Details of budget deal
Here are some details of the budget deal that Doyle and lawmakers are announcing tonight.
According to the governor's office, the deal would:
-fund two-thirds of public school costs
-moves forward on Doyle's Wisconsin covenant plan
-provide $3 million for 4-year-old kindergarten
-provide $3.2 million for school breakfasts
-provide $27 million for smaller class sizes
-change the school financing system to help rural districts with transportation costs
-change school financing formula to help districts with declining enrollments
-provide $32 million for financial aid to help with college costs
-keep commitment to provide free college tuition to Wisconsin veterans with $12 million
-fully fund the UW System's growth agenda
-include the governor's BadgerCare plus initiative to ensure at least 98 percent of Wisconsin residents have health care, offer families the opportunity to buy affordable health care and expand coverage to about 70,000 adults
-make health premiums tax free
-increase the cigarette tax by $1 a pack; $30 million would go to smoking cessation/prevention programs
-include $15 million in the second year of the budget to make Wisconsin a leader in renewable energy and fight against global warming
-include tax credits to grow and expand the bio industry
-include tax credits to modernize the cheese industry
-create a tax exemption for Wisconsin manufacturers for energy costs
-increase funding for state job training programs with 75 percent dedicated to manufacturing
-reauthorizes the Stewardship Fund at $85 million a year for 10 years with legislative oversight
-leave the state with a surplus of $55 million at the end of 2008-09 on top of the $50 million that Doyle has already deposited into the state's rainy day fund
-provide tax cuts to families for child care, health care and college costs
-end the tax on Social Security benefits
-restrict property tax increases to less than the rate of inflation for the average Wisconsin home
