LFB Memo on Non-Fiscal Policy Items
By John Forester(Don't Use) | April 21, 2011
From The Wheeler Report . . .
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau, in a memo to JFC Member Grigsby, has identified nearly four dozen non-fiscal policy items included in Gov. Walker’s biennial budget bill. The Joint Finance Committee is to begin executive sessions on the bill next Tuesday, April 26th. At that time, the JFC is slated to begin voting on the following areas of the bill:
Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board.
- Dept of Children and Families – Child Support.
- Dept of Health Services – Care Facilities.
- Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.
- Dept of Administration – Division of Gaming.
- Office of State Employment Relations.
- Dept of Revenue – Lottery Administration.
- Public Defender.
- Judicial Council.
- Judicial Commission.
- Board of Commissioners of Public Lands.
- Dept of Natural Resources – Departmentwide.
- Fox River Navigational System Authority.
- Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board.
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Fuller Rails Against Walker Choice Proposals
By John Forester(Don't Use) | April 12, 2011
From WisPolitics…
Longtime school choice advocate Dr. Howard Fuller called out Gov. Walker’s budget proposal for “hijacking” the choice program.
Fuller said the most egregious provision of the choice program budget proposal is the elimination of an income eligibility requirement.
“I never got into this to give someone like me $6,500 to send their kid to Marquette High School,” he said.
“This is where I get off the train,” Fuller said. “I’m not going to go anywhere in America and fight for a program that subsidizes rich people.”
Fuller is suggesting that income eligibility for choice schools be tied to BadgerCare eligibility. He said that would make about 80 percent of the Milwaukee population eligible for the program.
“It’s so outrageous what he’s talking about doing,” Fuller said of Walker’s proposal.
Fuller supports lifting the enrollment cap as Walker has proposed, but he said it must be coupled with measures to ensure students are achieving in the schools. Fuller believes students in all publicly-funded schools, including choice schools, should take the Wisconsin Knowledge Concepts Examination.
Fuller and Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, had a spirited discussion about the future of the program.
“I will fight this with everything I have,” Fuller told Grothman. “I did not fight all these years for a program to give a subsidy to rich people. We shouldn’t have an America where only people with money have a choice.”
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Arcadia JFC Hearing Moved To Neenah
By John Forester(Don't Use) | April 8, 2011
The fourth public hearing on the 2011-13 budget has been moved from Arcadia to the Pickard Civic Auditorium in Neenah, the co-chairs of the JFC have announced.
The Wednesday hearing, the last scheduled by the committee, had been set for a school in Arcadia, but the co-chairs said the district had concerns about a disruption to students.
The hearing is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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Olsen Concerned About Transportation Budget
By John Forester(Don't Use) | April 7, 2011
At the same time Governor Scott Walker is proposing deep cuts to education and local governments, he is shoring up the state’s transportation fund with $317 million in new money. And that fact has not gone unnoticed by the chairman of the Senate Education Committee.
“I just am concerned that the transportation budget is not sacrificing too much where all the other folks we deal with are,” said Senator Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) during a Monday briefing before the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee.
Olsen said he was concerned about transferring money out of the general fund because it could otherwise go toward schools and local governments, which face a nearly $1 billion cut over two years to balance the state’s budget.
Olsen noted that transportation projects received generous funding through the federal stimulus bill in the last biennium — which was also a painful session for local governments.
“This is hard to justify in an era of shared budget sacrifice, said Olsen.
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Democrats Announce Budget Hearing Schedule
By John Forester(Don't Use) | April 6, 2011
In addition to the 4 Joint Finance Committee Budget Hearings being held from April 7-13, Democrats have announced that they will hold additional hearings on the budget throughout the state.
These Democratic hearings will be held:
- Saturday, April 9: UW-Oshkosh, Reeve Memorial Union, Oshkosh (10:30-4:30)
- Saturday, April 9: Chippewa Valley Technical College, Business Education Center, Eau Claire. (10-4)
- Friday, April 15: UW-Baraboo Gymnasium, Baraboo. (1-7 pm)
- Monday, April 18: Northcentral Technical College Heath Sciences Building, Wausau. (1-7 pm)
- Wednesday, April 20: Blackhawk Technical College North Commons, Janesville. (1-6 pm)
- Monday, April 25: UW-La Crosse Cartwright Center, La Crosse. (1-7 pm)
In addition, other Democratic legislators will hold hearings:
- Monday, April 11: Gateway Technical College RACI Great Lakes. (5-10 pm)
- Saturday, April 16: Brown County Central Library, Green Bay. (10-4)
- Saturday, April 16: Nicolet Technical College Learning Resources Building Auditorium, Rhinelander. (10-1)
- Monday, April 25: Appleton Public Library, Appleton. (1-7 pm)
- Monday, May 9: Gateway Technical College Auditorium, Kenosha. (10-3).
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