Legislature Holding Special
Sessions
The Legislature is currently meeting in three special
sessions: the December 2007 Special Session on campaign finance
reform, the March 2008 Special Session on the budget deficit,
and the April 2008 Special Session on the Great Lakes Water
Compact. Both houses of the legislature have been meeting in
skeleton session in order to continue all three special
sessions.
Budget Repair Bill - The bill
contains pieces from both of the budget repair bills that passed
the Senate and the Assembly earlier this year and parts of the
Governor’s proposal. The Senate narrowly approved the budget
repair bill Tuesday (17-16),
and the Assembly voted (51-46)
for passage on Wednesday, May 14.
While the Governor’s brinksmanship
in threatening to cancel May and June bid lettings for highway
projects helped leverage action in passing a budget repair bill,
the measure adopted by the Legislature was not agreed to by the
Governor nor is he supportive of some of the key provisions.
Governor Doyle made his position on
the legislative deal very clear at an afternoon press conference
on May 12. Key points included: (1) education is his top
priority and he does not approve of moving $125 million in
school aid payments into the next fiscal year; (2) the $209
million in revenue the Legislature derived through additional
tobacco securitization is too much and well beyond the $30
million in refinancing he proposed in his original bill, and;
(3) the transportation package in the main budget was adequate
and he did not understand why the Legislature would increase
transportation funding in the budget repair bill.
The Governor did not identify or
directly threaten specific vetoes. He indicated he needed to
review the language of the bill the Legislature put on his desk
and consider his options, but did note that he felt he had ample
veto authority to address his concerns.
The budget compromise includes the
following:
-
DOA secretary authority to lapse
or transfer funds to the General Fund. Require $69 million
during each year of the 2007-09 and 2009-11 fiscal biennia.
This is in addition to the $200 million included in Act 20.
-
Limitation on lapse from DOT.
Limit transfer from DOT to $50 million; require any lapse be
from SEG appropriation for state highway rehabilitation.
Authorize $50 million General Fund-supported GO bonds for
state highway rehabilitation program.
-
Transfer of Real ID
implementation funds. Prohibit JFC from providing an
appropriation to supplement to DOT to supplement cost of
implementing Real ID. Increase estimated transportation fund
appropriation lapses by $9.5 million in 07-08, $12.2 million
in 08-09 to General Fund.
-
DOT highway fund program funding
adjustments. Provide increases of $20 million in 07-08 for
major highway development program and $56,967,500 in 07-08
for state highway rehabilitation program (FED).
-
County transportation aid
payment delay to fund state highway maintenance. Permanently
delay the April quarterly county general transportation aid
payment until July and provide additional funding for state
highway maintenance in 08-09.
-
Transportation Fund deficit.
Reduce funding by $28 million SEG in 08-09 for major highway
development program and provide a corresponding increase
from SEG-S (currently authorized transportation revenue
bonds) in 08-09.
-
Equalization Aid payment delay.
Delay general school aid equalization aid payment by $125
million to the first Monday in July.
-
Budget stabilization fund
transfer. Transfer $57 million to the general fund.
-
Statutory Balance. Reduce
required statutory balance to $25 million for 07-09.
-
Tobacco Securitization. Increase
transfer from permanent endowment fund to MA trust fund by
$209 million in the biennium (from $50 million annually
under Act 20 to $309 million in 08-09).
-
Tobacco use control grants.
Increase funding for the grants by $250,000 in 08-09.
(Current base is $15 million annually).
-
MA benefits funding reduction.
Reduce funding for MA benefits by $24.4 million ($10m CPR &
14m matching Fed.) to reflect savings DHFS (renamed Dept of
Health Services, effective 7/1/08), is expected to generate
in the program.
LFB memo on the repair bill: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lfb/2007-09Bills/2008_05_12CC.pdf
Great Lakes Compact Adopted -
The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact
was adopted by the Wisconsin Legislature [April
2008 SS SB1], passing the Senate on Wednesday (32-1), with
Sen. Lazich voting against. The Assembly voted 96-1 for passage,
with Rep. Albers the lone dissenter.
Already endorsed by Minnesota,
Illinois, Indiana and New York, the compact must pass each of
the Great Lakes states before ratification by the U.S. Congress.
Established two years ago by the region’s governors -- along
with companion legislation in the Canadian provinces of Ontario
and Quebec -- the compact provides a model for a standardized,
consensus-based approach to decisions about Great Lakes water
use.
The compact will establish the legal
framework for: (1) prohibiting or, in a few cases, authorizing
and regulating new or increased diversions of water to places
outside of the Great Lakes basin; and (2) for regulating large
withdrawals and consumptive uses of water within the basin.
While the Compact was adopted with
only two dissenting votes, the final product was the result of
months of negotiations to ensure that Wisconsin was not placed
at an economic disadvantage with its neighboring states.
Kreitlow and Suder to Lead Study
Committee on Renewable Fuels
The Joint Legislative Council has announced the creation of
a study committee to look into the economic and environmental
impact of the development and use of renewable fuels in
Wisconsin. Sen. Pat Kreitlow (D-Chippewa Falls) and Rep. Scott
Suder (R-Abbotsford) were named co-chairs of the non-partisan
study group, which will be made up of legislators, citizens and
industry experts.
Kreitlow and Suder requested the
creation of the study committee to examine the often
controversial issues surrounding bio-fuel. The group will seek
voices from all perspectives to help determine the best course
of action for the state legislature in terms of bio-fuels
research, development and use by consumers.
Organ Donation Campaign
Spearheaded by WPS
WPS Health Insurance Corporation, one of Wisconsin’s largest
health insurers, recently announced ORGANize to Save Lives, a statewide organ/tissue donation
campaign, with the goal of recruiting one million new donors by
2010.
There are currently some 100,000
people on organ donor waiting lists nationwide. WPS is
partnering with UW Health, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce
and the Wisconsin Medical Society for the new effort.
For more information on legislation of interest to CTCW
members, go to the CTCW Tracking Report. |
