The leaders of the Legislature's budget committee on Wednesday abandoned Gov. Scott Walker's plan to strip the state Natural Resources Board and the state Agriculture Board of their policy-making powers. They also removed 13 other pieces of policy from Walker's budget, including one that would exempt research at the University of Wisconsin System from the open records law. Another one that was dropped would have had property assessment duties shifted from most municipalities to counties. In other action, the Joint Finance Committee voted to cut staff for Secretary of State Doug La Follette and reshape how courts are funded. Wednesday's...