WisPolitics Budget Blog

Sparks Fly Over School Choice

Rep. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, said Milwaukee Democrats need to step up and support the school choice program in their city. She said Republicans are "tired of doing the work Milwaukee Democrats refuse to do."

She said Rep. Pedro Colon, D-Milwaukee, failed to introduce a funding fix for the program in the Joint Finance Committee, which results in higher taxes for Milwaukee residents. She also blasted Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who she said doesn't receive the respect his predecessor John Norquist did in the Capitol. "He shows up looking for more money and a hand-out," she said of Barrett.

Colon responded sarcastically that he wasn't aware that he was only member of the JFC who could propose amendments, and pointed out that not only did Republican JFC members fail to offer a fix in the committee, but the Republican budget being debated today also fails to provide a fix.

"Just to be frank, I don't think you care about the taxpayers of Milwaukee," Colon said. "You don't give a damn about those taxpayers."

Labels: Colon, School_Choice, Vukmir

Colon Bats .500 on Motions

The committee having wrapped up its regular agenda, stand-alone motions are flying fast and furious.

Rep. Colon's two stand-alone motions that got mixed results.

A motion to require that if a person is required to display multiple building permits, those permits be displayed in the same location or building site, passed 10-6.

A second motion from Colon, to require that a if a building permit is withdrawn the agency that issued the permit must notify the owner of the property and the general contractor within five days failed on an 8-8 party-line vote.

A Rep. Vos motion regarding the regulation of elevator mechanics passed 16-0.

A motion from Sen. Decker to require that the $308,000 unencumbered balance in the Wisconsin Technical College System firefighter training operations appropriation revert back to the fire dues distribution appropriation at the end of each fiscal year, and then be transferred to the DHFS program revenue appropriation for inter- and intra-agency EMS programs failed on an 8-8 partisan vote.

Labels: Colon, Decker, Department_of_Commerce, Vos

State Driving ID Proposed

Rep. Colon has proposed a motion to allow the state to issue driving certificates that would allow individuals to get driver's licenses but would clearly state that the ID is not accepted by any federal agency for identification or other official purposes.

Colon said there is a population out there that is going to drive regardless of whether they can get an ID under the new federal regulations imposed by the Real ID Act, and that these people are the backbone of the dairy industry and other jobs across the state. He said there is provision for state driving certificates under the Real ID Act.

The motion failed on an 8-8 partisan vote.

Labels: Colon, real_ID

Colon: Good Pay Attracts Good Teachers

Rep. Colon blasted the motion to remove the residency requirement, saying the way to ensure quality teachers for MPS is to pay them.

He said the issue boils down to the suburbs around Milwaukee having lower property values than the city, and some teachers wish to remove the requirement so than can take advantage of that. But if pay were raised, he said, the teachers would wish to stay in Milwaukee to buy a home.

He also accused the Legislature of fouling MPS with its meddling. "Why is it everything that happens in Milwaukee educationally is constantly undermined by this Legislature?" he asked.

Labels: Colon

Yes, But Can Crean Dissect the Transpo Budget

Sen. Decker remarked that he recently met Marquette University basketball coach Tom Crean, and he was struck by how much he looked like Rep. Pedro Colon, D-Milwaukee.

Colon responded that he's heard that before, but said the similarities end with resemblance. "I don't make anywhere near what Tom Crean makes, and I don't win nearly as much," he said.

Labels: Colon

Miller-Pocan Motion Fails

The vote is 8-8, along party lines.

The committee is now taking up a motion by Rep. Pedro Colon, R-Milwaukee, to raise the tipping fee by $3, but to transfer just $7.6 million over the biennium to the general fund. Colon's motion also increases the DNR municipal and county recylcling grant appropriation by $29 million over the biennium.

The Colon motion also failed on an 8-8 party-line vote.

Labels: Colon, tipping_fee

Roomful of Fitzgeralds

As the committee continues to debate the Taylor-Kestell motion, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, is in the chamber, talking with Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon. His brother, Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, the majority leader in the Assembly, is in the back of the room, speaking with Rep. Vos.

Raising his hand, Rep. Pedro Colon, D-Milwaukee, is called on by the chair.

"I just have a question," he said. "How many Fitzgeralds are allowed to be lobbying the Finance Committee at once?"

Labels: Colon, Rep. Fitzgerald, Sen. Fitzgerald

Starving Government

Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, has drawn up a motion that would cap the levy limit for counties and municipalities at zero percent or the percentage change in local governments' equalized value due to new construction.

Doyle's budget caps levies at 4 percent or new construction. Last budget, it was capped at 2 percent. (Budget paper 725)

Vos said the proposal should be bipartisan, that every candidate pledges to do something about property taxes. "When we make those statements, we should make a sincere and real effort to do it," Vos said.

Under Vos's proposal, the cap sunsets in three years. In Doyle's, it sunsets in two years.

Rep. Pedro Colon, D-Milwaukee, said Vos' proposal was voted on by the public in the last election. "It's what you ran on and a good chunk of people voted against you," said Colon. "I appreciate the fact that you think this is bipartisan ... but the idea of doing it in this manner was thoroughly discussed and thoroughly rejected."

Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, said the proposal is like the "son of TABOR or the cousin of TABOR."

Lehman accused Vos of posturing. He said a proposal like this "is doing nothing else but trying to starve government."

Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, called the plan "a political witch's brew concocted in offices in Madison that defy common sense."

He said legislators have no idea of the costs of local governments throughout the state. "It is completely illogical to impose that economic absurdity on local governments that are meeting the needs of their citizens," he said.

Rep. Dan Meyer, R-Eagle River, said he gets calls from his constituents saying they can't afford to stay in their homes any longer because of their rising property taxes. Road conditions and police coverage take a backseat to having a roof overhead, he said.

"For some reason we're more concerned about starving government than we are about the people footing the bill," he said.

A former mayor, Meyer said he cut levies four years straight, and the town didn't fall apart. "I could live under these caps no problem," he said.

Labels: Colon, Lehman, Levy Limit, Shared Revenue, Vos

Colon: Not Enough Hustle Put Into Solving Sex Offender Problem

Milwaukee Democratic Rep. Pedro Colon criticized the "dumping" of sex offenders into certain areas, saying his Assembly district has a disproportionate number.

GPS tracking, Colon said, "may provide a lot of comfort, but in the long run may not provide any significant treatment" for offenders. "We may need to do something radically different," said a frustrated Colon.

"I don't know if we're hustling enough," said a frustrated Colon.

Corrections Secretary Frank defended the effort of his staff, saying the state's sex offender registry grows by 100 people per month. He said the department makes every effort not to "dump" sex offenders in any given area, but offenders often return to the neighborhoods they resided in before incarceration.

Colon was skeptical. "The fact is you have agreements with slumlords where you have taken these people," he said, citing a rooming house across the street from his home.

Labels: Colon, Frank, GPS

WisPolitics Budget Blog

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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Sparks Fly Over School Choice

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Colon Bats .500 on Motions

Thursday, May 17, 2007

State Driving ID Proposed

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Colon: Good Pay Attracts Good Teachers

Yes, But Can Crean Dissect the Transpo Budget

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Miller-Pocan Motion Fails

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Roomful of Fitzgeralds

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Starving Government

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Colon: Not Enough Hustle Put Into Solving Sex Offender Problem

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