As many seasoned budget-watchers had predicted, the July 1 st start of the 2007-08 fiscal year has long since passed and Wisconsin is still without a state budget. Members of the budget conference committee – the group of legislative leaders tasked with reconciling difference between the Assembly and Senate versions of the budget – have been meeting for weeks without any meaningful agreement.

Senate and Assembly leaders appear prepared to continue their already protracted stalemate. Wisconsin already has the dubious distinction of being the only state with a fiscal year starting July 1 st that hasn’t yet passed a budget. And there is no end to the impasse in sight.

Meanwhile local units of government, including technical colleges, are growing increasingly concerned over looming budget deadlines. Local units of government are required by law to certify property tax levies by specific dates, depending on the unit of government. These dates are fast approaching. And with state aid and shared revenue payments to local government unknown, important budget and levy questions will be difficult to address. Technical colleges and other local governments also don’t know if they’ll be forced to live under property tax revenue limits, again leaving significant budget questions unanswered.

Many higher education students are impacted by the budget delay too. Thousands of low-income UW students are in limbo, waiting to see if they will receive their Wisconsin Higher Education Grant. The Senate and Assembly passed two very different financial aid packages. The Higher Education Aids Board, which administers the grant program, is forced to assume the program will be funded at the lower of the two amounts, leaving thousands of students without aid.

Unlike many states, if a budget is not passed by the start of a new fiscal year, Wisconsin state government continues to operate. The previous fiscal year dictates allowable funding levels. For the WTCS, this means general state aid would be protected. Cuts to general state aid proposed by the Assembly would not take effect. However, new funding for programs like the Workforce Advancement Training grants and the veterans’ tuition remission is lost. These programs were included in the Governor’s budget and the Senate version of the spending plan, but a 2007-09 budget is needed to make the new funding a reality.

WEAC has been working with several prominent Wisconsin businesses on advocacy letters that encourage budget conference committee members to support technical college funding.

A sampling of business leaders’ letters can be found here:

Alliant Energy
General Motors
Johnsonville Sausage
Marshfield Clinic