WisPolitics Budget Blog

The Joint Finance Committee unanimously passed an amended budget repair bill that reduces the amount of GPR transfers proposed in Gov. Jim Doyle's original plan, and includes a provision to add the full complement of 31 new state Crime Lab jobs sought by AG J.B. Van Hollen.

Doyle had proposed hiring 15 additional state Crime Lab analysts, at a cost of about $4 million, on April 1 to address the backlog of DNA evidence mounting at the Department of Justice. Van Hollen said to eliminate the backlog by 2010, he would need 31 new positions.

The amendment passed by the committee creates the additonal 16 positions Van Hollen is seeking, effective July 1. The DOJ estimated the initiative would require total funding of $4.1 million in 2007-08 and $3.6 million in 2008-09. Of the 31 positions, 29 are DNA analysts, one is a DNA technician, and one is a DNA analysis supervisor.

See a statement from JFC co-chair Rep. Kitty Rhoades on the Crime Lab positions here.

Among the other changes the committee made to Doyle's bill was to reduce the amount of segregated fund transfers to the general fund by from $20 million to $11 million.

Discussion about the proposed changes provided a hint of battle lines that will be drawn as the split JFC takes on the biennial budget bill this spring. An amendment by Republican Reps. Scott Suder and Steve Kestell aimed at deleting all fund transfers in the repair bill was defeated on a party line 8-8 vote.

Kestell argued that fees collected for segregated fund purposes should be off limits for general funding. "Segregated funds should remain segregated as they were intended," he said.

But Dem Sen. Bob Jauch said every legislator who has voted for past budgets has approved transfers, and that "a dollar is a dollar" when it comes to fixing budget holes.

The amended bill reduced the state's statutory balance to $65 million, the minimum amount allowable under current law. The orginal bill proposed by the governor had moved the statutory balance to $75 million.

The committee also curtailed the fund transfer power of the Department of Administration Secretary Mike Morgan. Doyle had proposed that $15.1 million of unspent state agency appropriations be lapsed or transferred from the general fund, including $4,130,700 from the transportation fund. Under the amended bill adopted by the JFC, Morgan will be limited to transferring $130,700 from the transportation fund.

* The committee also passed a bill that will provide up to $600,000 in interest-free loans to Town of Oregon residents who were the victims of a "key-punching error" that inflated their tax bills.

Labels: Budget_Repair_Bill

The JFC will meet at 6 p.m.

WAUWATOSA -- Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch and state Sen. Jeff Plale, appearing before a business audience Wednesday, sent sharply contrasting responses to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's budget.

"We don't see why we need to raise any taxes," said Huebsch, R-West Salem, the Legislature's top Republican. He called Doyle's $1.7 billion in proposed tax boosts the "biggest challenge'' for Republicans in rewriting the budget.

But Huebsch, though given the chance, didn't rule out any specific tax boost proposed by Doyle, apparently preserving his options as Republicans continue to study the massive document.

Plale, D-South Milwaukee and the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said it was likely that the cigarette tax boost and oil companies profits tax would pass in some form, but he didn't predict at what level.

Plale said such boosts were likely because the alternatives - raising the income or sales tax, or both - would not be a "tasteful solution" for the voters.

He called the proposed budget "responsible and fair" and praised Doyle's targeted middle-class tax cuts

But Huebsch, bemoaning a "spending spree" in Madison, said the state needs to get spending "back in line with people's ability to pay.''

The legislators appeared at a breakfast briefing on the budget organized by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and the Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce. The event was held at the GE Healthcare Clinical Systems Headquarters at the Milwaukee County Research Park.

Both legislators said health care costs will be a big concern in the budget but disagreed on how to provide more access for the uninsured.

"Universal health care is a universal goal," Huebsch said, adding Republicans wanted to get there through a more free market health care system. He also said Doyle's "tax scam,'' funded by a hospital assessment he called a "sick tax,'' would result in a "serious crisis'' down the road when the federal government blocked the maneuver.

Plale in turn said some action on health care would need to be carried out at the federal level. He said state measures to reduce health care costs are just "nibbling around the edges." Plale suggested legislators would work to help hospitals negatively impacted by the proposal. "It's got a long way to go,'' he said.

On other budget issues:

--Both agreed on the need to maintain two-thirds funding of schools. But while Plale said Doyle's plan to repeal the QEO "probably'' would pass, Huebsch was adamant that the qualified economic offer would stand. "We need to have a balance there,'' Huebsch said, suggesting higher-paid teachers would be using 15-year-old textbooks if the QEO were repealed and revenue caps were left in place.

--Both legislators said continuing to put money in highway repairs in the Milwaukee-Chicago corridor would prove beneficial to the economy all around the state. "We never fully built the freeway system in Milwaukee that we should have," Plale said, adding he also supports the project that would extend Metra train lines into southeastern Wisconsin. And while Huebsch agreed that improving transit in southeastern Wisconsin is important, he said it should not be done at the neglect of other projects around the state. "We don't believe we need to do that,'' Huebsch said.

-- By Dan Polley

Labels: Huebsch, Plale

The Joint Finance Committee session scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. is still not underway. No word on when the meeting will begin, but several sources say that the committee co-chairs, Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson, and Sen. Russ Decker, D-Weston, are negotiating details of the budget repair bill.

Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, blasted the budget repair bill in a press release this morning. Nass said the repair bill contains "$42 million in new raids on segregated funds and fee-based programs, restoring 283 state jobs destined to be eliminated, and increasing state bonding authority by $375 million to $1.775 billon for the final four months of the current fiscal year."

See a "discussion points" memo on the repair bill prepared by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau here.

Labels: Budget_Repair_Bill, Joint Committee on Finance

The Joint Committee on Finance executive session scheduled for 10:30 a.m. today is being delayed until 1 p.m.

The committee is slated to take up the budget repair bill for the 2006-2007 fiscal year.

See the agenda

Labels: Budget_Repair_Bill, Joint Committee on Finance

Attorney J.B. Van Hollen said while he didn't have much input into the currently proposed DOJ budget - most of it was submitted by his predecessor Peg Lautenschlager - his requests were given "great deference" in the governor's budget.

Specifically, he was pleased that his request to create an executive assistant position in the DOJ was included, Van Hollen told a WisPolitics luncheon at the Madison Club sponsored by WHD Government Affairs, Flaherty & Associates and Sonic Foundry.

Van Hollen, a Republican, said he had "very few complaints" with the budget as it relates to DOJ, and described his relationship with Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle as "phenomenal."

*See a full story on the luncheon: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=89516

*Listen to audio of the luncheon: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070222VanHollenJR.mp3

Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said Dem Gov. Jim Doyle is trying to implement a "great amount of policy" in his latest proposal - much more than his previous budgets.

Huebsch said nobody was surprised that Doyle proposed eliminating the QEO in his latest budget. Members of his caucus keep finding new policy items in the budget, Huebsch said, including a provision one that would expand the Department of Justice's ability to sue individuals.

Doyle spokesman Matt Canter said Doyle has put substantially less policy in the budget than previous administrations.

"What is there is good, and the governor deems (it) important," Canter said.

Huebsch also said his biggest concern with Doyle's budget is the "innumerable tax increases" and called the reliance on federal Medicare and Medicaid funds "mediscam." Huebsch cited concerns with the long-term problems the state budget could encounter with the use of one-time funds and proposed transfers from segregated funds.

Huebsch also said today that he hopes the Assembly and Senate can push through the budget repair bill for this fiscal biennium before the Joint Committee on Finance goes into executive session for the 2007-09 budget, which would probably be around mid-April.

Listen to the audio from Huebsch's meeting with reporters here

Labels: Doyle, Huebsch, Policy in Budget

With Gov. Doyle recuperating from hip surgery, Lt. Gov. Barb Lawton steps to the plate tomorrow to promote his "opportunity budget."

Lawton will visit Flambeau River Papers in Park Falls to tell workers about the proposal, and she will also discuss the budget with Price County officials in Phillips.

Doyle is undergiong a hip resurfacing procedure today. He is expected to be on crutches for six to eight weeks following the surgery.

Labels: Doyle, Lawton

The creator of the VetoMatic Web site has announced the winners of his contest for the most best partial veto created by the "Frankenstein Veto." Among the honorees:

"The governor may party all day in an intoxicated state."

"The Legislature authorizes the Department of Revenue to create and implement any tax it deems necessary to fund any expenditure approved by the Secretary of the Department of Administration."

Dale Emmons, a part-time intern for former Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, created the VetoMatic. The site is a poke at Gov. Jim Doyle's powerful veto pen, which has been tagged by the GOP as the "Frankenstein Veto."

See more: http://www.vetomatic.com/winners.html

Dale Emmons, creator of the VetoMatic Web site, is holding a competition through Sunday at midnight for the "best possible new law" created through his Web site.

Emmons is a part-time intern for former Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center. Emmons says he designed the site on his own time.

The site is a poke at Gov. Jim Doyle's powerful veto pen, which has been monikered by the GOP as the "Frankenstein Veto."

See the site: http://www.vetomatic.com

We've collected the reaction of state pols to Gov. Jim Doyle's 2007-09 budget proposal. Click on the link to view the press release.

See the full budget bill (1,757 pages): http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2007_State_Budget/07-1716_1.pdf


Reaction:

AG Van Hollen: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88764

Rep. Bies: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88864

Rep. Fitzgerald: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88760

Rep. Huebsch: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88752

Rep. Kleefisch: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88818

Rep. Kramer: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88772

Rep. Lothian: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88862

Rep. Montgomery: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88782

Rep. Newcomer: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070216NewcomerDoyle.pdf

Reps. Parisi, Black: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88948

Rep. Pocan: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070214_Pocan_Budget.pdf

Rep. Pridemore: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88812

Rep. Pridemore: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=89014

Rep. Sheridan: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88769

Rep. Suder: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88822

Rep. Vos: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88768

Rep. Vukmir: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88755

Rep. Zepnick: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070216_Zepnick_Budget.pdf

Rep. Zipperer: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88753

Sen. Breske: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88933

Sen. Coggs: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88879

Sen. Darling: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88771

Sen. Decker: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88751

Sen. Erpenbach: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88754

Sen. Fitzgerald: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88748

Sen. Hansen: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88780

Sen. Jauch: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88810

Sen. Kedzie: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/senate/sen11/news/2007%20news%20files/070213%2007%2009%20budget%20message.htm

Sen. Kedzie: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/senate/sen11/news/2007%20news%20files/070213%20oil%20tax%20increase.htm

Sen. Kedzie: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/senate/sen11/news/2007%20news%20files/070214%20a%20tax%20for%20taxes.htm

Sen. Kreitlow: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88770

Sen. Lasee: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88732

Sen. Lassa: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88779

Sen. Lazich: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88747

Sen. Leibham: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88819

Sen. Miller: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88757

Sen. Olsen: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88761

Sen. Plale: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88762

Sen. Robson: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=8878

Sen. Sullivan: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88746

Sen. Vinehout: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=89061

DPW: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88775

RPW: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88765

Republicans have picked out a series of complaints about various tax proposals in Gov. Jim Doyle's budget plan, including the return of the so-called "iPod tax," which also includes a tax on electronic greeting cards.

Doyle spokesman Matt Canter said the tax is an extension of the streamlined sales tax concept.

"We are just making sure all companies are treated equally and that the sales tax is applied equitably to all firms," he said.

Also raising Republican eyebrows is a proposal they're calling the "tax tax," which requires businesses to pay a fee for filing their sales tax statement via mail rather than electronically. The proposal is estimated to bring in $5.5 million over the biennium.

Canter said the proposal is meant as an incentive for businesses to file their tax return electronically, which he said provides savings both for the state and for the business.

The co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee, Sen. Russ Decker, D-Weston, and Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson, have announced the following schedule for public hearings on the budget. Specific sites will be released later.

Milwaukee 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 20.

De Forest Area 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 21.

Chippewa Falls 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 27.

Prairie du Chien 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 4.

Rhinelander 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 11.

Green Bay 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Thursday, April 12.

In his 2007-09 budget, Gov. Jim Doyle created an appropriation for campaign finance reform, only he didn't include any funding for it.

Doyle had hinted over the last few months that he planned to include money in the budget to create some kind of public financing system to pave the way for campaign finance reform.

But his aides said the "place holder" appropriation was designed to be a starting point in the discussion.

Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, called the move shallow and disappointing. “That’s like leading the troops into battle with no weapons,” Heck said. “There’s just nothing there to even defend.”

Rep. Bill Kramer, R-Waukesha, drew some attention during Tuesday night's budget address when he stood up and clapped as Gov. Jim Doyle said "oil companies will make $310 million in profit" over the next 24 hours.

Kramer said he applauded the statement because the oil company profits are "a success story."

Kramer noted the governor recognized several people he considered success stories during the speech and everyone gave each a standing ovation. "Those people deserve that," Kramer said of his solo standing ovation for the oil companies. "So having a record profit is a record success. It should be applauded and encouraged."

Doyle has been a frequent critic of oil companies, complaining they have racked up record profits at the expense of consumers. He proposed a new assessment on barrels of oil sold in Wisconsin and insists the oil companies will not be allowed to pass it onto consumers.

Kramer generally criticized Doyle's budget, including the tax on oil companies. He added Exxon is a major component of the state of Wisconsin investment portfolio, and many people are "depending on it to do well."

Gov. Jim Doyle and Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton are hitting the road today to promote the budget.

Lawton is in Superior this morning at the Rothwell Center Building, and will also make stops in Green Bay and Sheboygan. Doyle stops by the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce and Logistics Health in La Crosse this afternoon.

Tomorrow, Lawton will visit Marshfield and Wausau.

Gov. Doyle is tentatively scheduled to be in Oak Creek and Waunakee tomorrow, and Green Bay, Appleton and Oshkosh on Friday. First Lady Jessica Doyle will talk about the budget in Racine and Kenosha.

Check out the full, 1,757 budget bill submitted to the Legislature here.

Only hours after Gov. Jim Doyle unveiled his $57.7 billion two-year spending plan, the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, split between the parties, met in 412 East of the Capitol and formally introduced the bill.

The brief meeting was not without some partisan potshots.

JFC co-chair Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson, noted on this Valentine's Day that the budget includes a proposal to tax electronic greeting cards. "So if you want to send me a card, you better do it today," she said.

Committee newcomer Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, asked when the Legislative Fiscal Bureau will have their analysis complete so he can know the full extent of Gov. Doyle's proposed tax increases.

"I'm already beginning to receive calls from people," he said. "It's shocking to see the amount of new taxes. The more people see these tax increases, the bigger problem people are going to have."

LFB director Bob Lang said their analysis will take about a month.

Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, said in the last budget, which he voted against, the Legislature "used a credit card" to pay for tax cuts and new spending. By contrast, he said, this budget is "fiscally responsible because at least we're balancing the books."

"I see we're getting off to a great start," cracked committee co-chair Sen. Russ Decker, D-Weston.

The JFC also introduced an immediate budget repair bill to, among other things, fund 15 DNA analyst positions for the Department of Justice Crime Lab.

See more: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lfb/jfc.html

The budget-writing committee is preparing for hearings on the road in six cities: Milwaukee, Green Bay, Rhinelander, De Forest, Prairie du Chien, and Chippewa Falls. No dates have been announced, but Decker said the tour could begin in mid-March.

The Joint Finance Committee is due to have its inaugural meeting on the budget today at 9 a.m. in Room 412 East of the State Capitol.

Listen in live after 9 a.m.

See the agenda

See a webcast of Doyle's budget address, plus video reaction from three legislative leaders:

• Gov. Jim Doyle's Budget Address
• Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit
• Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau
• Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem
• We were unable to get video of Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser, D-Kenosha, but here's Kreuser's audio reaction.

Listen to WisPolitics audio on the audio clips page:

-- Senate Majority Leader Sen. Judy Robson, D-Beloit

-- Assembly Speaker Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem

-- Senate Minority Leader Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau

-- Assembly Minority Leader Rep. James Kreuser, D-Kenosha

-- JFC Co-Chair Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson

-- JFC Co-Chair Sen. Russ Decker, D-Weston

-- Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen

Highlights of fee increases in Doyle's 07-09 budget in brief:

-- $1.25 per pack increase in the cigarette tax to $2.02, $480 million in new revenue over two years

-- A 2.5 percent assessment on oil company earnings and a $20 increase in vehicle registration fees.

-- 1 percent assessment on net hospital revenues

-- Doubling of real estate transfer fee

-- Possible "modest" UW tuition increase

-- Looser limits on local property taxes

-- A $10 increase in the state's drivers license fee

-- $20 increase in vehicle registration fee

-- Premier Resort Area tax in Milwaukee

-- Increasing fees for obtaining copies of "vital" records in support of system enhancements

Highlights of proposed tax cuts in Doyle's 07-09 budget in brief:

-- $1.7 billion in proposed tax cuts over the next four years

-- A new $100 million credit to exempt the first $5,545 of home value from school property taxes

-- Full exemption of health insurance premiums

-- A 32 percent increase in the college tuition tax deduction

-- Expansion of angel investor and early state seed investment, renewable fuel, dairy facility modernization, medical records technology and biotech equipment

-- Over $700 million for additional property tax credits, including a new $100 million credit focused on reducing property taxes on residences, and expansion of the homestead credit for senior citizens

-- Full exemption of Social Security income, which was approved in the budget Doyle signed two years ago but takes effect during the upcoming biennium

-- Full implementation of the single sales factor in corporate income tax, totaling $41 million over the biennium, and the exemption of fuel utilities used in manufacturing, an $8 million tax break over the next two years

The largest agencies would cut $15 million from their operation budgets, while the state would transfer funds from various program revenue accounts to deal with shortfalls in four areas under legislation Gov. Jim Doyle announced Tuesday night.

Doyle's administration says the plan would increase the state's ending balance come June 30 while also providing 15 DNA analysts to get to work on the backlog at the state's crime lab in April. Doyle, a former attorney general himself, also continues funding those 15 analysts in the budget he proposed Tuesday night, and he proposed an audit to study the problem.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen released an analysis that found 31 new analysts ready to begin work July 1 were needed to reduce the growing backlog. He called the 15 positions a "phenomenal starting point," but not enough to do the job.

"I'm convinced that he understands and recognizes that we're the experts in the field, that we know what we need to correct the backlog in the crime lab," said Van Hollen, a Republican. "I'm confident we'll be able to get the position authority we'll need."

Listen to Van Hollen's comments:
http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070213VanHollenBudget.mp3

Some saw a little political payback in Doyle's budget.

The Wisconsin Realtors Associated backed Doyle's opponent in this fall's election, Republican Mark Green.

Doyle's budget calls for doubling the real estate transfer fee to $6 per $1,000 of value in the transaction. Republicans estimate the proposal would add $140 million to real estate deals.

WRA president Bill Malkasian complained in a release the proposal would make it harder for Wisconsinites to achieve the "American dream." He said the current transfer tax is $498 on a $166,000 home, the median value for Wisconsin. The plan would increase that feel to $830.

"When you raise this tax you raise the barrier to buying a home for thousands of Wisconsin families," he said.

See the group's release here

Gov. Jim Doyle, in his first post-re-election budget, proposed a $1.8 billion health care expansion Tuesday night to insure more Wisconsin residents, reduce the number of smokers, increase reimbursements for hospitals that serve the state's poor and continue existing programs. To pay for his proposal, the Democratic governor advocated a new 1 percent assessment on net hospital revenues, reaffirmed his call for a $1.25-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax and proposed a $175 million transfer from the state's malpractice fund. Doyle sold his plan as an "opportunity budget" that would cut taxes on middle class families, invest in schools, and improve the job climate and expand health care insurance for those who can't afford it. Said Doyle: "Health care for all of our citizens is within our grasp."

Read more: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88744


-- 2007 Budget Address
-- Doyle Press Release
-- Budget in Very Brief (27 Pages)
-- Budget in Brief (93 Pages)
-- "Wisconsin Opportunities" Recognized in Budget Address
-- Fitzgerald Statement
-- Huebsch Statement
-- Robson Statement
-- Doyle Proposes Legislation to Deal with Current Shortfalls

Gov. Jim Doyle's Web page provides a live link to tonight's budget address.

In his newest biennial budget, Gov. Jim Doyle is proposing an assessment on oil companies that would be used to fund the state's infrastructure needs. The plan also includes penalties for the oil companies to prevent them from passing their increased costs on to state consumers.

What do you think of the proposal? Post your opinion at Mad City Soap Box

Gov. Jim Doyle will submit his 2007-09 budget proposal to the Legislature tonight at a 7 p.m. address.

This morning, the governor's office said this of the proposal: "The governor will put a strong emphasis on fiscal responsibility, and with this budget the state will turn a corner and secure solid financial footing for years to come. In his speech he'll demonstrate that in terms of both advanced commitments and in the highest ending balance in years."

Sources expect Doyle's budget to include a provision doubling the real estate transfer fee.

A Doyle spokesman declined to detail what the provision might entail, but said it would be "part of the governor's statewide effort to hold down property taxes and provide assistance to local governments."

Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald's office is saying that Gov. Doyle's proposed tax increases will add up to $1 billion over the biennium.

"The budget Governor Doyle will present to the legislature and the people of Wisconsin on Tuesday will raise taxes by more than $1 billion," said Fitzgerald, R - Juneau. "There is literally nobody in Wisconsin who will be able to avoid paying higher taxes under the budget proposed by the governor and supported by Senate Democrats."

See Fitzgerald's press release: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88616

The Joint Finance Committee has selected the six cities that will host public hearings on the budget, but dates have not been chosen.

The cities, in no particular order, are Milwaukee, Green Bay, Rhinelander, De Forest, Prairie du Chien, and Chippewa Falls.

The committee meets on the budget for the first time at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Details of Gov. Jim Doyle's 2007-09 budget continue to trickle out as the governor's office parses out pieces of his proposal to selected media and via press releases.

Among the revelations is that Doyle will:

* Ask legislators to raise the cap on local property tax levies to 4 percent, twice what they were allowed in the last budget.

* Increase shared revenue to municipalities and counties by $15 million, plus other aid increases for local governments.
http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88156

* Pay for an expansion of BadgerCare with a new fee on hospitals and a $1.25 per-pack increase in the cigarette tax, freeing up other money to cover new spending for public schools, the UW System and other initiatives.

* Put a tax on oil companies to pay for state transportation infrastructure needs. (See item below)

* Propose a series of new programs aimed at improving the Milwaukee metropolitan area, including an additional $21 million for the choice program.

* Raise financial aid for Wisconsin college students by $44 million. http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88160

* Include tax deductions for health insurance premiums, child care and the full cost of tuition, books and fees at all Wisconsin universities and colleges.

* The health care deduction would apply to any post-tax premium payments made to employer sponsored health plans, while the college tuition proposal would increase the deduction to $6,000 per student, up from the current level of $4,536.

* The child care deduction would be up to $3,000 for families with one child in day care and up to $6,000 for families with two more children. Doyle estimates a typical family of four would save $400 on their taxes with more than 100,000 households taking advantage of the new deduction

* Seek benefits for domestic partners of all state employees.
See Doyle comments: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88600

* Ask the state to pay for prenatal visits for the poor, expand enrollment in 4-year-old kindergarten, and boost funding for in-home care for the elderly.

* Require insurers to cover autistic children.
http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88476

Gov. Jim Doyle's state budget address will be televised live on Wisconsin Public Television and Milwaukee Public Television tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

For more information, go to these addresses:

*http://www.wpt.org/whats_on/?etail=net_070212_detail_14285

*http://www.mptv.org/13Feb07.htm#prime

Gov. Jim Doyle is expected to include some kind of new fee on hospitals in his state budget that, combined with a $1.25 per-pack increase in the cigarette tax, will create enough new money to pay for his ambitious expansion of health care programs while freeing up other money to cover new spending for public schools, the UW System and other initiatives, according to multiple sources.

The hospital fee and cigarette tax boost -- which by itself is expected to generate $500 million over the biennium in state tax revenues -- would leverage enough federal dollars to cover a series of expenses in the budget-burdening Medical Assistance program, said the sources.

Doyle could create more than $1.5 billion in new money, sources say.

Some of the sources also speculate Doyle will try to go after oil company profits, one of his favorite targets for criticism.

Doyle has released a DATCP report that he said showed profits from the five largest oil companies exceeded profits of other major industries. The DATCP report found those "excessive" profits equal to more than $17 for every man, woman and child in the world.

See the release:http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88363

Erin Roth, executive director of the American Petroleum Institute, said he expects Doyle to either include a gross profits tax for oil companies or a franchise fee. A gross profit tax would require oil companies to use combined reporting to determine their state tax bills, while a franchise fee would basically be a tax on each gallon of gas sold. Roth said he's not sure if the money generated from either would go directly to transportation or be used for other state programs as well.

"He's going after big oil," Roth declared, noting retailers sell about 3 billion gallons of gas and diesel a year in Wisconsin.

See more on this story in Friday's WisPolitics Report: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88497

Gov. Jim Doyle says the budget he unveils next week will require insurers to provide coverage to serve autistic children.

See the release: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88476

While announcing his tax cut strategy today in Appleton, Gov. Jim Doyle promised he will make necessary spending cuts to cover the costs of new tax deductions he plans to include in the budget for college costs, child care and health insurance premiums. He promised he would not increases sales or business taxes to pay for the income tax cuts.

The health care deduction would apply to any post-tax premium payments made to employer sponsored health plans, while the college tuition proposal would increase the deduction to $6,000 per student, up from the current level of $4,536. Doyle also would create a new deduction for fees and books. The child care deduction would be up to $3,000 for families with one child in day care and up to $6,000 for families with two more children.

See the release:http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88358

Meanwhile, DOA Secretary Mike Morgan has asked the largest state agencies to cut their operating budgets by 2 percent for the current fiscal year to help deal with the state's current fiscal situation.

Budget director Dave Schmiedicke said the cuts would amount to $15 million but declined to detail the legislation that will be introduced next week.

See Morgan's letter:http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070208OperationsReductions.pdf

Gov. Jim Doyle proposed a series of new programs today aimed at improving the Milwaukee metropolitan area, calling for new money to pay for the city’s school choice program, add more police officers and improve the region’s economy.

The initiative includes an additional $21 million for the choice program, which Doyle said would provide property tax relief to city residents. He said the state would pick up 100 percent of the costs for new students enrolled beyond the old cap of 15,000. Doyle agreed to ease the limit on students in the program during the last legislative session in a deal with Republican lawmakers.

See the release:http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88292

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said the announcement felt as though “the city of Milwaukee has been readmitted into the state of Wisconsin."

“Milwaukee is not a drain on the state. Milwaukee is a resource for the state of Wisconsin,” Barrett said to applause from the crowd.

Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said in a statement that Milwaukee is the "economic engine that drives this state" and Senate Republicans support the area.

Gov. Jim Doyle has scheduled a news conference tomorrow in Appleton to talk about his plan to "help middle class families afford health care, child care and education.

"During the campaign, Doyle pledged to make all health insurance payments tax deductible, create a tax credit for child care expenses and expand tax deductions for college costs.

See a Doyle campaign release on the child care deduction proposal:http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=71165

See a Doyle campaign release on the health premiums deduction:http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=69461

See a release on the tuition tax deduction: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/061025DoyleTuition.pdf

Gov. Jim Doyle announced yesterday he plans to include a new round of property tax limits in his upcoming budget, but hinted to the Wisconsin Counties Association that the caps would be looser than those that he wrote into his last budget.

"I think you're going to find out you're going to have a little more room to work with than what you've had in the past," he said at the Wisconsin Counties Association Legislative Exchange event in Madison.

Republicans leaders are questioning how Doyle plans to pay for his latest round of budget promises, which include an additional $44 million for financial aid.

"We got into the mess we're in now by overspending and not budgeting honestly, and right now it looks like he's intending to take us down that same path again," said Mike Prentiss, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau.

See a statement from Fitzgerald: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88221

Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said looser property tax controls "are exactly the opposite direction we should be headed as a state."

"The last thing homeowners can afford is higher property taxes," Huebsch said. See the Huebsch statement: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88217

Rich Eggleston, spokesman for the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities, said the group's members expect some property tax limits.

"This time around, any limits that are enacted have to provide for communities to invest in economic development and to continue to provide for quality police protection, fire protection and all the other services our citizens expect," Eggleston said. "Otherwise, new jobs and growth won't be there, and we'll be headed in the wrong direction."

Some are speculating that Doyle could announce a cap that would allow annual growth in property tax levies of at least 4 percent. In the last budget, Doyle capped property tax increases at growth or 2 percent, whichever was higher.

Doyle also promised at the meeting to increased shared revenues to local governments, which were held flat last budget, by $15 million.

The Wisconsin Alliance of Cities has proposed a distribution formula that calls for an across-the-board increase to this year's base level of shared revenue and would tie the funding to economic development. The proposal is to direct 25 percent to increase the base, with the remaining 75 percent distributed based on income growth within each metropolitan statistical area or region.
See the alliance Regional Economic Development Incentive proposal: http://www.wiscities.org/REDI.htm

In addition, Doyle promised a $22.5 million increase for various court support services, a $66 million increase for highway maintenance funds, and $5.5 million for child support collection. See Doyle's release: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88156

Gov. Jim Doyle is rolling out budget details as time winds down to his address next Tuesday.

Speaking to the Wisconsin Counties Association this morning, Doyle said he plans on increasing shared revenue by $15 million in his budget, and also upping state support for circuit court operations by $19 million and adding $66 million to the State Highway Maintenance Program.

At a Fitchburg Middle School, Doyle announced a $44 million increase in financial aid this morning when he talks to Fitchburg eighth-graders about the Wisconsin Covenant program.

At the counties association event, Doyle finished his speech by telling the county officials that there will be some property tax limits, "but I think you're going to find out you're going to have a little more room to work with than what you've had in the past."

Afterward, Doyle met with reporters and said he has not heard many negative comments on his proposed $1.25 per pack tax increase on cigarettes. But the governor left the door open for leaving an exception for bars in his proposed statewide smoking ban in public buildings, saying he knows he lives in the real world and realizes that getting 95 percent of what he wants is a good thing.

He also said that he's considering a modest increase for auto registration fees through the Department of Transportation.

See Doyle's release about shared revenue:http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88160

See the release on financial aid:http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Content=178

Gov. Jim Doyle's administration and the Wisconsin Medical Society have had exploratory talks about using a portion of the Patients Compensation Fund to balance the state budget and then spinning off the account into a quasi-governmental entity or similar public-private partnership that could protect it from future transfers.

Mark Grapentine, senior vice president for the WMS, cautioned the talks are not negotiations and the discussions have only explored the potential of such a move. Doyle spokesman Matt Canter confirmed the guv's staff has had talks with the Medical Society about the proposal but stressed the administration is not currently in negotiations and declined to comment on the substance of those talks.

The WMS strongly opposed previous attempts Doyle made in 2003 and 2005 to transfer money out of the fund, officially titled the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund. Both times, Republican lawmakers rejected the move in the budgets they crafted and sent back to Doyle.

See more on this story in last Friday's WisPolitics Report: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=88057