Conference Committee Makes Progress

A conference committee has made some progress in its efforts to resolve the differences in the proposed 2007-09 state budgets forwarded by the Senate and Assembly.

The conference committee agreed Wednesday to include 571 items that were previously approved by the Joint Finance Committee and both houses. Those items will appear in the final budget document the committee eventually will send to Governor Doyle for consideration.

The following education items were among those the committee agreed to include in its budget recommendation:

Special education : The committee agreed to increase special education funding by $53.6 million outside of revenue caps to raise the state’s share of special education costs from 28.6% to 29%.

Low-spending districts : The panel will include revenue cap relief for low-spending districts by increasing the low-revenue ceiling from $8,400 to $8,700 in 2007-08 and to $9,000 in 2008-09, estimated to increase statewide revenue limit authority by $4-$5 million in 2007-08 and $8-$10 million in 2008-09.

Declining enrollment districts : Declining enrollment school districts will be assisted by a provision to ensure that the current year’s revenue limit will not be less than that of the prior year, increasing the statewide revenue limit authority by an estimate $2-$3 million in each year of the biennium.

The committee, which began its work in July, is comprised of members from the majority and minority parties. The committee will continue to seek compromise, as the two houses are more than $10 billion apart and have very different visions for the future of Wisconsin.

While the Senate Democrats’ pro-public education state budget provides the support to continue Wisconsin’s great schools tradition, the Assembly Republican budget proposal cuts $85 million in general school aids. The Assembly’s version also ratchets down the per-pupil revenue cap adjustment to $200, compared to the $264/$270 adjustment proposed by Governor Doyle and the Senate Democrats.

Members of the conference committee are:

Senate :
Judy Robson (D-Beloit), Majority Leader
Russ Decker (D-Weston), Senate Chair, Joint Finance
Bob Jauch (D-Poplar), Member of Joint Finance
Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), Minority Leader
Assembly:
Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem), Speaker
Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon), Majority Leader
Kitty Rhoades (R-Hudson), Assembly Chair, Joint Finance
Jim Kreuser (D-Kenosha), Minority Leader

Find out more about how the budget proposals stack up against each other by visiting OnWEAC’s Members Only page. The information is located in Cyberlobby, under 2007-09 State Budget Action.

Posted August 3, 2007