Senators debate new state budget today

Talk about it

Wisconsin senators are scheduled to begin debate this afternoon on their version of the new state budget.

Majority Democrats have spent the last two days in closed-door meetings to decide what they plan to pass.

Their changes have not been disclosed. But Majority Leader Russ Decker has said he wanted to restore the legal liability reform and budget cuts for the Justice Department which the Assembly took out of the package last week.

And he wanted to make oil companies help pay for new and improved roads, by imposing an oil profits’ tax that cannot be passed onto consumers.

But many lawmakers question the legality of that tax.

The Assembly agreed to let the companies pass on 4 cents a gallon, to avoid the expense of a possible industry lawsuit.

Meanwhile, minority Republicans say they’ll propose an amendment today to drop 179 pork and policy items from the budget. They include things like the benefit registry for domestic partners, and improvements to Milwaukee’s Bradley Center.

Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, says some of those things may be needed but they shouldn’t be buried and sneaked through in the $62 billion budget.

Also, the mayors of Appleton and Madison lobbied Tuesday for the Senate to keep their proposed regional transit authorities in the budget.

Those authorities would be allowed to charge their own sales taxes to pay for regional buses. The Assembly approved them for Milwaukee, Madison, Appleton and the Eau Claire-Chippewa Falls area.

Tags: state budget, wisconsin, news