Assembly Action Is Stunt That Delays Budget

Assembly passage of an education funding bill separate from the state budget is a "stunt" that only delays passage of a real state budget, Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson (D-Beloit) said Tuesday (September 18, 2007).

On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Assembly passed a bill funding K-12 education and shared revenue and a bill setting levy limits. Twenty Democrats joined all 50 Republicans (two Republicans were absent) in passing the education bill, and two Democrats joined the 50 Republicans in passing the levy limit bill, which imposes a 2% property tax "freeze" on local government and a 2.6% levy freeze on technical colleges.

But Robson said the Democratic-controlled Senate will not take up the bills. Instead, she said, legislators need to complete work on a comprehensive state budget. An Assembly-Senate conference committee has been negotiating over a state budget bill since late July. Wisconsin is the only state that has not yet completed a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1.

Calling Tuesday's Assembly action "divisive political theater," Robson said, “Going to the floor with one part of the budget they negotiated with themselves doesn’t bring Wisconsin any closer to a final compromise. It is difficult work, hard work, but we have a responsibility to work in a bipartisan manner to accomplish a complete, real budget."

Governor Doyle has promised a veto of any piecemeal budget that reaches his desk.

Robson said conference committee negotiations have resulted in 99.7% agreement on funding for public education and the panel is "only a handful of items away" from a final package for technical colleges.

“If we’re serious about getting this budget done, funding our priorities and ensuring real property tax relief, we can’t afford to take days away from the negotiating table,” Robson said.

Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts (D-Middleton) echoed those sentiments.

“Yesterday was a wasted day in the Legislature," she said. "It was merely a show of pomp and circumstance put on by the Republican majority in an attempt to fool Wisconsin residents into thinking the budget is progressing," she said. "All we accomplished was to prevent the conference committee from meeting, delaying the real budget process yet another day. Passing bits and pieces of a $54 billion budget one at a time is irresponsible and illogical."

Resource Page on the 2007-09 State Budget

Posted September 19, 2007