History
of 1999-2001 budget bill
Budget Bill Passes Legislature, Moves to Governor for Signature:
On October 7, 1999, the budget passed the State Assembly by a vote of
82-17 and the Senate by a vote of 18-15. See the link above for details
of the bill.
Conference Committee Received $568 Million Revenue Reestimate:
Prior to the breakdown in negotiations, the committee received updated
revenue projections showing that
there is now an additional $568 million
in unexpected income for the legislature to spend. The projections
included an increase of $189 million for 1998-99; an increase of $195.5
million for 1999-00 and and increase of $183.6 million for 2000-01. Higher
than expected tax collections and more favorable national economic forecasts
than at the end of 1998 were cited as the reasons for the increased funds.
Conference Committee negotiations had gotten off to a slow start. The
four leaders from from the Republican-controlled Assembly and four leaders
from the Democrat-controlled Senate were trying to settle 554 differences
between the houses on budget policy. The updated revenue projections put
a new twist on the negotiations process. Once the Fiscal Bureau released
the new revenue projections, the committee members immediately began to
discuss their priorities for what to do with the money.
Assembly Speaker Jensen made the following suggestions for use of the
new money:
- Make sure there are no tax hikes in this budget, approve the governor's
income tax relief plan and approve the JFC tax provisions; increase
the lottery credit and add money to provide for $100 million in property
tax rent credits and $443 million in new property tax credits to get
close to a five percent property tax cut.
- Add $25 million in funding over the Assembly version for education.
Jensen highlighted improvements in SAGE, approval of alternative education
funding grants and removing the 75% cap on increasing enrollment districts
under revenue controls as education policy improvements.
Senate Majority Leader Chvala suggested the following uses for the
new money:
- Set up a "Structural Deficit Relief Fund" that would set
money aside to address the structural deficit in the budget which
is estimated to be approximately $530 million.
- Freeze UW tuition and reduce technical college tuition.
- Maintain a commitment to substantial property tax relief.
- Maintain the Senate position to provide $87 million in new spending
for education programs.
Members of the conference committee:
(The names of the conference committee members are followed by their office
e-mail addresses)
Highlights of Previous Education Packages from Senate and Assembly:
What follows is a summary of key education items adopted by the Senate
and Assembly. This list of provisions either make modifications to the
Joint Finance Committee version of the budget, or add entirely new provisions
to the budget bill. The two lists show the priorities that each house
brought to the conference committee and show a clear contrast between
the Assembly Republicans and the Senate Democrats on education policy.
Senate Democrats Offered $87.5 Million Education Investment Package
The Senate Democrats unveiled their Education Investment Package at a
press conference on Wednesday, June 23 and adopted the complete package
by unanimous vote in caucus on Thursday, June 24. WEAC supported the budget
plan. Key components include:
- Expand Class Size Reduction Efforts: Provide $28.7 million
for a state-wide expansion of the Student Achievement Guarantee in
Education (SAGE) K-3 class size reduction program. This will expand
the program to all kindergarten and first grade classrooms in the
2000-01 school year. Second grade would be added in 2001-2001 and
third grade added in 2002-2003. Also, continue the SAGE evaluation
of the performance of SAGE students in grades four through eight.
- Establish $200 million in bonding assistance to build new schools
and renovate existing schools for class size reduction efforts.
- Modify the QEO Law: Modify the current law definition of
a Qualified Economic Offer (QEO) including: language related to maintenance
of the existing fringe benefits package, create a new listing of "QEO
items", and distribution of the 2.1% salary component across
the entire salary range. Furthermore, new component areas related
to maintenance of conditions of employment and permissive subjects
of bargaining in the absence of a new agreement after the expiration
of a contract are added.
- Improve Funding for Special Education: Maintain the current
law statutory reimbursement rate of 63% for special education costs.
- Provide an additional $5 million to increase special education categorical
aid funding. This will add to the $35 million already provided in
the budget by the Joint Finance Committee.
- Allow school districts and CESAs to be reimbursed for administrative
costs related to Medical Assistance (MA) school based services. Direct
DHFS to authorize a two-year lookback for billing, if allowed by federal
law, for MA reimbursement for school-based medical services. Authorize
school districts to keep 90% of money above annual expected estimates.
Currently, school districts keep 60%.
- Fund Public Libraries: Provide $2 million to increase public
library aids.
- Improve School Safety: Require each school to implement a
safe school plan and require DPI to act as a clearinghouse for safe
school plans and other school safety issues.
- Provide Revenue Cap Relief: Provide a revenue cap exemption
for school security expenditures designed to prevent criminal activities
in schools.
- Provide a revenue cap exemption for schools that establish tip lines
to report security or safety concerns.
- Provide a revenue cap exemption for the amount school districts
must pay to comply with court orders
- Count 100% of summer school pupil enrollment under revenue caps.
Currently, school districts can count only 20% of summer school pupils.
- Count four-year-old kindergarten pupils the same as five-year-old
kindergarten pupils for purposes of state aid and calculating revenue
caps beginning in 2001-2002.
- Eliminate the 75% per pupil cap on increasing enrollment school
districts. Provide $13.3 million to restore current law so that school
districts with increasing enrollments can count 100% of their pupils
for the purposes of calculating revenue caps.
- Establish Charter School Provisions: Delete provision in
governor's budget to establish a petition process for charter school
petitioners. This would have allowed anyone denied a charter from
a local school board to seek approval by the state superintendent
of public instruction.
- Maintain current law governing the calculation of equalization aid
and revenue caps relating to eligible pupils attending pupils attending
Milwaukee voucher and charter schools. This would allow MPS to count
these pupils for the purposes of state aid and revenue caps calculations.
- Maintain current law provision stating that if the City of Milwaukee
contracts with an individual or group to operate a for-profit charter
school, that school must be an instrument of the school district.
- Improve Services for Visually Handicapped Students: Adopt
the recommendations of the Joint Legislative Council Special Committee
on Services for the Visually Handicapped.
- Create Alternative Education Opportunity Grants: Create an
alternative education opportunity grant program of $5 million annually.
- Maintain Commitment to fund 2/3 School Operation Costs: Restore
$13.3 million to maintain 2/3 funding for school operation costs.
This will eliminate the cap on debt service for referendum costs approved
by the Joint Finance Committee.
- Improve Geography Education: Provide $500,000 to establish
an endowment for geography education.
- Provide additional Funds for the WTCS: Provide an additional
$500,000 in state aid to the Wisconsin Technical College System.
- Maintain Public Broadcasting: Delete the JFC changes relating
to the reorganization of public broadcasting and return to current
law.
- Improve Child Nutrition Programs in Schools: Provide a 10
cent per breakfast supplement to schools that offer the federal school
breakfast program.
- Improve Youth Options Program: Require local school districts
to only pay for courses taken at a post secondary institution if it
was determined to be for high school credit.
Highlights of Assembly Republican Action on Key Education Issues
Each topic listed below is followed by the name of the Representative
who sponsored the amendment:
- Adopt a K-12 Education Package on Key Issues (Speaker Jensen/R-Waukesha)-In
an attempt to settle differences among Republican caucus members on
several key education issues, Speaker Jensen offered a single amendment
that covers several key K-12 education issues. The amendment will
do the following: (1) delay the onset of the 75% cap on increasing
enrollment school districts under revenue controls by one year; (2)
establish a phase-out of the interdistrict transfer program in the
Milwaukee Public Schools; (3) provide that one-half of the funds needed
to fund the Milwaukee voucher program would come from a reduction
in state aids to all school districts in the state; and (4) modify
the JFC provision relating to the inner-city busing and neighborhood
schools programs for Milwaukee schools. This item would limit the
amount of intradistrict aid MPS receives and allow the Milwaukee Redevelopment
Authority to issue up to $170 million in bonds to finance capital
improvements in Milwaukee schools. WEAC is analyzing the impact of
this amendment.
- Restrict Scheduling of School District Referendums (Skindrud/R-Mt.
Horeb)- Adopt Representative Rick Skindrud’s legislative
proposal that restricts the scheduling of school district referendums.
Governor Thompson included a similar provision in his budget but the
item was removed on a bipartisan vote of 15-1 by the Joint Finance
Committee. WEAC opposes this amendment.
- Make the School Calendar a Permissive Subject of Collective Bargaining
(Kestell/R-Elkhart Lake) -The Assembly Republican caucus inserted
Representative David Brandemuehl’s (R-Fennimore) legislative
proposal that makes the school calendar a permissive subject of bargaining.
WEAC opposes this amendment.
- Eliminate the 7th & 8th Grade Foreign Language Requirement
(Kestell/R-Elkhart Lake)-Eliminate current law requiring that
each school board provide regular instruction in foreign language
in grades seven and eight. WEAC opposes this amendment.
- Require Payment of Summer School for Voucher Schools (Nass/R-Whitewater)
-Mandate that the DPI fund payments to private schools in the
Milwaukee voucher program for summer school classes. WEAC opposes
this amendment.
- Adopt School Safety and Discipline Study Committee Recommendations
(Ladwig/R-Racine) -Adopt some of the recommendations made by the
Legislative Council Special Committee on School Discipline and Safety;
however, eliminate any funding associated with the recommendations.
The components of the plan will: (1) require safe school plans in
every school; (2) allow for students to be suspended for making a
threat to the health or safety of a person; (3) require the Department
of Justice to maintain a toll-free hotline for anonymous tips regarding
dangerous weapons or criminal activities in schools; (4) allow schools
to recover not more than $20,000 from the parent or parents with custody
of a child who damages school property by arson, bomb scares or explosives;
(5) require school officials to notify county social services if they
know a child is without a parent or guardian; (6) require the DPI
school performance reports to include suspension and expulsion data;
(7) clarify that a suspended or expelled child is absent with an excuse
under the definition of truancy; (8) require the Department of Justice
and the Department of Public Instruction to aggressively seek federal
funds relating to school safety and violence prevention; and (9) specify
that it would be a Class E felony (fine of not more than $10,000 and
not more than five years in prison) for a person who threatens to
use a dangerous weapon or explosive to cause bodily harm or damage
at a government building or school. WEAC supports this amendment,
but also supports the funding that was removed by the Republican caucus.
- Fund Instructional Network (Hundertmark/R-Clintonville) -Provide
funding to upgrade the Embarrass River Valley Instructional Network.
WEAC supports this amendment.
- Adopt School for the Visually Handicapped Study (Olsen/R-Berlin)
-Adopt provisions of the Legislative Council Study Committee on
Services for Visually Handicapped Students. WEAC supports this amendment.
- Modify Criteria for 4th and 8th Grade Exams (Nass/R-Whitewater)
-Require all criteria for fourth and eighth grade promotions to
be based on academic performance. WEAC supports this amendment.
- Modify BadgerLink Program (Duff/R-New Berlin) - Make several
changes to the BadgerLink program. WEAC is opposed to a provision
that would cut BadgerLink funds in two years.
- Shift At-Risk Youth Funds (Joan Spillner/R-Montello) -Transfer
$100,000 from Children at Risk programs in Milwaukee to a planning
grant for a residential school in Southeastern Wisconsin. WEAC is
opposed to this provision.
- Create a Direct Instruction Pilot Program (Gregg Underheim/R-Oshkosh)
-Create a Direct Instruction pilot program to determine if teaching
methodology apart from class size reduction can improve reading scores.
WEAC is opposed to this provision.
- Cut Smoking Prevention and Education Funding (Frank Urban/R-Brookfield)
-Trim spending on smoking prevention programs from $30.9 million
approved by the Joint Finance Committee to $15 million. WEAC opposed
this amendment.
Highlights of Assembly Republican Caucus Amendments that Failed
The following is a list of certain amendments offered by Assembly Republican
members that did not receive the votes necessary to become part of the
Republican budget package:
- Reject JFC budget provision to cap the amount of debt service that
is aidable from the state for school district referendum (Ainsworth/R-Shawano).
- Restore funding for High School Graduation Test with modifications
(Olsen/R-Berlin)
- Provide an additional 1% authority for school districts to exceed
revenue controls (Olsen/R-Berlin).
- Make various changes to school aids including; (1) increase revenue
cap by cost of living or 3.8% whichever is greater; (2) allow school
district to spend or borrow a percentage of their budgets and (3)
provide teachers at the top of their salary scale an increase that
is equal to the average step increase provided to others in their
lane on a salary scale (M. Lehman/R-Hartford).
- Extend the Youth Options program to private school students (Underheim/R-Oshkosh).
- Make school closing decisions a prohibited subject of bargaining
(Foti/R-Oconomowoc for Sen. Welch).
- Prohibit school year from starting before September 1 (Spillner/R-Montello).
- Repeal the QEO modification adopted previously that requires savings
in health benefits be applied to the salary component of a QEO (Duff/R-New
Berlin).
For More Information
Contact Bob Burke in the WEAC Government Relations office with any
questions, reactions or comments. Bob Burke can be reached at (800)
362-8034 ext. 254 or by e-mail at burkeb@weac.org.
Updated: October 5 1999
