Fitzgerald Announces Senate Committee Chairs
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 17, 2018
From WisPolitics.com …
All 19 GOP members of the state Senate next session will chair a committee, including the three incoming freshmen.
Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, today announced the standing committees and chairs for the 2019-20 legislative session.
Kathy Bernier, R-Lake Hallie, will become chair of the Elections, Ethics and Rural Issues Committee. Sen. Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, this session chaired the Elections and Utilities Committee.
Andre Jacque, R-DePere, will chair the Local Government, Small Business, Tourism and Workforce Development Committee. Those areas were split among other committees this session.
And Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, will chair the Universities, Technical Colleges, Children and Families Committee. This session, Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, chaired the Universities and Technical Colleges Committee after fellow Republican Sheila Harsdorf left to join the Walker administration.
The changes for returning members include:
*Sen. Pat Testin, R-Stevens Point, replaces outgoing Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Brookfield, as chair of the Committee on Health and Human Services.
*The committee chaired by Sen. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, becomes Economic Development, Commerce and Local Government. This session, it was the Economic Development, Commerce and Trade Committee.
*The committee chaired by Sen. Dave Craig, R-Big Bend, becomes Insurance, Financial Services, Government Oversight and Courts. This session, it was the Insurance, Financial Services, Constitution and Federalism Committee.
*The committee chaired by Sen. Jerry Petrowski, R-Marathon, becomes Transportation, Veterans and Military Affairs. This session, it was the Transportation and Veterans Affairs Committee.
*Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, will chair the Agriculture, Revenue and Financial Institutions Committee. This session, the Agriculture, Small Business and Tourism Committee was chaired by outgoing Sen. Terry Moulton, R-Chippewa Falls.
*LeMahieu will chair the Utilities and Housing Committee after chairing Elections and Utilities this session.
See the release here.
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Blue Ribbon Commission to Meet on Wednesday
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 17, 2018
The co-chairs of the Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding, Rep. Joel Kitchens (R- Sturgeon Bay) and Sen. Luther Olsen (R- Ripon), have announced the next Commission meeting on Wednesday, December 19 in Room 412 East, Wisconsin State Capitol.
The commission meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m., with members discussing and finalizing the commission’s recommendations for improving the school funding formula based on previous public hearings. No public input will be heard at this time.
Blue Ribbon Commission Option Papers
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LFB Releases Memo on 2018-19 General School Aids
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 13, 2018
From The Wheeler Report . . .
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has released the 2018-19 General School Aids for All School Districts. According to the LFB memo, the state will provide $4,656.8 million in 2018-19 for general school aids. There are 401 of the 422 school districts eligible for $4,594.6 million in equalized aid, 25 school districts eligible for $504 million in integration aid, and 62 school districts eligible for $11.8 million in special adjustment aid.
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State Share of K12 Costs Rise to 64.9%
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 13, 2018
From WisPolitics.com …
The state’s share of K-12 education costs bumped up to 64.9 percent of the $10.5 billion spent in 2017-18, according to a new memo from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
That was an increase from the nearly 63.6 percent the state covered in 2016-17 and the 62.7 percent in 2015-16.
LFB said it projects the state will account for 65.4 percent of public school costs in 2018-19, and Evers has said he hopes to return to two-thirds funding in his first budget.
The state first committed in the 1990s to fund two-thirds of public education costs. But that requirement was repealed under Dem Gov. Jim Doyle and a GOP-controlled Legislature in 2003.
Over the past decade, the state’s share of K-12 education bottomed out at 61.7 percent in the 2011-12 school year.
The LFB memos also showed 26 percent of school districts last year received less than half of their revenues from state; in 2013-14 30.2 percent were below 50 percent.
The LFB also detailed how the $940 million in school levy tax credits will be distributed in 2018-19. The credit, which is extended to all taxable property, is distributed based on a formula that takes into account each municipality’s share of the statewide levy over the previous three years.
See the memo on state support for districts here.
See the memo on the school levy tax credit here.
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Speaker Vos Announces Assembly Committees and Chairs
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | December 12, 2018
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has announced the Assembly committees and their respective chairs for the 2019-20 session.
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