.
Read more...
|
| Bills of Note |
In the second installment of the Hamilton Consulting Group Bills of Note, we highlight three legislative initiatives that may be of particular interest to our readers. This week we discuss the GPS tracking device bill, proposed changes to oxygen provider licensure requirements, and Made in the USA legislation.
- Unlawful Use of GPS
- Oxygen Providers
- Made in America
|
| Special Primary Election on February 17 |
With only three Republican candidates and no Democrats, the special primary election for the 20th Senate District on February 17th will be the results to watch for next week. The 20th Senate District senate seat is vacant as U.S. Representative Glenn Grothman (R) resigned from the seat shortly before being elected to Congress this January. The governor called a special election for the seat to align with the spring election, however with no Democrats on the ballot, next week special primary will most likely decide the winner. Read more... |
| Get to Know a Freshman: Week 7 | |
In our last edition of the "Get to Know a Freshman" series, we bring you information on five incoming legislators. With one of the largest freshman classes ever in the Wisconsin Legislature, it may be harder to get to know the newly elected senators and representatives.
This week, Political Tidbits highlights the following new legislators:
- State Representative Dave Considine
- State Representative Dave Heaton
- State Representative James Edming
- State Representative John Macco
- State Representative Scott Allen
For the 2015-2016 Wisconsin Legislature, the State Senate has seven new senators (five Republican, two Democrat), and the State Assembly has 25 new representatives (18 Republican, seven Democrat).
Read more...
|
| TIF Bill Package to be Introduced |
The Joint Legislative Council recommended that the eight Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) bills submitted by the Legislative Council Study Committee on TIF be introduced to the full legislature with a 19-0 vote, with three members not present. The approval allows the eight TIF bills to advance into the normal legislative process. The recommendations are outlined in the study committee's report to the Joint Legislative Council and include the following eight bills.
Read more... |
|
Hamilton Consulting: Your Government Relations Easy Button
|
The Hamilton team is working to make sure our clients have the tools necessary to accomplish their government relations goals. We encourage our clients to remember to make use of all the many services we provide:
- Political Tidbits - Political Tidbits is our FREE email newsletter on political and policy developments in Wisconsin, including links to relevant news articles, policy papers, and other informative documents. We are constantly updating our mailing list and we could use your help! Please let us know if your email address is changing so you will continue to receive our newsletter. Also, feel free to forward this newsletter to others who may be interested in subscribing.
- News Clips - President Harry Truman once wrote that you can't get all the facts from just one newspaper, and without the facts, "you cannot make proper judgments about what is going on." The right column of Political Tidbits contains a selection of the most important news stories, but did you know you can always get the news sorted by subject on the Hamilton Consulting website?
- Political Fundraising Calendar - Hamilton's political fundraising calendar allows you to see all of the upcoming fundraising events and import them to your own calendar.
|
|
The Hamilton Consulting Group Political Tidbits is a free newsletter on Wisconsin political and policy developments. Please forward it to others who may wish to receive this service.
If you require additional information about a topic addressed in Tidbits for your organization's board meeting or trade publication, please do not hesitate to contact a Hamilton Consulting Group lobbyist.
To ensure that Political Tidbits never gets caught in your spam filter, please add publications@hamilton-consulting.com to your address book/contacts list. If you are receiving these emails via a workplace email account, please advise your IT service desk to do this for you.
|
|
|
|
