August 3, 2007 Volume #29, Issue #26
Budget Committee Clears away the "Low-Hanging Fruit"
- The budget Conference Committee met this
week to hammer out a compromise budget.
After several hours at the table Wednesday, conferees agreed on 571 items that already had
been
approved by the Joint Finance Committee and left unchanged by the Senate and the Assembly.
The
committee merely clarified and brought to light areas of mutual agreement. While this can
hardly be
characterized as progress, it was movement in the sense that these items now are off the
table.
The 571 topics described in a memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB)
represent about
half of all of the items that the Committee must address, but only a fraction of the
overall expenditures for
the 2007-08 budget. The memo on the 571 agreed to items can be found on the LFB’s
website
www.legis.state.wi.us/lfb
(click on publications, and see the memo dated August 1).
The 571 item list only includes parts of the comprehensive budget package that came out of
the Joint
Finance Committee on 16-0 votes. For example, on the Corrections budget package, the only
part that is
in the memo on the 571 areas relates to GPS tracking of sex offenders. The other portions
of the JFC
Corrections package, as well as many of the other 16-0 votes (such as child care funding,
programs for
veterans, domestic abuse prevention) will have to be bargained later by the Conference
Committee.
Senate Democrats Wednesday continued to argue for the issues approved by the Joint Finance
Committee on 16-0 votes, but Republicans refused to budge.
The Conference Committee is likely to meet again Wednesday and Thursday of next week, but
the exact
dates will be determined later.
AFSCME Green Fills the Budget Conference Room - Yesterday’s
budget talks took place amid a strong
presence of public employees from every corner of Wisconsin. A busload of AFSCME Council
24 and 40
members from the northwest (Eau Claire and parts beyond) traveled to the State Capitol to
lobby for
continued funding for public services and to remind lawmakers of the vital services that
state, county and
municipal workers provide.
The Conference Committee talks are broadcast on the web through Wisconsin Eye (www.wiseye.org).
Go online to view the AFSCME green filling the conference room. See also a story on
public employees
and the budget in the August 1 edition of The Capital Times.
Turning the Tide on Unfair Corporate Tax Breaks - SB 122 Moves onto Gov’s
Desk - On Tuesday, the
State Assembly met to take up Senate Bill 122, which will address a huge loophole in
Wisconsin’s
corporate tax system that was created by the Newark Decision. SB 122 removes a property
tax exemption
for waste treatment facilities by narrowing the definition of "waste treatment
facility" so that it only applies
to waste treatment operations, not other manufacturers. Had the court decision remained,
manufacturers
across Wisconsin could have claimed property tax exemptions that would have cost
municipalities
hundreds of thousands of dollars. It would have resulted in higher property taxes for
homeowners.
The Assembly took up SB 122 under the watch of yet another delegation of AFSCME members,
including
several dozen from Milwaukee.
SB 122 was approved 33-0 by the State Senate, and was approved 94-0 by the Assembly this
week. The
bill will be signed into law by Governor Doyle soon.
SB 122 is historic, in that it is the first time that the State Legislature actually has
closed a tax loophole that
benefits corporations at the expense of property tax payers. AFSCME and the AFL-CIO
strongly supported
SB 122. SB 122 is the beginning of a larger campaign by AFSCME and the AFL-CIO to
highlight tax
breaks that unfairly advantage corporate types at the expense of citizens and the public
sector.
For more information about SB 122, see the AFL-CIO website: www.wisaflcio.org.
LEGISLATIVE WEBSITES. . .For those
"online", here are some good info spots:
Wisconsin State Legislature: www.legis.state.wi.us/
"Who Are My Legislators": www.legis.state.wi.us./waml/
State of Wisconsin: www.wisconsin.gov/state/home
Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau: www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/
Wisconsin Legislative Council: www.legis.state.wi.us/lc/
Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau: www.legis.state.wi.us/lfb/
Wisconsin Ethics Board: http://ethics.state.wi.us