Posted on 07/12/2015 9:51:35 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Waukesha— As he prepared to kick off his presidential campaign, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed the state budget Sunday after using his veto powers to excise grants for conservation groups and a provision that would have given payday lenders new authority.
Another change will give the Republican governor's administration more leeway to decide which food stamp recipients to test for drugs. In all, he vetoed 104 items from the budget — about twice as many as he did in the last two budgets he approved.
The two-year, $72.7 billion spending plan doesn't raise taxes, freezes tuition at University of Wisconsin campuses, cuts university funding by $250 million and puts off until later a lasting solution for funding highways.
"With this budget, taxpayers come first," the Republican governor said at a signing ceremony at Valveworks USA, a manufacturing company that makes components for mining equipment.
Walker signed the budget in Waukesha shortly after 4:30 p.m., about 24 hours before he is to return to the GOP hotbed to make his 2016 presidential bid official.
Walker's budget signing came 12 days late — rather than weeks early, as he had hoped — and with the largest number of GOP "no" votes of any of his three budgets. But he kept his promise to sign the state spending and taxing plan before announcing his presidential run.
Walker, the first serious declared presidential candidate that Wisconsin has seen in generations, then embarks on a weeklong tour of four early primary states — Nevada, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa, which he plans to cross over three days in a Winnebago motor home starting Friday.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
Governors in Wisconsin have vast veto powers that allow them to strike out individual words and sentences to create laws the Legislature never intended. Walker reminded lawmakers Sunday he wasn’t afraid to use that authority, even with a Legislature that is firmly in the hands of his party.
Among the items he struck from the budget was a measure that would allow payday lenders to provide more services, such as insurance, annuities and financial advice. Some of Walker’s opponents and allies had urged him to cut that measure from the budget because it would give those lenders far more authority than other types of financial institutions.
He also tweaked a provision requiring some people to take drug tests to qualify for food stamps. Walker removed a provision that would have required the tests to be limited to those who fall under reasonable suspicion, saying his administration shouldn’t face limits on whom it sees as best fit to be screened.
He also removed a section that would have had the state pay for drug treatment for those who fail the tests. The veto means the state would not pick up the cost for treatment in cases where individuals had health insurance covering such expenses.
An expanded list of other vetoes is at the link.
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
In other vetoes, Walker eliminated a total of more than $1 million in grants for groups such as the Ice Age Trail Alliance, Gathering Waters Conservancy, Natural Resources Foundation, Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association and the River Alliance of Wisconsin.
He also vetoed a plan that would have created a Frank Lloyd Wright Heritage Trail that showed drivers on Wisconsin highways how to get to landmarks the famed architect designed. Along with it, he removed a $500,000 grant that would have been used to promote the trail.
I wish Washington state had a Governor like Scott Walker.
The official announcement will be tomorrow I guess, are you as excited as I am?
What a terrible idea. Veto authority that can be used to rewrite bills? I have a bit of a problem even with line-item veto authority, but this is ridiculous. At least it’s being used for good instead of evil - for the moment
Did he veto Communist Core?
Good budget “tweaks.”
bttt!
I'm more than ready to get this going!
There’s no more conservative and honest candidate in sight than Scott Walker. He’s pretty good for a man who came from Colorado Springs, CO. :-)
Clearly you don't know anything about Walker.
Before Walker, Common Core was mandated by the state.
Walker removed the mandate, cut the funding and said local districts can have it if they choose to fund it.
It has long been Wisconsin law. Other Governors have used it even to take LETTERS out of a Bill to change its meaning. I think that it's amazing that he used it to rein in a heavily GOP Legislature that got a little out of hand during his recent absences while he was campaigning. Namely open records. It's to his credit, as long as it is the law.
I think he lived in Colorado Springs about 2 monutes! He lived in Iowa before they moved to Wisconsin. His father was a Pastor and moved to where churches called him.
Go Scott....... man of real action
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