Joint Finance Committee public hearing in Brillion (Twitter photo, Wisconsin Assembly Republicans @WIAssemblyGOP)
Members of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee hold their final public hearing today on Governor Scott Walker’s proposed state budget. The hearing, taking place at Reedsburg High School, is expected to draw hundreds of people who are looking to weigh in on Walker’s $70 billion biennial budget plan.
The hearing is the fourth that the JFC has held around the state, although many lawmakers have been holding their own listening sessions on the budget in districts throughout the state. During the last three hearings, legislators heard hours of testimony on budget provisions ranging from cuts to Family Care and public assistance programs, education funding cuts, changes to how the University of Wisconsin System operates, and plans for new bonding to fund transportation projects and construction of a new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Republican lawmakers on the budget panel have already indicated changes are expected to several parts of Walker’s budget. Those include removing a plan to give the UW System more autonomy, while also reducing the size of a proposed budget cut.
The Finance Committee is expected to begin work on revising the budget plan later this spring. A vote on the final package is expected sometime in June.