Wisconsin Radio Network

Wisconsin News and Sports

You are here: Home / Archives for News

State budget now headed to Governor Tony Evers

By

Governor Tony Evers WRN image

The legislature has finished its budget work, now will the governor sign it? State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Wednesday that members of his Republican caucus were “skittish” because of the potential for vetoes from Governor Tony Evers.

“I don’t ever remember a budget document getting this much scrutiny, prior to the legislature voting on it,” Fitzgerald said.

The state Senate passed the budget, 17-16, with Republicans David Craig & Steve Nass voting no along with all Democrats. Wednesday’s debate was not as long as that in the Assembly, which lasted 10 hours on Tuesday. The Republican Senate majority turned back a number of amendments offered by Democrats.

“The budget that is on its way to Governor Evers’ desk is incredibly disappointing compared to what he originally introduced,” said Senator Jon Erpenbach, a Democrat who serves on the Joint Finance Committee. As in the Assembly, Senate Democrats called out the majority for rejecting $1.2 billion of federal money to expand Medicaid, which had been the foundation of Evers’ “Peoples Budget.”

Still, Fitzgerald is optimistic that Evers will sign the package, which Republicans have characterized as a compromise.

“And I think he will. I’ve urged him every time that we’ve met in his office to give that a lot of thought,” Fitzgerald said. “I think it would be difficult to reassemble the legislature, bring them back, and then work on the policy decisions from a different perspective.”

Evers has a number of options now, from partial vetoes of the $81.7 billion spending plan, to vetoing the entire package.
–

Kapenga says he’ll vote yes on state budget

By

Sen. Kapenga

State Senator Chris Kapenga says he’s a “yes” vote on the state budget. “I now can confirm I am firmly in the yes column,” the Delafield Republican said Wednesday morning. “There is nothing I want more than to see the budget pass through the legislature – including the Tesla provision – and go to the governor’s desk for signature.”

held a press conference just before the Senate took the floor today/Wednesday. The so-called “Tesla provision” was inserted into the budget by the Assembly. Kapenga has rebuilt several Teslas and has sold some Tesla battery packs, but he said that it’s a hobby and not a money maker for him. The provision would allow Tesla to sell its cars directly to consumers in Wisconsin without the need of a dealership network.

Kapenga said the Tesla provision by itself was not enough to get him to vote yes. “The Tesla provision is not something that I think is material enough to get me there,” he said. “It was a combination of things.”

Kapenga’s support should mean that majority Republicans will have enough votes to pass the budget. Conservative Republicans David Craig and Steve Nass have already indicated that they will not support the plan because it spends too much money. If they were joined by one other GOP member, the spending plan would lack the needed votes.

Wisconsin Assembly approves state budget

By

The Wisconsin state Assembly passed the Republican-crafted state budget on Tuesday night, along largely partisan lines. The $80.5 billion two year spending plan is scheduled to be taken up by the Senate on Wednesday. Democratic Governor Tony Evers has yet to indicate what sorts of veto actions he may take.

As Assembly debate wound down, Speaker Robin Vos excoriated Democrats for failing to support what he called a “middle ground” budget.

“We’ve taken out almost all of the competitive Democrats but there are some of you. And you’re going to have a heck of a time going back and explaining to people who live in Wauwatosa and Brookfield why you’re voting just like someone who lives in downtown Madison.”

Minority Leader Godorn Hintz urged members to vote “no” on the Republican budget, as budget.

“The decision has real consequences on health care, on other state programs, on our state’s future. You accuse Democrats of finding a way to oppose everything, yet Wisconsin Republicans won’t even support a measure (accepting federal money to expand Medicaid) supported by Republicans in every neighboring state. You picked winners and losers when you didn’t have to, and a budget that wastes state money, that fails to make the investments necessary and possible, is not a budget worthy of support.”

Three Republicans and all Democrats voted against the budget as it passed 60-39.

Assembly Republicans tweaked the spending plan with an amendment that would allow car manufacturer Tesla to sell directly to consumers. Republicans in the Senate cannot afford to lose more than two votes. Republican state Senator Chris Kapenga also has a business selling Tesla parts.

The GOP amendment also would add more assistant DA positions, and provide towns an additional $5 million for roads. It also would pump another 6-point-2 million dollars into the lottery credit to ensure the GOP budget would have a lower property tax bill for a “median-valued home” than in the budget Governor Tony Evers proposed.

Six victims in Langlade County fire includes four children

By

Six people are dead, including four children, following a Tuesday morning house fire in Langlade County. WAOW-TV reports that the victims, including four children, died in the fire of a multi-family dwelling in the community of Pickeral.

The fire was reported at around 6:30 a.m. and crews spent four hours getting the flames under control.

The children range in age from seven months to 10 years old. The adults are said to be in their 30s. Names had not been released as of Tuesday evening and the cause of the fire has not been determined.

Pickeral is an unincorporated community located on Wisconsin Highway 55, 19 miles northeast of Antigo.

WSAU

Tuesday is Lightning Awareness Day in Wisconsin

By

This time of year, it’s important to be aware of the dangers posed by lightning. Summer thunderstorms bring with them the danger of lightning strikes. “The simplest advice is when thunder roars, go indoors,” says Andrew Beckett with Wisconsin Emergency Management.


“Most injuries or deaths that occur as a result of lightning strikes are from people doing recreational activities outside,” Beckett says. If someone you are with is struck by lightning and is not breathing, you should begin CPR and call 911 immediately. Tuesday is “Lightning Awareness Day” in Wisconsin.

State Supreme Court rules governor has oversight of school policy

By

Oversight of some school policies shifts from the state schools superintendent to the governor, following a ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The Court’s conservative majority sided with the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty in its 2017 lawsuit against then state schools superintendent Tony Evers.

Evers claimed he did not need to get executive approval from then Governor Scott Walker, for rules Evers wrote for the Department of Public Instruction. WILL’s suit cited a state law passed that same year, which requires state agencies to get approval from the governor’s office and state Department of Administration, which is controlled by the governor.

Assembly set to pass state budget on Tuesday

By

The Wisconsin Assembly is scheduled to vote on the Republican-crafted state budget today. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says it meets the governor’s priorities of a middle class tax cut while funding schools, roads and health care.

“On the four things that Governor Evers said he wanted, we’ve accomplished all four of the goals but used our own conservative principles to get it done,” Vos said last week. “We feel this is a reasonable compromise, it achieves his goals but it also sticks to our principles, and I think that’s why in the end he should sign it.”

The state Senate is to take up the budget on Wednesday. Governor Tony Evers says he’ll wait until there’s a finished product before talking about his veto plans

Assembly approves bill to end 5 county Miller Park sales tax

By

Miller Park WRN image

The Miller Park Stadium tax is a step closer to ending. You could say the roof is nearly closed, on the five-county, one-half percent sales tax that funded construction and operation of the Brewers stadium.

It’s been in place since 1996 in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha, and Racine counties and has been generally unpopular the father one gets from Milwaukee.

An Assembly passed bill specifies the tax must end no later than August 31 of next year, with any excess collections going back to the counties. The bill now goes to the state Senate. The Miller Park Stadium Board decided earlier this year to end the tax by March 2020.

Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds state’s lame-duck laws

By

The state’s highest court has signed off on the so-called “lame duck” actions of the legislature. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld the Legislature’s authority to meet in extraordinary session. That’s a rejection of a challenge by of Democratic groups to Republican actions in December, which limited the authority of incoming Democrats, Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul.

In the 4-3 ruling the court’s conservative majority concluded extraordinary sessions are constitutional and that the Legislature is the sole authority for its “self-imposed statutory or procedural rules” and only accountable to the voters for failing to follow them.

“Today’s decision is disappointing and, unfortunately, all too predictable. It is based on a desired political outcome, not the plain meaning and text of the constitution,” Governor Tony Evers said in a statement.

“The state constitution is clear. It limits when the legislature can meet to pass laws. Our framers knew that no good comes from lawmakers rushing laws through at the last minute without public scrutiny. The lame-duck session proves the framers were right. This was an attack on the will of the people, our democracy, and our system of government.”

“We are pleased by the Supreme Court’s common sense decision. The Court upheld a previously non-controversial legislative practice used by both parties for decades to enact some of the most important laws in the state<” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said in a joint statement.

“This lawsuit, pursued by special interests and Governor Evers, has led to an unnecessary waste of taxpayer resources. We urge the governor to work with the Legislature instead of pursuing his political agenda through the courts.”

Two Senate Republicans are “no” votes on state budget

By

Sen. Fitzgerald WRN photo

State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Wednesday that he’s confident he’ll get the votes needed to pass the state budget in that chamber. “I’m talking to everybody. I don’t take any vote for granted, never have, that’s not how I operate,” Fitzgerald said. “You need to keep checking with people right up to the last minute. And obviously we’ll make that decision as to whether or not we’re ready to go to the floor and pass the budget next week.”

But as of Thursday morning, there are to “no” votes among Republicans in Fitzgerald’s caucus. Senators Steve Nass of Whitewater and David Craig of Waukesha both believe that the spending plan put together by Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee spends too much.

“I simply can’t deceive the taxpayers by voting for a budget that creates a significant structural deficit, generates the largest property tax hikes in a decade, contains unsustainable levels of excessive spending and authorizes an extremely offensive new vehicle miles-driven tax on motorists starting in 2023. This is not a conservative budget by any reasonable analysis. I will vote No,” Nass said in a statement on Wednesday.

“There’s no way on earth Wisconsinites are spending ten percent more n their households, in their businesses,” Craig said on WISN Radio Thursday morning. “The economy is improving, but the economy is not government proof.” Craig said he could accept a two percent spending bump, which he said is within the rate of inflation. Two more defections, and Republicans won’t be able to pass their in the Senate.

Both chambers of the legislature are expected to vote next week on the Republican budget, which Republicans leaders say is more conservative than what Governor Tony Evers proposed.