Gov. Scott Walker signs the budget during a ceremony in Neenah. (Photo: WHBY)

A more than two month delay in passing a state budget ended Thursday, with Governor Scott Walker signing the $76 billion spending plan into law.

Surrounded by school children in Neenah, the governor touted the $639 million increase in funding for public schools included in the plan. Overall Walker noted there will be “$11.5 billion invested in schools, in K-12 education in this budget and, at the same time, we have lower property taxes on a median value home.”

Walker said the budget also includes another tuition freeze for University of Wisconsin System students.

Democrats criticized the plan, along with 99 full and partial vetoes the governor made before signing the bill. “This budget was bad from the start, and with his veto pen Gov. Walker managed to make it worse by cutting more funding from Wisconsin

schools while keeping a tax break for 47 millionaires,” argued Senate Democratic Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse). “Families in Wisconsin deserve better than a budget that continues to delay road projects, limits healthcare access and takes funding away from local schools.”

The budget was supposed to be in place by the end of June, but Republicans spent months debating several key issues, including whether to increase borrowing to pay for road projects. Walker opposed using tax and fees increases, while Assembly Republicans argued the state should not be so reliant on borrowing.

Affiliate WHBY contributed to this report.

Governor Scott Walker

Governor Scott Walker will sign the state budget Thursday afternoon, but he’s already detailing what in the $76 billion spending plan he will veto.

The governor on Wednesday released a list of 99 vetoes he plans to make to the budget. It includes several he already agreed to in order to help get the bill through the state Senate last week – such as moving up the start date of a prevailing wage repeal and changes to restrictions on school district referendums. Dozens more will be made though, and some are already drawing criticism from Republicans.

They include the removal of a provision that would have allowed low-spending school districts to raise property taxes, if they spend less than the state average per student. Walker said he was vetoing the provision because it could result in a “substantial increase in property tax capacity” without voter approval.

Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette), who co-chairs the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, said he was “severely disappointed” in the governor’s decision to remove the provision from the budget, which he believes would address a long-term inequity in K-12 education funding. “As a result of this veto, low revenue school districts will continue to be required to meet their constitutional educational obligations with less resources than neighboring districts; a funding inequity that has existed for over 20 years,” Nygren argued.

Other vetoes Walker plans to make include scaling back the size of a tax credits for historic rehabilitation projects, cutting five positions that would have been added to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and removing legislative oversight of bonding for transportation projects tied a proposed Foxconn factory in southeastern Wisconsin. “By depriving the Joint Committee on Finance of a passive review, we are continuing to deny the Wisconsin taxpayer a responsible and accountable transportation fund,” Nygren said.

Walker will sign the budget Thursday at an elementary school in Neenah.

After a dramatic showdown within the Republican majority in the state Senate, Wisconsin’s $76 billion budget is finally on its way to the governor’s desk more than two months late.

The plan passed late Friday night on a 19-14 vote, following assurances from the governor that several provisions would be vetoed. The move was required to get three Republican holdouts – Senators Duey Stroebel, Chris Kapenga, and Steve Nass – to vote for the bill without making additional amendments, which would have further delayed passage.

The vetoes promised by Governor Scott Walker include moving up a complete repeal of the state’s prevailing wage law from next fall to when the budget is signed, making changes to a provision that restricts when school districts can hold referenda votes, and removing language that would have expanded the authority of the controversial Public Financing Authority. Walker’s office said he would also veto a tolling implementation study authorized in the budget, along with a provision that would have preempted local regulations on quarries.

The vote followed more than eight hours of Democrats proposing 17 amendments to the plan, dealing with issues ranging from campaign finance reform to lead pipe replacement programs. All of those were rejected. Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) argued the changes were about making it a better plan for the state. “I think we can do better,” Shilling said.

Republicans remained largely silent throughout the debate, with only Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), who co-chairs the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee, and Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) speaking up in defense of the plan. Darling called the budget fiscally responsible and fair to taxpayers. “I think this is one of the best budgets we have passed since I have been in the state Senate,” Darling claimed.

Friday night’s vote caps off a budget process that has seen majority Republicans in the Senate and Assembly at odds for more than two months over how to complete their work. The bill now heads to the governor, who is expected to act on it next week.

Senate debate (PHOTO: WRN)

Debate on Wisconsin’s delayed state budget is now underway in the Senate, with Republicans saying they have the votes needed to pass $76 billion spending plan.

Lawmakers came to the floor Friday afternoon following a three-hour recess. The delay was the result of leaders trying convince enough GOP members to vote for the plan, which is more than two months overdue.

Republicans have a 20 seat majority in the chamber and only need 17 votes to pass the bill, but four senators remained opposed to the plan on Friday morning. It remains unclear how many have decided to back the plan now, following closed-door meetings.

Minority Democrats have introduced 16 amendments. Debate on the bill is expected to run into the evening hours.

The Wisconsin state Capitol.

Wisconsin’s overdue state budget passed a major hurdle at the Capitol Wednesday, although the plan continues to face an uncertain future.

The Assembly passed the plan, which is now more than two months late, just before midnight on a 57-39 vote. All Democrats voted against the bill, with five Republicans joining them – Representatives Scott Allen (R-Waukesha), Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls), Bob Gannon (R-West Bend), Adam Jarchow (R-Balsam Lake), and Joe Sanfelippo (R-New Berlin).

The vote followed nearly 11 hours of debate, which saw more than a dozen amendments from Democrats rejected by majority Republicans. Democratic lawmakers repeatedly attacked the $76 billion spending plan as being “rigged” against working families. “You have rigged this system so poorly, and slanted it against the working people of this state,” argued Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha).

Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) defended the budget plan as fiscally responsible and something Republicans can be proud of. “If this Legislature does nothing else for the balance of the session, we have accomplished our most important task,” Vos said.

The plan now heads to the Senate, where Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) has indicated he still does not have the 17 votes needed to pass it. The Juneau Republican told reporters Wednesday that he has “five or six” members who have concerns about the plan.

Fitzgerald said it’s still his hope to bring the budget to the floor for a vote on Friday morning, although making any changes to the plan could prove difficult now that the Assembly has passed it. Vos said repeatedly Wednesday that the Assembly would not be back next week to take up any changes to the plan and accused some senators of holding the Legislature hostage.

Senate Republicans were expected to meet in a closed door caucus Thursday, as they try to rally the votes needed to bring the budget to the floor.