This week, the Legislature appointed eight lawmakers to serve on the budget "Conference Committee",
which will reconcile the differences between the dueling Assembly and Senate budget packages. On the
Senate side will be Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson (D-Beloit); Senate Joint Finance Committee
Co-Chair Russ Decker (D-Weston); Senator Bob Jauch (D-Superior); and Senate Republican (Minority)
Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).

On the Assembly side will be Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem); Assembly (Republican)
Majority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon); Assembly Joint Finance Committee Co-Chair Kitty Rhoades
(R-Hudson); and Assembly Democratic (Minority) Leader Jim Kreuser (D-Kenosha).

Legislative leaders said the Conference Committee is likely to begin meeting the week of July 23. They’ll
work off of materials prepared by the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. To see the documents go to
the LFB website: www.legis.state.wi.us/lfb and click on "publications".

You’ve already called or emailed your legislator about the ARC budget, but we’re asking you to contact
them again this week and every week until this is over. This week, our message for AFSCME members to
tell legislators is:

• Reject the ARC budget cuts in services and attacks on collective bargaining.
  

• Invest in, not cut, public services (like K-12 education, the courts, corrections, the University
  System and aid to local governments, as Governor Doyle recommended in his original
  budget proposal, which was amended by the Joint Finance Committee).
  
  
• Support the specific fee and tax increases (the oil profits tax, the cigarette tax hike, the
  hospital and nursing home bed taxes, and the higher real estate transfer fee) that are vital
  sources of funds for courts, corrections, local services, and health care.

Last week we provided a list of some of the most egregious parts of the Assembly Republican Caucus
budget:

1.     Compensation Reserves - Cuts $94 million from the funds for state employee wage and benefit
        packages.

2.     Municipal Employment Relations Act (MERA) - Eliminates rights to bargain health insurance and
        privatization of public services and places artificial caps on final offers sent to an arbitrator.

3.     Shared Revenue - Aid for local public services is cut by nearly $60 million.

4.     Governor Doyle’s "Milwaukee Initiative" - The ARC budget cuts funding for courts, juvenile
        corrections, education, transportation, law enforcement, and other vital services aimed to support
        Milwaukee.

5.     Pension Contributions - The employer contribution is shifted to the employee for all local public
        employees and all non-represented state employees.

6.     Health Insurance - Eliminates health insurance as a subject of collective bargaining for state
        employees and requires state employees to pay 10% of premiums.

7.     Property Tax Freeze - Lowers the cap on local government revenue to between 0% and 2%
        depending on variables. (The Governor’s budget had a 4% levy cap).

8.     Wisconsin Shares - Eliminates the bi-partisan agreement reached in the Joint Committee on
         Finance to increase funding for child care subsidies by $70 million and implements harmful rule
         changes for providers like attendance based reporting.



LEGISLATIVE WEBSITES. . .For those "online", here are some good info spots:

Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau: www.legis.state.wi.us/lfb/