ALL OVER, NOW THE SCREAMING: The Assembly early Thursday morning passed the $72.7 billion state budget, to the praise of Republicans and jeers of Democrats.
Posted on 07/09/2015 5:47:23 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
MADISON, Wis. — After a very long day interrupted by a “credible” bomb threat and punctuated by explosive political rhetoric, the state Assembly passed the $72.7 billion state budget.
The two-year spending plan, arriving nine days late, now heads to the desk of Gov. Scott Walker – just four days before the Republican is expected to announce his bid for the White House.
Eleven Republicans and all Democrats voted against the bill, but the Republicans’ largest Assembly majority since the Eisenhower administration held the day, with passage at a comfortable 52-46.
The budget in short: Democrats hate it, Republicans can live with it.
In fact, there are a lot of big wins here for fiscal conservatives and limited-government advocates, something Walker can and will definitely sell to a national conservative base.
“When it comes to passing good public policy, Assembly Republicans have not only talked the talk, but also walked the walk during this legislative session,”said Rep.Dan Knodl, R-Germantown.
Assembly Democrats, vastly in the minority, insist this biennial budget is all about Walker’s national aspirations.
“This budget, which will harm Wisconsin mightily, started and ended with accomplishing two primary goals: paying back the out-of-state special interests that spend money on Republican campaigns and helping Governor Walker pander to far-right presidential primary voters,” Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, blasted in a statement following the marathon session Wednesday into Thursday morning.
That’s the kind of overheated rhetoric that filled the Assembly chamber before and after a bomb threat forced the evacuation of the Capitol. Bomb-sniffing dogs and Capitol police searched the building and the grounds, while lawmakers and their staff milled about outside for nearly two hours. When they were given the all-clear, the rhetorical fireworks started up anew.
One of the biggest potential wins for taxpayers is a compromise amendment that reforms the state’s prevailing wage law.
While not total repeal as core conservatives had sought, the measure does repeal the state’s prevailing wage for all units of local government.
“For months, my colleagues and I have been fighting on behalf of Wisconsin’s taxpayers for the complete repeal of Wisconsin’s archaic prevailing wage law. This 80-year-old law puts special interests in front of local taxpayers by artificially inflating the cost of government-related capital projects,” Rep. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, said in a statement.
“While not a statewide repeal, this legislation will provide significant savings for school districts and municipalities, will open the door for more Wisconsin small businesses to compete for projects, and ultimately will save hardworking taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually,” Hutton said.
But the future tense of reform troubles many. The changes don’t go into effect until 2017. Expect a dog fight on this issue alone, with lots more union money dumped into the 2016 election.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, applauded the budget’s increase of $70 million in aid to K-12 schools, and the two-year tuition freeze for students in the University of Wisconsin System. He called it a “conservative budget” that simplifies the tax code and reduces the marriage penalty on state tax returns.
The budget has no new state income or sales taxes and continues Wisconsin on the path of property tax reduction, a key initiative of Walker’s time in office.
Not surprisingly, there were plenty of harsh words for Walker from Democrats, and some coming from his own party.
“I personally think the budget as the governor delivered it was a piece of crap. Not to mince any words,” Rep. Tom Weatherston, R-Caledonia, said, asserting that the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee turned the proposal into a workable budget.
While the budget holds the line on long-term care programs and spends more than $1 billion on the state’s health care program for the poor, Democrats wanted more — much more for social service and education initiatives. They repeated their call that Walker should accept hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicaid assistance, money drawn from taxpayers across the country.
“Despite strong opposition from many people across our state, the Republican Legislature has just passed a disastrous budget that sells out Wisconsin to benefit the donors bankrolling Governor Walker’s presidential campaign. In many ways, Republican lawmakers made the governor’s anti-education, anti-middle class and anti-Wisconsin budget even worse,” Rep. Katrina Shankland, D-Stevens Point, said in Democrats’ weekly radio address.
Rep. Keith Ripp of Lodi, was among the Republican defectors who voted against the budget bill.
“While I support many of the provisions included in the final budget, I cannot in good conscience vote for a plan that does not adequately address our state’s long-term transportation funding issues,” Ripp, chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, said in a statement. “These are issues that have the potential to plague Wisconsin’s commerce for decades.”
He applauded the finance committee’s move to reduce transportation revenue bonding by nearly $850 million, pushing aside Walker’s heavy bonding plan that would have raised overall transportation debt service to 25 cents on the dollar. But without additional long-term solutions, the lawmaker said, projects across the state will now be delayed, particularly in rural areas.
Ripp also didn’t like prevailing wage reform added to the budget. He wanted a standalone bill.
But Rep. Dean Knudson, R-Hudson, called the spending plan a “budget for the people.”
“At the end of the day, it is important to remember that we have worked to craft a budget that reflects the priorities of the people of Wisconsin,” he said in a letter to his constituents.
In his weekly radio address, the governor said the media likes to focus on just about every issue but those that “affect the hard-working taxpayers of this state.” But taxpayers are his priority, Walker said.
He lauded the spending plan, set to lower property taxes for six consecutive years, asserting the property tax bill on a typical home will be lower in 2016 than it was in 2010.
“Our budget priorities are simple, and they have not changed. We are working to build a better Wisconsin, to offer a brighter, more prosperous future for all who live here,” he said.
ALL OVER, NOW THE SCREAMING: The Assembly early Thursday morning passed the $72.7 billion state budget, to the praise of Republicans and jeers of Democrats.
Budget passes Wisconsin legislature in the wee hours of the morning. Sent to Walker for his veto and signature. Prevailing wage modified but delayed. Taxes reduced for 6th year in a row. Tuition frozen at UW system for another 2 years. Win; win; win.
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Until he gets rid of dayspring, f him
Boy oh boy, a billion ain’t what it used to be.....
And now we know EXACTLY where the RINOs in our state stand and whose pockets they are in!
And I don’t give a rats rump where the ‘Rats stand on anything. :)
Life. Is. Good. :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.