June 18, 2013

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Senate Dems reach out to GOP ‘moderates’

June 18, 2013 By

With the Wisconsin state Assembly set to begin budget deliberations, Democrats in the Senate are seeking Republican support for changes they believe should be made in the state’s spending plan. State Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) on Monday extended an invitation to moderate Republicans in the Senate, asking them to oppose the budget as approved by the Joint Finance Committee. Larson thinks there’s an opening, with GOP members like Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) and Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay).

“There’s been a lot of verbiage by these more moderate Republicans, when they’re talking to their press and talking to their constituents,” said Larson. “It’s a matter of if they are just saying that, or if they actually want to vote that way if we take the budget up on Thursday,” The Assembly is scheduled to begin budget debate today and could have its work completed in time for the Senate to take it up Thursday.

Schultz does have a laundry list of things he believes can be improved in the budget. “I haven’t been coy. I’ve listed a lot of things where I think considerable improvement can be made, and I know Senator Cowles has done the same,” he said. “I think that’s the way it should be.”

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, (R-Juneau) said there will be a technical amendment in the Assembly to make small changes before the bill moves to the Senate, with the goal of keeping the finance committee’s version intact. ”That’s our goal right now,”  Fitzgerald told WISC.  “I’d like to know everything will go just as planned, but sometimes it doesn’t.”

While Democrats and Schultz think the budget can be improved in the Senate, any changes made there would then have to go back to the Assembly – where they would likely be a tough sell among more conservative Republicans in that chamber.

Governor Scott Walker downplayed the prospect of any significant changes to the budget approved by the Joint Committee on Finance. “There may be some tweaks, there’s a couple of issues with things that Senator Cowles has,” Walker said. “I think those are things we could more than accommodate and work through, but I don’t think you’re going to see a substantive change.”

Filed Under: Budget, News, Politics & Government

Plane crash victims identified

June 17, 2013 By

Two men killed in a plane crash on Madeline Island are identified.

Ashland County Sheriff Mick Brennan says 63-year-old Dr. Richard Renwick of La Crosse — the pilot — and his brother, 58-year-old Bruce Renwick of Waunakee, perished when the small single engine Piper Comanche crashed and burned early Saturday evening.

“A witness there said it looked like the plane tried to land, aborted, went up, tried to turn around, and stalled out, and went nose into the … about 45 to 60-degree angle into the wooded area … about 150 yards south of the Madeline Island airport.”

Officers were on scene about five minutes later, he says, to see the aircraft totally engulfed in flames. Sheriff Brennan says the bodies had to be identified through the use of dental records at the medical examiner’s office in Dane County.

“It’s a very tragic thing to have happen, especially on Father’s Day weekend here … our heartfelt sympathies go out to the families of the Renwicks.”

The FAA and NTSB are investigating to determine the cause of the crash.

AUDIO: Jackie Johnson report 1:09

Thanks to Larry Lee, WSAU

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, News

Evers calls for education budget changes

June 17, 2013 By

As the Legislature prepares to begin debating the two year state budget, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers is asking members to consider changes to the proposal. Evers wants majority Republicans to remove provisions that would expand a private school voucher program statewide and to use a projected surplus to increase per pupil funding at public schools.

Evers says the state already has a difficult time paying for the schools it has, and the expansion of vouchers would essentially have Wisconsin trying to support two schools systems. He says “our kids are caught in the middle of an ideologically driven expansion of school vouchers, and it’s financially reckless and academically unproven.”

Evers is also criticizing a tax credit for parents with children in private school, which carries an estimated price tag of $30 million. It would allow parents of children in K-8 to claim tuition of up to $4,000, while parents of high school students could claim up to $10,000.

AUDIO: Tony Evers (:13)

While Assembly Republicans have shown few signs of being open to stopping the voucher expansion, the plan is seeing some push back from the Senate GOP. Evers and Democrats on Monday called on those members to come forward and side with them in efforts to remove the provision from the budget.

The budget approved by the Joint Finance Committee would increase per pupil funding at public schools by $150 a year. Evers says that figure falls short of what’s needed to make up for hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts made under the last state budget. He says the “small bump provided in the budget bill for public schools doesn’t make up for those cuts, nor does it come close to covering the rising costs.”

Evers and Democrats are asking the GOP to increase that figure to $275.

The state Assembly will open the budget debate Tuesday. GOP leaders have so far indicated they plan to approve the JFC version of the bill with minimal changes.

Filed Under: Budget, News

Teen charged in drug-fueled ‘death by semi’

June 17, 2013 By

A northern Wisconsin teenager, who allegedly provided a hallucinogenic drug to another teen, faces charges in the youth’s death. Alex Hill of Cameron was struck by a semi truck as he dashed across U.S. Highway 8 early Saturday morning.

Dorien Hash of Barron was arrested on a charges of First Degree Reckless Homicide. Investigators discovered that the 17 year-old had provided Hill, 18, with a hallucinogen during the night.

According to the Barron County Sheriff’s Department, the semi driven by 51-year-old Duane E. Nelson of Almena was eastbound on Highway 8, and was unable to avoid striking Hill, who turned towards the semi and into the path of it. Hill died at an Eau Claire hospital.

The case remains under investigation by the sheriff’s department and Wisconsin State Patrol.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, News

Stevens Point to consider domestic partnership benefits

June 17, 2013 By

A proposal before the Stevens Point City Council Monday night is seeking to give domestic partnerships the same rights as traditional husband and wife couples.

Mayor Andrew Halverson and City Attorney Andrew Logan Beveridge drafted the changes which would change the language of city policies to openly include same sex couples or life partners, and would accept domestic partners under the city’s family insurance benefits.

Halverson believes it’s time to make these changes. “We want to be able to maintain the most all-inclusive workplace that we can possibly have, and send the message through regulations relating to Stevens Point as a workplace that Stevens Point as an overall community is extremely inclusive.”

Making changes to include domestic partnerships may be controversial, but Halverson believes it is the right thing to do. “I think it’s clearly the right thing to do. I know and understand that others will have varying opinions to that. I’m of the impression that treating people as equally as you possibly can is by far the right thing to do.”

The Domestic Partnership proposal advanced to the council without the approval of the city’s Personnel Committee. Halverson says they did not give it the reception he hoped for. “The Personnel Committee was very interesting. There was a motion to approve, and there were no comments, no seconds of any kind. In essence, the silence was somewhat deafening.”

Part of the changes proposed by Mayor Halverson includes insurance coverage for an employee’s domestic partner and the partner’s eligible children and grandchildren. Some aldermen have already said the problem lies in the language of the draft agreement. Council President Jerry Moore is one that believes the words “same sex” is discriminatory, and goes against the state laws pertaining to domestic partnerships.

Expect plenty of debate and possibly some amendments before a vote at the city council meeting.

According to Fair Wisconsin Education Fund, governmental bodies already offering domestic partner benefits include the cities of Madison, Milwaukee, Appleton, Eau Claire, and Racine plus La Crosse and Milwaukee Counties. Businesses offering domestic partnership benefits include SC Johnson, MillerCoors, Kimberly-Clark, Aurora Health Care, and American Family Insurance.

Larry Lee-WSAU

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government
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