McCabe to Launch Gubernatorial Bid
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | August 31, 2017
From WisPolitics.com …
Mike McCabe, the former executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, is set to formally launch his campaign for guv Sept. 12 with an event at the north-central Wisconsin farm where he grew up.
McCabe’s backers have been passing out “save the date” flyers for the Sept. 12 launch along with rallies Sept. 21 and Oct. 5 in Milwaukee. They’ve also sent out a Facebook invite for the Sept. 12 event in Curtiss, which will include a livestream of the announcement, and set up the website http://www.governorbluejeans.com. It’s a take-off on Blue Jean Nation, the advocacy group McCabe founded.
McCabe confirmed in an interview he will formally enter the race Sept. 12 after receiving “nothing but encouragement and positive feedback” since he first announced he was considering running as a Dem.
“I’ve just been hearing from people, ‘Do this, and we’ll do this with you,’ so I’m going to go ahead and do it,” he said.
McCabe will join an increasingly crowded Dem field for guv. Those who have formally announced include state schools Superintendent Tony Evers, Milwaukee businessman Andy Gronik and state Rep. Dana Wachs of Eau Claire. Those still considering a bid include former state Rep. Kelda Roys, state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout and others.
McCabe said he stands out from the rest of the Dem candidates because they “have made their peace with the political culture” in Wisconsin, but he plans to shake it up.
As one example, McCabe said he will limit the size of the donations he will accept. Gubernatorial candidates can accept up to $20,000 from individuals and $86,000 from a PAC.
“Those kinds of donations are legal bribes,” McCabe said.
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123 Districts Receive High Cost Transportation Aid
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | August 30, 2017
Earlier this summer, the Department of Public Instruction distributed $7.5 million in aid to 123 school districts that had student transportation costs that far exceeded the statewide per pupil average.
Additional information including a list of the districts receiving aid is available in the DPI news release http://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/news-release/dpinr2017_70.pdf.
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JFC to Meet on September 5th
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | August 30, 2017
The Joint Committee on Finance will meet in Executive Session on the 2017-19 biennial budget on Tuesday, September 5, 2017, at 1:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in Room 412 East, State Capitol. The Executive Session will be held on the budgets of the following agencies and other matters related to AB 64/SB 30. Discussion and action on the Special Needs Scholarship Program and the School Levy Tax Credit are of particular interest to the SAA.
Public Instruction — Special Needs Scholarship Program
Transportation – Transportation Finance
Transportation — Local Transportation Aid
Transportation — Local Transportation Assistance
Transportation — State Highway Program
Transportation — Motor Vehicles
Transportation — State Patrol
Transportation — Departmentwide
Revenue — Departmentwide
Revenue — Tax Administration
General Fund Taxes — Income and Franchise Taxes
General Fund Taxes — Sales and Excise Taxes
General Fund Taxes — Other Tax Provisions
School Levy Tax Credit
Lottery Fund
Transfer Funds to Budget Stabilization Fund
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SAA Issues State Budget News Release
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | August 29, 2017
This afternoon, the SAA issued a news release regarding the Joint Finance Committee K12 education budget.
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JFC Adopts K12 Budget
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | August 29, 2017
From WisPolitics.com …
The Joint Finance Committee voted 12-4 along party lines to change Gov. Scott Walker’s K-12 education plan by adding a boost for low-spending school districts and increasing the income cutoff for students in the statewide voucher program.
Dems slammed the proposal late yesterday afternoon, saying the additional $639 million provided by the motion still left public schools short of where they were before Republicans took over in 2011, when taking into account things like inflation.
“No matter how tough times are, you have to find a way to pay for the basics, and the basics as far as the state of Wisconsin is concerned is good roads, good schools, not in that order,” said state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton.
The plan would spend about $10 million less than Walker’s original proposal. But it would keep his plan to pump more than $500 million into per-pupil categorical aids that are split evenly among school districts based on enrollment.
Dems also argued the proposal would expand the statewide choice program at the expense of public schools. They pointed to Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates that districts losing students to the voucher program would raise property taxes by $30 million to make up for the state aid they’d lose.
But Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, took issue with the suggestion.
“Parents expand school choice,” Kooyenga said. “We can have all the best intentions in the world of expanding school choice, but if parents tell us that’s silly, then school choice does not expand.”
State Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Brookfield, voted for the 18-page motion, even though she took issue with two provisions. She preferred raising the income cap higher than the GOP proposal and removing the caps on enrollment.
She also knocked the committee’s action on the energy efficiency exemption to school revenue limits. Walker had proposed eliminating it, but instead, members would impose a one-year pause on the program.
Vukmir, who’s weighing a bid for the U.S. Senate, noted West Allis voters rejected a $12.5 million referendum only to see the district use the energy efficiency exemption to exceed the caps by $12.8 million.
“This provision has been abused, and the governor was right when he eliminated it,” Vukmir said, adding it was “an end-run around the taxpayers.”
Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, also expressed disappointment the committee voted to eliminate the guv’s sparsity aid boost, saying the focus on low-spending districts instead would hurt schools he represents.
Walker thanked JFC members for “supporting the education portion of my budget.”
“Once signed, this budget will include more actual dollars for K-12 education than ever before in our history,” he said.
The Joint Finance Committee will meet again in one week to take up transportation and the remaining pieces of the budget.
Co-chair Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said the committee is also keeping open Wednesday and Thursday of next week to finish the budget and exec the Foxconn bill.
See Wisconsin State Journal Coverage here.
See Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Coverage here.
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