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WEAC Secretary-Treasurer Mary Bell addresses the member-lobbyists.
WEAC Secretary-Treasurer Mary Bell, who becomes WEAC president on August 1, urged WEAC members Tuesday (June 19, 2007) to "raise your voices up today and shape the state budget decisions of tomorrow" as she helped launch the 2007 WEAC Lobby Day. Below are her complete comments to more than 500 member-lobbyists as they prepared to meet with their legislators.
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Thank you for being a part of this year’s Great Schools Lobby Day. Today you will add your voices to the chorus championing public schools and their vital role in strengthening our state’s economic picture.
You have been joined together at a time when your legislators will be forming answers to some key questions – How much will the state invest in public education? Should the Qualified Economic Offer law be repealed? Will BadgerCare Plus become a reality so all children can have health care coverage? Should school districts have some flexibility to exceed revenue caps?
These questions and more will be answered in the next days, weeks, and possibly months. Today you will have the opportunity to influence the responses to these questions.
The state budget process began with Governor Doyle introducing his pro-public education state budget in February of this year. His budget proposal was then sent to the Joint Finance Committee for its review. The committee is made up of eight legislators from the Assembly and eight legislators from the Senate and is divided evenly along party lines. For most education-related state budget items, the governor’s budget proposal served as the starting point for the committee’s deliberations. That meant that nine votes were needed to depart from the governor’s budget recommendations. As a result, the governor’s education budget proposal emerged largely intact when the committee wrapped up its work on June 8.
Next the Democrat-controlled State Senate will craft its version of the budget before sending it to the Republican-controlled Assembly for action. Before each house’s budget proposal is ready for prime time, a lot happens behind the scenes. In some scenarios, it is what happens inside the caucuses, often behind closed doors, that matters most. If the past is any indication, positions are decided after a majority of the leading party caucus members take a stand on an issue. In the Senate where Democrats hold a majority with 18 seats, as few as 10 votes could determine a "caucus position" on a given issue. In the Assembly where the Republicans hold 52 seats, the magic number is 27.
Expect the two houses to develop very different versions of the state budget, each a reflection of their vision for public education and for the future of our state. Ultimately, a conference committee made up of selected legislators from the Senate and Assembly will resolve the differences between the two competing budget proposals before a final version is sent to Governor Doyle for his consideration.
At this critical time, your legislators need to hear from you, members of the education community, to ensure that public education remains a top state budget priority. So raise your voices up today and shape the state budget decisions of tomorrow.
Posted June 21, 2007