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JFC Republicans trim Evers’ K-12 budget

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Republicans on the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted Thursday to limit an increase to public education spending to $500 million. Committee Republicans are defending their position on cutting back on Governor Tony Evers’ proposed $1.4 billion boost to K-12 public education. State Senator Luther Olsen said the Legislature is still increasing spending on students.

“It’s not like, well one guy has a proposal, and this is a cut from that. We’re talking about a number that is an increase on an actual number that was spent.”

Olsen says the Republican budget is a reasonable and prudent figure that reaches a goal of having the state provide 30 percent of a district’s funding. “And when I have talked to superintendents around the state, they’re realistic. And they said ‘If you can get us 30 percent, Luther, we will be very happy.'”

State Senator Jon Erpenbach, a Democrat on ther budget panel, said the Governor’s original funding plan comes from both his time as state superintendent and also from his months-long listening session tour for the budget. “It’s not Tony Evers’ wish list. It’s not a political budget. It’s not a ‘gotcha’ budget. This is what the people of Wisconsin want.”

Erpenbach said that under budget cuts from the Walker administration, school districts were forced to resort to local referenda to keep themselves afloat. “For a long time, school districts have been starved, to the point where they are taxing themselves because the state is not living up to its constitutional obligation to make sure that we provide an education for people.”

The Republican budget increase of $500 million over the two year budget cycle includes a $97 million dollar increase for special education.

Finance Committee to begin budget work

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The legislature’s Joint Finance Committee will have their first votes on the proposed state budget on Thursday. Republican leadership is ready to pull out all of Governor Evers policy provisions.

Democratic State Senator LaTonya Johnson says one key provision they want to keep is the expansion of federal Medicaid funding. “It’s money that already belongs to the taxpayers, and it’s time that we start taking advantage of those funds.” The GOP has said that expanding BadgerCare is a non-starter.

Republicans also say they will strip out all non-fiscal policy items from the budget, including marijuana provisions and a proposal to give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants.

Johnson says that despite Republicans having control of the committee, they will have to negotiate with Governor Evers and that compromises will be found.

The first budget votes will take place without committee co-chair Senator Alberta Darling, who is recovering from a fall during a trip to Washington DC. She expects to return shortly. The GOP still holds a majority on the committee.

Republicans ask appeals court to immediately reinstate Walker appointees

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Legislative Republicans are calling on an appeals court to immediately rehire Walker appointees that were fired by Governor Tony Evers. Attorney Misha Tseytlin filed a motion to the court asking for an order to put Republican appointees back into place immediately.

Those people were fired in the lag time between a Dane County court tossing out all actions that took place during the lame duck session and then the appeals court stayed that ruling. In the filing, Tseytlin called the governor’s actions ‘shocking’ and claims that Evers purposely stalled the court in order to fire people. The court already ruled this week that Evers was within his right to fire the appointees.

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Evers pulls National Guard from border

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Governor Tony Evers is pulling Wisconsin National Guard troops from the Mexican border. In n executive order filed on Monday, Evers stated that the 112 national guard troops stationed at the Arizona border were being returned to Wisconsin.

Evers said that the work of securing the border belongs to Customs and Border Patrol, not the military and that there’s no evidence to back up President Trump’s claims of a national security crisis on the southern border.

Rep. Gwen Moore treated for cancer

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Congresswoman Gwen Moore says she’s beaten cancer and is ready to fight for medical coverage for Wisconsinites. The Milwaukee Democrat announced on Tuesday that her Small Cell Lymphoma has gone into remission after 10 months of treatment.

Moore said that the high quality health care she gets as a member of Congress made that possible, but that Republicans have done a lot to try and deny that sort of coverage to Americans. Moore said she’s going to fight for essential health benefits for people so that everyone can have a healthy productive life.

Lawmakers approve GOP lame duck agenda

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Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, Speaker Robin Vos (Photo: Andrew Beckett)

A long 24 hours of debates, caucuses and voting ended early Wednesday morning as Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature pushed through legislation limiting the powers of incoming Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul, and limiting the time frame for municipalities to offer early absentee voting.

Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz called out the process before the final vote was cast in the Assembly.

“It’s a massive deal. Not just for what it means, not just for what it means for the governance of our state. But for the signal that it sends, the lengths that people are willing to go to to retain power,” Hintz said “Rushing it through on three days notice, in a ridiculous last 24 hours of debate? Does anyone honestly think this is the right way to do business?”

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos chided Democrats for their lack of decorum during the lame duck session, and said the bills are all to even out the powers of government.

“You have to start at a place where you have equal footing to negotiate. That’s what these bills are all about. Equal footing to negotiate,” Vos said  “While I know that some have spent the day angry and exaggerating, I would ask that we all cast a green vote as we look to rebalance the powers.”

Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh)

The entire package of bills now heads to Governor Scott Walker for his signature. He has signaled he’d sign them before he leaves office.

Legislation that would have that would protected health care coverage for pre-existing conditions failed to clear a Senate vote Wednesday morning, with all Democrats and two Republicans voting against it. During his reelection campaign, Governor Scott Walker had promised to get that bill enacted into law.

Republican Senators David Craig and Chris Kapenga defeated the bill by voting against it. They wanted the state to create a high risk insurance pool, but that was not part of the bill.

Also not headed to the governor is a proposal to move the date of Wisconsin’s presidential primary from April to March. That measure never made it out of the legislature’s finance committee earlier this week.

Among other measures approved by both chambers:

A work requirement for single, able-bodied adults who are on BadgerCare. The legislature would also get oversight over any request for federal waivers for welfare programs. In addition, the governor will be prohibited from withdrawing from a multi-state lawsuit that challenges Obamacare.

The Legislature would also have new powers to intervene in lawsuits involving the state, an area usually handled by the Attorney General. Financial settlements that the AG negotiates would be subject to legislative oversight.

The legislature would get to make additional appointments to the board that controls the Wisconsin Economic Development agency.

The legislature also voted to limit early voting to two weeks before an election. A similar bill had been struck down by a federal judge. The current version will also face an almost certain court challenge.

 

Schimel concedes Wisconsin attorney general election

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Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel is conceding the November election. Schimel had been holding out hope that more ballots would be counted in his favor during the county canvasses of the vote totals, but he was still 17,000 behind his Democratic challenger, Josh Kaul.

In a statement released Monday, Schimel said that while he could pay for a recount, he won’t put the county clerks through that process and will be conceding the race. He added that it’s been his honor to serve as Attorney General.

“Throughout my career in public service, I have tried to keep the focus of my work on the results, and not myself. I care very deeply about the criminal justice system and hope to find a way to continue the pursuit of justice in the future. However, I will not be requesting a recount of the narrow November election results. While we did receive 77,000 more votes than four years ago, my team and I believe the 17,000 vote gap is definitive. We could have raised the funds necessary to pay for the recount, but in the end, we felt the odds of finding enough votes were too narrow to justify putting the county clerks, their staff and the public through such an ordeal at this time. The people of Wisconsin are good, God is great, and I accept the verdict of the electorate. It has been an honor and privilege to serve as Wisconsin’s Attorney General.”

Schimel, the former District Attorney of Waukesha County, was elected Attorney General in November 2014 and took office on January 5, 2015, succeeding fellow Republican J. B. Van Hollen

Wisconsin National Guard to help provide Hurricane Michael assistance

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The Wisconsin National Guard will assist victims of Hurricane Michael. Twelve members of the Army National Guard will conduct relief operations in Florida.

Two Black Hawk medevac helicopters with hoist capabilities from the Army Guard’s West Bend facility reported for active duty on Wednesday, to prepare for deployment to Florida.

Baldwin and Vukmir set for first debate

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Incumbent Senator Tammy Baldwin and challenger Leah Vukmir are set to have their first debate. The two will meet at UW Milwaukee Monday night for the first of three debates headed into the midterm elections next month.

Expected topics of discussion tonight will be Baldwin’s role in the reforms at the Tomah VA Medical Center, immigration reform and the Republican tax cut plans. The debate starts at 6 pm and will be heard on WTMJ, WUWM, and on JS Online.

Senate will attempt Kimberly-Clark plan passage in November

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Senator Fitzgerald

The Wisconsin Senate will make an attempt next month to pass a $100 million tax incentive package for Kimberly-Clark. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) has called an extraordinary session of the Senate, scheduled for November 12th, to discuss and vote on a package of deals for the paper making company.

It’s not clear at this time if Senate Republicans have enough votes to pass the package. Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) called the move a ploy, and said that if Fitzgerald were serious, the Senate would be holding the vote now, rather than after the election.

Governor Scott Walker is supportive “My message to Kimberly-Clark employees is simple: we are fighting for you,” Walker said in a tweet.

Kimberly-Clark announced in January that it intended to close two Fox Valley area plants, the Cold Spring manufacturing plant in Fox Crossing, with around 500 jobs, and the Neenah Nonwovens facility, with about 110 workers.

In February, the state Assembly passed an incentive package that would offer the company benefits similar to those used to attract Foxconn to the state in 2017. Proponents said that would help protect those 600 jobs and the others that depend on Kimberly-Clark’s presence in the region.

The plan passed the Assembly with a bipartisan vote of 56-37, but backers in the Senate have thus far been unable to muster needed support among majority Republicans.