Department of Children and Families Secretary Reggie Bicha is addressing the Joint Finance Committee on the problems facing the Wisconsin Shares program.

Read his prepared remarks here.

-- By Greg Bump

The Joint Finance Committee approved three stimulus requests totaling $20.5 million.

In approving $4.9 million in federal economic stimulus funds for Energy Star Rebates, the committee capped administrative, non-rebate costs for the programs at $859,400.

The requests were approved with bipartisan support, although Rep. Robin Vos, R-Caledonia, voted against all three. Rep. Phil Montgomery, R-Ashwaubenon, voted against a request to allocate $15 million in federal money over the next two years to purchase alternative fuel vehicles.

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison and the co-chair of the committee, said $3.7 billion of the $7.7 billion Wisconsin has received in federal stimulus has passed through the JFC. Of that, $1.4 billion has been in the form of tax credits.

-- By Greg Bump

The Joint Finance Committee today will rule on requests to use more than $20.5 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, including include $7.5 million each of the next two years to help businesses and local governments purchase vehicles using alternative fuels.

The meeting is set to begin at 11 a.m.

According to the state Office of Recovery and Reinvestment, Wisconsin had received more than $7.7 billion in ARRA funds through late August.

See the JFC agenda here.

See the LFB analysis of the requests here.

See a breakdown of ARRA money allocated to Wisconsin here.

In addition, Department of Children and Families Secretary Reggie Bicha will appear before the JFC to talk about the problems facing the Wisconsin Shares program.

Yesterday, the DCF has suspended Wisconsin Shares payments to 35 additional child care providers, bringing the total number of suspended providers under the embattled child care subsidy program to 69.

The department announced the first 34 suspensions last week.

See the DCF statement here.

See an LFB memo on the problems with Wisconsin Shares here.

-- By Greg Bump

The co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee have sent a letter to Department of Children and Families Secretary Reggie Bicha to explain the problems besieging the Wisconsin Shares program.

Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, and Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, want Bicha to appear before the committee on Tuesday, the next scheduled JFC meeting.

Four Dem members of the JFC requested the appearance today following the release of a report from the Legislative Audit Bureau that four registered sex offenders had addresses that matched those of child care providers.

The letter also cites numerous reports of fraud in the program. The DCF suspended 34 child care providers , all from Milwaukee County, from receiving Wisconsin Shares payments because of evidence they violated program regulations.

"Eight months after our request for a thorough and immediate audit of the program, we are still learning of extensive and outrageous practices in this program that are putting Wisconsin's children in danger and taking advantage of Wisconsin's taxpayers," says the letter from Sens. Lena Taylor and John Lehman, and Reps. Tamara Grigsby and Cory Mason.

"Despite the ongoing audit and the formation of a special task force involving law enforcement at all levels to address these issues, the near constant media and investigatory reports of criminal activity in this program raise extreme concerns for accountability within Wisconsin Shares."

UPDATE: Bicha says he is rearranging his schedule so he can appear before the committee.

-- By Greg Bump

State general purpose revenue collections totaled $12.1 billion in fiscal year 2009, about $2.1 million, or 0.02 percent, less than Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates in May, according to preliminary figures released this morning from the Department of Revenue.

GPR tax collections for the 2008 fiscal year totaled more than $13 billion.

See the DOR press release here.

Individual income tax collections fell nearly $500 million in 2009 compared to 2008, and corporate tax collections dropped by more than $200 million. Collection of sales taxes also fell, by nearly $200 million, according to the DOR.

Excise tax collections grew by more than $100 million in fiscal year 2009.

Meanwhile, a host of tax increases will kick off over the next four months. Today, the state's tax on a pack of cigarettes will jump 75 cents, going from $1.77 to $2.52. According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the tax increase is expected to generate an additional $152.8 million in 2009-10 and $155.2 million in 2010-11.

Moist snuff, which had been taxed at $1.31 per ounce, will now be taxed at 100 percent of the manufacturer’s list price -- meaning that if the manufacturer sells the product to retailers for $2, the state tax on the product will be $2. The tax on all other tobacco products is also going up, jumping from 50 percent of the manufacturer’s list price to 71 percent.

The tax increases for non-cigarette tobacco products is expected to increase revenues by $12.8 million in 2009-10 and $14.6 million in 2010-11, according to LFB estimates.

On Oct. 1, two other tax increases will take effect.

The 5 percent tax on digital goods is expected to collect $4.2 million in 2009-10 and $6.7 million in 2010-11, according to the LFB.

Also on the books as of Oct. 1 is the streamline sales and use tax, also known as the Main Street Equity Act. It is expected to increase sales tax collections by an estimated $2 million in 2009-10 and $2.7 million in 2010-11, according to the LFB.

The new "very high earners" income tax bracket goes into effect on Jan. 1 and will be collected for the 2009 tax year. The new tax bracket collects 7.75 percent from single individuals and heads of households earning annual income of $225,000 or more, married persons filing joint returns who earn $300,000 or more, or married persons filing separate returns who earn $150,000 or more.

According to the LFB, the new tax bracket will capture $163.4 million in additional revenue in 2009-10 and $124 million in 2010-11.

Also taking effect Jan. 1 for the 2009 tax year are the modifications to capital gains exclusions, which will ratchet down the amount from 60 percent to 30 percent. The change will result in additional collections of $115.1 million in 2009-10 and $127.4 million in 2010-11, according to the LFB.

-- By Greg Bump