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State budget now moves to conference committee
6/13/2009 11:07:38 AM
Update: On Wednesday, the State Senate approved its version of the state budget. A conference committee will be developed to work out differences between the Senate and Assembly versions. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has developed a comparative summary of the two versions of the budget. More information will be posted here soon.
After an all-night session that stretched into the early morning hours, the State Assembly voted 50-48 Saturday to approve its version of the 2009-11 state budget bill. With the exceptions of Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer and Rep. Peggy Krusick, Assembly Democrats joined Independent Rep. Jeff Wood in voting for the budget package which attracted no Assembly Republican support.
The collective bargaining law reform approved by the
Joint Finance Committee survived intact despite various attempts by Assembly Republicans to modify the proposal. It includes repeal of the QEO law, effective July 1, 2010.
The Assembly did not make major changes to the education package that emerged from the Joint Finance Committee. However, notably, the Assembly did restore the prior year base revenue floor for severe declining enrollment school districts, ensuring that a current year's revenue limit will not be less than that of the prior year.
The budget bill now heads to the Senate which is expected to take up the measure sometime next week. Leaders in both the Senate and Assembly have hinted that a conference committee will likely be convened following Senate action to work out the differences between the two houses. An unamendable conference committee report will then go before each house for an up or down vote before heading to the desk of Governor Doyle for his consideration. Both the Senate and Assembly hope to complete their action before the new fiscal year begins on July 1.
State Budget
