WisPolitics Budget Blog

Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, has introduced a motion to provide the southeastern Wisconsin RTA the authority to sponsor and operate the proposed Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail service; to levy a vehicle rental fee of up to $15 per transaction in the three-county region (the fee is currently $2 per transaction); and to issue up to $50 million in bonds for the anticipated local funding share required for initiatiing KRM commuter rail service.

(budget paper 777)

Lehman said the proposal "means a lot to the city of Racine," and the rail line would provide significant economic benefits to the region.

He said the proposal does not involve state dollars, but an authority of the RTA funding sources.

"This proposal would make a huge difference in Racine but also Kenosha and Milwaukee, tying those communities in southeastern Wisconsin together," he said.

Labels: KRM_Line, Lehman, Transportation

The committee is standing informal, still not having voted on the Lehman motion to fund a program to reduce infant mortality in Racine. Reps. Rhoades, Vos, Stone and Kestell, and Sen. Darling are on one side of the room conferring with staffers.

UPDATE - The committee is back, and Darling has introduced a friendly amendment to sunset the expenditure in two years. Lehman accepted the amendment, saying it was appropriate and would give everyone a chance to look at the issue statewide.

The motion passes 16-0, with Vos' aye coming reluctantly.

Labels: Lehman

Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, has a motion on the floor to provide $250,000 GPR annually to fund a program to reduce fetal and infant mortality in the City of Racine.

Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, said while Racine has problems with infant mortality, those same problems exist in other cities, and there shouldn't be an earmark for one city. He said neither the city of Racine or Racine County officials have come to him and said this is a priority.

Sen. Decker said if the committee doesn't vote for this "kids are going to be dying."

"We just spent 2.6 million on license plates, and some of you are going to turn your back on children," Decker said.

If the committee can't pass this, Decker said, "We oughta walk out, get in our cars and go home."

Labels: DHFS, Lehman, Vos

Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, offered a motion to modify the property tax exemption for computers to exclude automatic teller machines as of 2008.

The LFB estimated the fiscal impact would be $900,000 in 2009-10.

Lehman said the committee budget is about $30 million above the governor's bill so far, and the committee needs to start dialing back the spending.

The motion failed on an 8-8 partisan vote, with Dems for, Republicans against.

Labels: Lehman

Expectations are rising that a motion will be introduced in the Joint Finance Committee to fund the proposed Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail line.

Sources expect an amendment to the 2007-09 budget that would include a proposed $13 increase in car rental fees for Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties. A vote is expected later this month when the committee takes up the transportation section of the bill. The KRM project would run on existing rail along a 33-mile corridor between southeastern Wisconsin cities, from Kenosha to Milwaukee.

JFC member Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, said today he'd be willing to propose the motion.

"I'm not sure who's going to bring the motion, but I could," Lehman said.

The Wisconsin Car Rental is slamming the RTI-approved fee hike, calling it a 650 percent tax increase, and said it would have a negative impact on tourism.

"I can't imagine a worse first impression on visitors than a tax rate higher than any state in the Union," said WICRA Board Member Dan Ewald in a press release.

See the release here.

Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, said he wouldn't support a motion to increase the tax unless it included a referendum.

Vos said he is hoping to put a referendum on commuter rail on the presidential primary ballot in February. He called the June application deadline "artificially created" and said the grants are up for grabs each year.

"I cannot see us sneaking this into the budget in the middle of the night without public comment," he said. "I think we have to have an open, honest public debate."

Lehman said his district -- which includes Vos' Assembly seat -- stands to benefit greatly from the proposed commuter rail line, and said he hopes Vos reconsiders his opposition.

"He's not hearing the same kind of voices I'm hearing from," he said. Lehman said the rail line has tremendous support from the business community and citizens.

"You can ask for a referendum on anything, but we have a representative government, and sometimes it's up to the representatives to make these decisions," he said.

Vos doubts the rental fee increase will get support from Republicans on the JFC, who have taken a strict no new taxes stance.

"I can't speak for anybody else, but I find it hard to believe with the position we're taking -- that the people of Wisconsin are over-burdened by taxes -- we would say, 'Except just in this one case,'" he said.

Labels: KRM Line, Lehman, Vos

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