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Shared revenue bill passes Assembly but remains in doubt

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At the Capitol, Assembly Republicans have passed their shared revenue bill on Wednesday. But Democrats say the measure falls short, and it’s unclear whether Governor Tony Evers and the state Senate are on board.

At a press conference prior to Wednesday’s floor vote on the amended legislation, Speaker Robin Vos was clear that this is take it or leave it. Vos sad the final bill was the result of months of “good faith” negotiations. He said the amended version will provide a guaranteed 15% increase in state shared revenue for every community in Wisconsin.

Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer said Republicans haven’t done their due diligence on the measure, calling it “not ready for primetime.” An Evers spokesperson said he hasn’t signed off on any amendment to the bill, which devotes 20 percent of future state state sales tax revenue to local units of government.

On Thursday, state Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu told the Associated Press that caucus would likely strip out a provision that would require approval from voters in Milwaukee to raise local sales taxes. Vos said could kill the bill that the Assembly passed.

State Sen. Ballweg calls for more funding for rural roads and bridges

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A Wisconsin State Senator says the state budget needs to include money to improve local roads serving farmers. 

Markesan Republican Joan Ballweg says smaller county and town bridges are in need of serious repairs. “Making it difficult for our farmers to get their product to the main arteries, I think is something that has been overlooked for some time.”

Ballweg says lack of maintenance has led to stricter and stricter weight limits on rural roads. “There’s really no good way to unload big pieces of equipment out on a town or county highway”

Ballweg wants to see 150 million dollars in the budget for those bridges and roads. Ballweg serves on the state’s legislative joint finance committee, so she will have some say in the budget presented to the Governor.

Knodl wins special election in 8th state Senate District

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A win Tuesday for Republicans in a state Senate special election. Republican state Representative Dan Knodl defeated Democrat Jodi Habush Sinykin, who conceded on Wednesday.

Knodl’s victory in the 8th State Senate District special election gives Senate Republicans the 22nd vote needed for a supermajority to override vetoes by Governor Tony Evers. Assembly Republicans are two seats shy of the 66 votes needed in that chamber.

The Senate does have the votes to impeach elected officials, and Knodl has said he wants to impeach Milwaukee County Judges and District Attorney John Chisholm.

Evers’ office reschedules bill signing to accommodate JFC co-chairs

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The governor’s office has rescheduled a bill-signing ceremony, following a complaint from the measure’s Republican authors. Governor Tony Evers will sign legislation co-authored by Joint Finance Committee co-chairs Senator Howard Marklein and Representative Mark Born on Thursday.

In a press release on Tuesday, the lawmakers accused Evers of a “blatant political move to purposely exclude us from the bill signing” originally scheduled for Wednesday, while the budget panel holds a public hearing in Waukesha.

In a statement, Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said the governor’s office doesn’t “spend every waking minute obsessing over ways to irritate Republicans in the Legislature,” and that Marklein and Born could have just picked up the phone to request a rescheduling.

“Our office often works with legislators to adjust and accommodate scheduling preferences as we are able and as the governor’s availability permits—had either of the co-chairs decided to pick up the phone to simply ask us to do so in this situation before issuing a press release, we would have.”

 

Assembly Bill 28 provides the option of protective status classification for county jailers.

JFC co-chair says Brewers ballpark funding proposal ‘needs serious work’

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On Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, Governor Tony Evers’ pitch to spend state funds on the Milwaukee Brewers’ ballpark is still viewed with caution by Republicans on the legislature’s budget panel.

“That appears to have been a plan that the governor basically negotiated with himself,” Joint Finance Committee co-chair, Representative Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) said Thursday. Born said it doesn’t look was “any work . . .  really with anyone on this and also why it’s a plan that needs serious work.”

Evers’ budget proposal included $290 million for upgrades at American Family Field, an amount that almost certainly won’t make it into a final budget.

“The governor just kind of plopped this plan out there without any explanation, any show the real need,” said Born. “We’ve got a lot of work to do just to communicate with folks across Wisconsin about what this means or what reasonable plan might look like.”

 

Racine’s mayor happy to see legislative fix for police union bargaining

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A state labor ruling that eliminated health insurance requirements for police and fire departments has legislative Republicans moving to pass a law to fix that. 

That ruling was against the Racine police department after the city challenged providing health insurance to retirees due to cost issues. Wisconsin Act 10, passed under the Scott Walker Administration, eliminated collective bargaining for public sector unions. 

Racine Mayor Cory Mason says he warned lawmakers this would happen when Act 10 was written. “The law says it is a prohibited subject of bargaining. I don’t know how much room for interpretation there is on that.” 

Mason says if Republicans really wanted to help public safety, they should spend some tax surplus on the problem.

“Whether it’s teachers or cops and firefighters, you’re gonna make it harder to have the kind of workforce that Wisconsin needs and deserves to educate our kids and keep us safe. And so here we are.”

Legislature’s budget committee gets to work this week

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At the Capitol, work begins in earnest on the next two year state budget, as the Wisconsin Legislature’s budget writing Joint Finance Committee begins agency briefings this week.

The Departments of Corrections and Transportation start things out Tuesday. The Departments of Administration, and Safety and Professional Services are scheduled for Thursday.

Democrats on the budget panel have priorities they’d like to see addressed. Milwaukee Senator LaTonya Johnson says her’s include mental health. “Mental health is a huge factor all across the state,” she said in a WisconsinEye Newsmakers interview. “Making sure that those individuals who need the resources and the help are able to get it. And also childcare, childcare is is huge, and making sure that our kiddos have quality care.”

There’s little agreement between Republicans on the budget panel and Democrats like Milwaukee Representative Evan Goyke, on what to prioritize in the budget. “Issues like funding public schools, the university system, local government leaders, childcare providers, health care providers. Those were voices at the table in Milwaukee, I expect those to be some of the dominant themes of this coming budget,” Goyke said.

Republicans hold the majority on the panel and plan to start from a base budget and reject much of Democratic Governor Tony Evers proposed budget of nearly $140 billion. The non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau reports the state is believed to have a surplus of $ 7 billion at this time.

Democrats and Republicans have scheduled budget listening sessions around the state.

Republicans want special election for Secretary of State

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Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature want a special election for Secretary of State. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu noted on Wednesday that Doug LaFollette had hardly begun a new term when he abruptly resigned.

“There are three years and nine months left in this term, where a governor has appointed an unelected person to fill an elective position.” said LeMahieu. You can read his statement here.

Madison Democrat Kelda Roys said there is a reason why democrats won that election again in November. “It’s not because Doug LaFollette was such a stellar candidate. It’s because voters wanted to keep Republicans the hell away from that office.” said Roys.

Republicans called “foul” when Governor Tony Evers named former state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski to the post. Resolutions passed in the Assembly and Senate on Wednesday are non-binding, and Evers won’t be calling an election.

Governors are allowed to make appointments to vacancies in state executive positions, and statute says they “may” call special elections, something Evers has indicated he won’t be doing.

Senate confirms some Evers appointees

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Some members of Governor Tony Evers’ administration are finally official. Many people named to posts by the Democratic governor in his first term have yet to be confirmed.

But on Wednesday, the state Senate unanimously confirmed several, including Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation Secretary Missy Hughes, and Anne Sayers as Secretary of the Department of Tourism.

Both had been serving in an “acting” capacity. Hughes was appointed by Evers in 2019, Sayers in 2020 after her predecessor Sarah Meaney left without ever having been confirmed.

State Republicans signal intentions of striking down new school vaccination rules

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The head of the state legislature’s rules committee wants to strike down new guidelines for child vaccinations.

That’s following a hearing where the Department of Health Services staff explained why the changes will help prevent serious illnesses. Doctor Ryan Westergaard from DHS says the goal is to prevent new outbreaks of whopping cough and prevent deaths from meningitis. “We aim to do everything that we know how to do, apply every tool that has been shown to be effective and safe, to keep our communities healthy. We believe that the only acceptable number of childhood deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases is zero.”

But State Senator Steve Nass told Dr. Westergaard he couldn’t trust anything Westergaard said after the state’s response to COVID-19.

“Honest to God, that made me so angry back then. And even now, I’ll be honest with you when I see you, I refer to you as Wisconsin’s Dr. Fauci.”

Nass calls the rules “arbitrary and capricious.”