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Committee passes state stimulus

Wisconsin legislators agree to adjustments to help compensate for budget shortfalls

The Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee passed the budget adjustment bill Tuesday morning geared towards attending to the state’s $600 million biennial budget deficit.

The Joint Finance Committee voted 12-4 in favor of the bill, with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans against it.

According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the bill is projected to reduce the deficit of the state’s general fund by about $183.3 million, bringing it from $600.2 million to $416.9 million. The bill also contains terms designed to start compensating for the current $5.7 billion budget shortfall.

Committee member Sen. David Hansen, D-Green Bay, said the committee decided to be more transparent for the public by allowing legislative oversight of the committee and providing information to the Legislature and public 48 hours before a meeting.

Hansen also said two of the more important items included in the bill are combined reporting for corporations, which makes corporations who do business in Wisconsin also pay taxes to the state, and the hospital assessment tax, which would bring in $900 million to the state over the next three years.

According to Hansen, the bill also includes taxes on Internet purchases and provisions to help struggling homeowners and tenants who are facing foreclosure. The bill also provides bonds for research institutions and grants for technical colleges’ training programs.

Hansen also said there are many transportation renovation projects included in the bill, which could create as many as 10,000 jobs for residents in the near future.

“[The projects] are ready to go, so we’re going to get them going as soon as the frost is out of the ground and we can move,” Hansen said.

Jim Bender, spokesperson for Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, applauded the Joint Finance Committee for allowing the whole committee to have oversight on the spending of federal stimulus money, rather than just the co-chairs overseeing. In particular, Bender praised Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, for adding the 48 hour’s notice provision.

“When the day started, only the co-chairs were going to have oversight on the federal stimulus money, and the whole joint finance committee, much less the whole Legislature, wouldn’t have been able to have any review process,” Bender said. “[Vos’ motion] was a big step in the right direction.”

Bender added there is a high volume of tax increases included in the bill, so that for every dollar in spending cuts, there are $10 in tax increases.

The bill will now be presented to the Senate this morning and will tentatively head off to the Assembly in the afternoon. If passed by the Legislature, Gov. Jim Doyle will tentatively sign the bill soon thereafter.