JOINT FINANCE COMMITTEE

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Co-Chair: Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona

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Assembly Members


Co-Chair: Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson

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BUDGET LINKS

Friday, May 09, 2008

Hopes rising for budget deal next week

It's unlikely legislative leaders will be able to work out a new budget deal today that could pass both houses of the Legislature, representatives for the main negotiators said. But hopes are rising for a compromise next week.

Notice was sent out today from Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker's office and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch's office to staff and members to keep their schedules open for a session on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of next week.

"It's just not going to happen today, but I'm very optimistic for next week," said Carrie Lynch, spokeswoman for Decker.

The budget negotiations took on a new urgency this week with a deadline looming Tuesday for road construction contracts. Gov. Jim Doyle has threatened to delay summer road projects if a deal is not done by then.

Doyle refused to answer questions on the budget repair after a ceremony for fallen officers on the Capitol grounds.

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser, D-Kenosha, made waves this week when he said a majority of his members couldn't support the proposal hashed out by Decker and Huebsch that was laid out during a closed-door caucus. He criticized the amount of tobacco securitization, which is reported to be in the neighborhood of $250 million, and a plan to shift $125 million in school aid payments into the next fiscal year. He also lamented the absence of the hospital assessment and said there should be a transfer from the transportation fund to help balance the budget. The transportation money would be replaced with bonding. Doyle has thrown his support behind the hospital tax and transportation transfer as well.

Kreuser said Huebsch, R-West Salem, didn't have to votes to pass a budget repair bill in his caucus. Saying he had been "cut out" of the talks, he demanded a seat at the negotiation table.

Yesterday, Kreuser, Huebsch and Decker, D-Weston, sat down for several hours, and aides said afterward that the talks were moving in the right direction. The three lawmakers were not in Madison today, but did communicate by phone, aides said.

Sources familiar with the talks said many of the parts of the package - the tobacco securitization, school aid shift - have remained the same. But percentages have been changed to make it more palatable to some legislators. Other issues may be cleaned up by the governor's veto pen, the sources said.

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/09/2008 03:08:00 PM  

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Talks "moving in the right direction," will continue tomorrow

The three legislative leaders negotiating a solution to the budget deficit will pick up where they left off tomorrow.

Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, and Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser resumed their talks for about an hour late this afternoon after discussing budget scenarios for about three hours earlier in the day.

Carrie Lynch, spokeswoman for Decker, said the talks are "almost there, but there are a few issues to go."

Seth Boffeli, spokesman for Kreuser, said the talks were "moving in the right direction."

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/08/2008 05:43:00 PM  

Talks continue

Three legislative leaders may meet into the night to reach a budget deal.

Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch and Dem Assembly Leader Jim Kreuser met today to hammer out an agreement to bridge the projected $525 million biennial budget deficit.

The three traded budget repair ideas for a few hours earlier in the day to try to cement a deal, then retired to their own offices to crunch numbers with staff.

DOA Deputy Secretary Dan Schooff, a former Dem leggie from Beloit, was also summoned to the Capitol to participate.

Huebsch and Decker have worked out the framework of a possible solution for the state's budget shortfall. But Kreuser announced this week the majority of Assembly Dems didn't support the plan. And as with the budget bill last fall, it's expected that significant support will have to come from the Assembly Dem caucus to pass the budget fix.

Dem Gov. Jim Doyle also has objections to the Huebsch-Decker framework.

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/08/2008 05:05:00 PM  

TDA: Five Days to "Black Tuesday"

The Transportation Development Association continues its countdown to "Black Tuesday," the day $260 million in summer road projects are supposed to be awarded.

"The stakes are tremendously high and so are the emotions," said TDA executive director Craig Thompson in the press release. "The same passion that has driven individuals into steadfast positions now must drive them to arrive at a solution before it is too late. There are many different ways to solve this problem without raiding the transportation fund."

Gov. Doyle has said road "lets" may be jeopardized because negotiations to solve the state's projected $525 million budget deficit haven't been fruitful.

See a list of the projects here.

Doyle spokesman Lee Sensenbrenner said the Department of Transportation is evaluating which projects may be delayed. Dollars that are withheld from the road projects would be used to shore up the budget gap, he said.

Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, and Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser are meeting today to try to iron out a compromise. Kreuser said earlier this week that he would like to see some level of transportation fund bonding, as Gov. Doyle proposed, in the final package. Decker and Huebsch have been resistant to the idea.

"This budget is clearly going to need both parties in order to pass. That's not a bad thing," said Thompson in his statement.

Sensenbrenner said he isn't sure what would avoid a scaling back of the project lets short of passage of a repair bill.

"The reason why these projects would be effected is it's basically the only choice," he said. "If some deal arrives it could affect (the project letting)."

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/08/2008 01:35:00 PM  

Three legislative leaders meet on budget

Three caucus leaders are talking today in what could be a pivotal meeting for reaching an agreement on the budget repair bill.

Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, is hosting a meeting in his office this morning with Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, and Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser, D-Kenosha.

Huebsch spokesman John Murray said the speaker has blocked off the entire day for budget discussions.

"After the discussions today we will know if the chances to go to the floor next week are realistic," Murray said.

Huebsch and Decker have worked out the framework of a possible solution for the state's budget shortfall. But Kreuser announced this week the majority of Assembly Dems did not support the plan. Budget watchers believe Huebsch will need a significant number of Dem votes to pass any budget fix out of his house, meaning the opposition in Kreuser's caucus could prove problematic.

posted by Administrator @ 5/08/2008 11:34:00 AM  

Miller talks about budget repair bill on "WisOpinion: The Show"

The Senate co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee says the Legislature could send Gov. Doyle a deficit fix that the guv doesn't fully agree with.

But while Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, said that was a possibility, he suggested an agreement among all the parties was preferable.

Miller said the major sticking points remaining are the amount to be realized from tobacco securitization, a delay in school aid payments and transpo bonding.

See an interview with Miller and commentary on the prez race and more on the May 7 edition of "WisOpinion.com: The Show" here.

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/08/2008 10:12:00 AM  

No date set for floor session on budget repair

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser has told his members to be ready for a Tuesday floor session on the budget repair bill. But the leaders in both houses say as of yet there are no plans to come to the floor.

"It's of the utmost importance to get budget repair passed by Tuesday to ensure that spring transportation contracts are let and workers get back on the job," Kreuser, D-Kenosha, said in his email to members. "... If we don't act on Tuesday, the reality is that the Republican Majority has no intention to deal with the fiscal crisis and road needs facing the state."

See the full email here.

Carrie Lynch, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, said a Tuesday session is not yet slated. "We'd like to get it done sooner than that," she said.

John Murray, spokesman for Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said discussions are ongoing and "No decisions have been made regarding floor action at this point in time."

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/08/2008 10:10:00 AM  

Budget bill will be routed through conference committee

Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch's spokesman says the budget repair bill will go through conference committee before hitting the legislative floor.

"I think that's the preferred route," said Huebsch spokesman John Murray. "Whatever agreement we draft is going to be codified by a conference committee and sent to the floor in an un-amendable draft."

The Legislature did not vote on a resolution to form a conference committee prior to adjournning on the last day of the general business floor period on March 13.

Jim Bender, spokesman for Assembly Majority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, said there's precedent for appointing a conference committee through a skeletal session if the minority party gives unanimous consent, but it's most commonly done through a vote of the full body.

Murray said the makeup of the committee may be similar to last fall, when three majority and one minority member from each house worked on the 2007-09 budget, but he couldn't say definitively who the members will be.

Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker acknowledged last week that the bill could go through a conference committee. His spokeswoman Carrie Lynch said today they're not yet looking to that step.

"We're really focused on just trying to get the details (of the budget repair bill) worked out," she said.

Senate Chief Clerk Rob Marchant said if the Assembly appointed a conference committee, the Senate president would have the authority to appoint a committee.

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/08/2008 10:08:00 AM  

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Kreuser tells caucus to be ready for session Tuesday

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser sent a letter to his caucus members this morning telling them to be prepared for a floor session on the budget repair bill Tuesday, though he says he has not official word a session will take place that day.

Tuesday is the day that May and June road lets are to be awarded by the Department of Transportation. The Doyle administration has said that the letting could be jeopardized if the budget repair bill is delayed.

The Kreuser email reads:


Dear Members,

Please plan on being here Tuesday May 13th for session. While we have not received any official word yet, we should be ready to address the budget repair bill on that day.

It's of the utmost importance to get budget repair passed by Tuesday to ensure that spring transportation contracts are let and workers get back on the job. Further, it's my hope that we'll act separately on the Great Lakes Compact as well. If we don't act on Tuesday, the reality is that the Republican Majority has no intention to deal with the fiscal crisis and road needs facing the state.

Thank you in advance and please don't hesitate to give me or my office a call with any questions.

Jim

Jim Kreuser

Assembly Democratic Leader

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/07/2008 03:07:00 PM  

Huebsch responds to Kreuser

Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, released the following statement last night in response to comments from Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser, D-Kenosha:

"Senator Decker and I have spent the last several weeks putting together a bipartisan compromise that balances the concerns of members from both parties without raiding the transportation fund. I am disappointed that the Assembly Democrat's have decided not to join us in this effort to address the serious consequences we know will occur without a budget repair bill."

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/07/2008 08:34:00 AM  

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Kreuser says Assembly Dems "cut out" of budget repair talks

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser said a majority of his caucus does not support the proposed fixes for the state's budget shortfall that were put before members today during a closed-door caucus.

Listen to audio of Kreuser's remarks here.

The Assembly Dems got a briefing from Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, and from DOA deputy secretary Dan Schooff. Legislative Fiscal Bureau Director Bob Lang was also summoned to answer questions the leggies had on the proposals.

Kreuser said he's challenging Decker and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, to "get this done."

Sources suggest the current proposal to fix the shortfall is going to need Dem support to pass the Assembly.

"We've been cut out," Kreuser, D-Kenosha, said.

"Odds are (Huebsch) doesn't have the votes," he said.

Kreuser expressed his own displeasure with the proposals. He said he does not like the amount of tobacco securitization included in the plan or the delay in school aid payments being proposed.

Reports have put the amount of cash legislative leaders are hoping to reap from tobacco securitization at $247 million.

While he didn't give a precise figure on how much tobacco bonding he'd be comfortable with, Kreuser said "It's extremely difficult to support that if the first number is a two."

Kreuser said he'd prefer to see a hospital assessment included in the plan, saying it "makes more sense" than delaying school payments. He also said he'd prefer to bridge the budget gap with a transfer from the transportation fund that would be backfilled through bonding "provided it (the transportation fund) stays whole or goes up."

Department of Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi posted a message on the Department of Transportation's Web site two weeks ago warning May and June project lets "could be negatively impacted" without swift budget action. Those May and June lets are to be awarded next Tuesday.

Kreuser challenged Huebsch and Decker to meet until an agreement is worked out to avoid those road projects from being delayed.

Kreuser also said he'll continue to push for a $13 increase to car rental fees in Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee counties to fund a commuter rail project.

Kreuser also said his caucus expressed its unhappiness to Decker over being "cut out" of the process to hammer out a deal.

"There was no misunderstanding of what their concerns were," Kreuser said during a media availability after the caucus.

The sources say that Decker and Huebsch have agreed in principle on a budget package to send to the governor. But it's expected that package would need Dem support, much like last year's budget, to pass the Assembly.

Kreuser said Assembly Republicans "couldn't govern that well in October when we needed to bail them out on the budget, and here we are again in May."

Republicans control the Assembly by a 52-47 margin, although one member, Rep. Mark Gundrum, is unavailable to vote because he is on military service in Iraq.

Thirty-seven Dems voted for the budget in October as the bill passed the Assembly 60-39.

See the roll call here.

If both sides come to an agreement, it's expected the bill would then go to a conference committee. If passed by the conference committee, the bill would be un-amendable when voted on by the Assembly and Senate.

The major components of the package are expected to include a combination of delaying $125 million in school aid payments, as much as $247 million in tobacco re-securitization and some spending cuts.

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/06/2008 05:20:00 PM  

Triple-A steps into budget fray

AAA Wisconsin regional president Tom Frymark sent a letter today to state legislators and Gov. Jim Doyle urging them to not use transportation fund cash to solve general fund deficits.

The organization claims more than 618,000 members in Wisconsin.

Frymark writes that 96 percent of AAA Wisconsin members said in a recent survey they believe revenues like fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees should be used solely for transportation purposes.

"Our members are not happy that, in the last three state budgets, $1.1 billion in transportation revenue has been mis-used to support general fund spending," Frymark writes. "It is a breach of trust between taxpayers and their government when taxes are imposed and collected for a specified purpose, but then are intentionally directed elsewhere to pay for other unrelated programs."

Gov. Jim Doyle's plan to address the projected $525 million biennial budget deficit includes a plan to transfer $257 million from the transportation fund to the general fund, and to backfill that borrowing with general obligation bonds.

The proposal was not included in the Assembly and Senate budget repair bills, and Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, said last week that proposal is unlikely to be part of the final budget repair package.

"(The transportation fund) just can't be looked at as a bank to fund the rest of the budget when it gets in trouble," he said.

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/06/2008 02:34:00 PM  

Decker interview audio

Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker said in a WisPolitics interview last week that he and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch are "fairly close in concept" to agreement on how to address the projected $525 million budget deficit.

Asked if Gov. Jim Doyle wasn't on the same page, Decker said, "That's accurate."

"They want to go in a direction that's very difficult for us to get the votes to pass it through the Legislature," said Decker, D-Weston.

The hang ups remain in the delay of school aid payments, Doyle's plan to borrow from the transportation fund and backfill it with bonding, and the amount to seek in re-securitizing tobacco bonds.

Decker said everyone has to keep in mind that any budget adjustment bill needs to get enough votes to pass both houses of the Legislature.

"We have a caucus of 18 in the Senate Democrats and Huebsch has his, and the governor has a caucus of one," Decker said. "So you know he doesn't have to juggle all the political situations of all the individual legislators."

Listen to the interview here.

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/06/2008 02:21:00 PM  

Carpenter wants reconsideration of ethanol commitment

Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, has sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch asking them to reconsider the state's commitment to subsidizing ethanol production as the legislative leaders continue to negotiate a budget repair bill.

Carpenter's letter comes on the heels of a call from national Republicans to abandon ethanol mandates.

"Corn ethanol was originally assumed to be a win-win situation that would lessen dependence on foreign oil while being environmentally superior to fossil-based fuel. In response, government at both the state and federal level has heavily subsidized corn ethanol production. These assumptions appear to have been overly optimistic," Carpenter writes.

"It appears that politics got ahead of science, and the negative and unintended consequences of such subsidies require a reassessment of continued taxpayer support."

Meanwhile, Rep. Don Pridemore, R-Hartford, has proposed a plan to impose unpaid leave on workers that could reap $45 million in savings.

See the Carpenter letter here.

See Pridemore's letter here.

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/06/2008 12:30:00 PM  

Assembly Dems to huddle on budget repair

Assembly Democrats will get an update on budget repair negotiations at a caucus beginning at 10 a.m. in the Capitol.

Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, is expected to brief the Assembly Dems on the budget negotiations, as is a representative from the governor's office and from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

A resolution to the projected $525 million state budget deficit has been mired in talks between Decker, Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, and the Doyle administration. Doyle called Decker and Huebsch to his office last week for a meeting, and the lawmakers said when they emerged that they all agree the budget repair bill needs to be resolved soon.

Spokesmen for Assembly and Senate Republicans say they have no plans to caucus.

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/06/2008 10:09:00 AM  

Monday, May 05, 2008

TDA warns of "doomsday"

The Transportation Development Association is warning that some major road projects could be doomed if the budget repair impasse isn't resolved by next Tuesday.

Department of Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi posted a message on the Department of Transportation's Web site two weeks ago warning May and June project lets "could be negatively impacted" without swift budget action.

"That means we have eight days left until the May lets are supposed to go out. The May and June lets represent one third of the total transportation projects planned for 2008 and the Governor has threatened to cancel them if the Senate and Assembly don't agree to raid the transportation fund," said Craig Thompson, executive director of the TDA.

See TDA's press release here.

Gov. Jim Doyle has proposed transferring $257 million from the transportation fund and backfilling the borrowing with bonds to help plug the budget hole. The proposal has met with resistance from legislative leaders, and it is not believed to be part of the package they are pushing to solve the projected $525 million deficit for this biennium.

No breakthroughs were reported this weekend in budget repair bill negotiations, but Carrie Lynch, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, said senators have been advised to keep their calendars open for a possible floor session this week.

No face-to-face meetings were set for today, but Lynch expected negotiators to connect by phone.

Lee Sensenbrenner, spokesman for Gov. Doyle, said talks are ongoing. Doyle is traveling today, but he will be in contact with staff about the budget, Sensenbrenner said.

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/05/2008 02:11:00 PM  

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Decker and Huebsch: We need to resolve budget repair soon

After a 45-minute meeting with Gov. Jim Doyle in his office today, legislative leaders said they want to resolve the projected $525 million budget deficit as soon as possible.

"We see the consequences out there, and we all came to the very real agreement that we need to resolve this soon," Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem said. "There's still differences, we're going to try to work through those and get to an answer very quickly."

"The speaker's right. We're going to keep talking and we're going to try to get this done as soon as we can," Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, said.

Decker said the legislators and Doyle "talked about a couple different combinations" of proposals to bridge the deficit, but he and Huebsch didn't provide details on which proposals.

"To unveil any of that stuff would be premature," Huebsch said.

Huebsch said there shouldn't be any need to delay state road projects or payments to local governments "if we do this soon enough."

Listen to comments from Decker and Huebsch: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/080501Huebsch_Decker.mp3

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/01/2008 05:56:00 PM  

Doyle: Budget delay could move state into the red this summer

Gov. Jim Doyle today urged legislators to finalize a budget repair bill soon, noting that new Dept. of Administration figures show the state moving into a negative balance this summer without a bill.

DOA Secretary Michael Morgan issued the quarterly general fund letter this afternoon, writing, "Failure to reach a compromise on the budget adjustment legislation will result in a cash deficit in the general fund that exceed allowable levels by August 2008."

See the letter: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/080501_DOA_general_fund.pdf

The governor will meet tonight with legislative leaders about repairing the state's budget shortfall. While he said he did not know whether a deal would emerge tonight, he added that excessive delays could force the state to prorate payments to municipalities, school districts, and providers.

"The choices aren't going to get any easier if you wait around, you know, day after day and week after week, so it's time to get this done," Doyle said.

Listen to Doyle's comments: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/080501_Doyle_budget.mp3

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posted by Administrator @ 5/01/2008 01:51:00 PM  

Doyle, legislative leaders meeting today

Gov. Jim Doyle will meet with Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch in the governor's office late today to discuss the budget repair bill.

The repair bill has been mired in discussion for months between the legislative leaders, their staffs, and representatives for the governor. Sources have told WisPolitics that the deal worked on by Decker and Huebsch includes delaying a school aid payment to the next fiscal year and a plan to sell off future years of the tobacco settlement that goes well beyond the $30 million proposed by Doyle.

Doyle yesterday in Milwaukee expressed his displeasure with pushing off a school aid payment to the next budget and selling future tobacco payments. He said he didn't think most lawmakers would support the proposals.

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posted by Greg Bump @ 5/01/2008 10:12:00 AM  

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Lawmakers bash idea to combine lakes compact and budget bill; Doyle says time is ticking

A proposal to combine the Great Lakes Compact and budget adjustment into one bill has drawn criticism from both Dem and GOP lawmakers today. But a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch's office said "no final decisions have been made."

"It's an idea that was discussed, and we appreciate the input of all our legislative colleagues," said John Murray. "A number of things are still being discussed."

GOP Sens. Robert Cowles and Mike Ellis, Dem Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser, and GOP Rep. Steve Nass all issued statements today denouncing the possibility of combining the bills.

"The Great Lakes Compact is a crucial piece of legislation that has broad bipartisan support across the legislature," Kreuser said. "I am adamantly opposed to combining these two bills and I have made my position clear to both the Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader."

Carrie Lynch, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker said the leaders "are discussing every option out there so we can get this done," but said "it's more likely that it's not (going to be combined) than it is."

The bills will be voted on in the same day, she said.

Murray said Huebsch and Decker have met or talked on the phone every day this week to reach a final agreement, and the two "remain optimistic we will have something fairly soon."

Gov. Jim Doyle said today that time is ticking for the Legislature to get the budget and Great Lakes Water Compact signed.

"My view of this is we have to get a budget repair done and we have to get it done very quickly. Time is ticking. Consequences of this are going to start piling up if they don't get it done," Doyle said while in Milwaukee.

Doyle also expressed his displeasure with some avenues lawmakers are exploring to help fill the budget hole, including pushing off a school aid payment to the next budget and selling future tobacco payments. He said he didn't think most lawmakers would support pushing off the payment until the next biennium or taking future tobacco settlement payments to fill a one-time budget hole.

When asked whether the budget and the compact would be packaged together in one bill, Doyle said that it would be up to the Legislature to decide.

Doyle touched upon the General Motors announcement it would be cutting 750 jobs come July and said that the government will be working with the affected families to make sure they all land on their feet.

See Kreuser's statement here.


See the Cowles and Ellis statement here.

See Nass' statement here.

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posted by Greg Bump @ 4/30/2008 05:04:00 PM  

Blog Editor

Greg Bump

Contact: bump@wispolitics.com

Blog Description

Updates on Joint Finance Committee action on the 2007-09 Wisconsin state budget, from the first JFC meetings through the governor's final vetoes.

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