As the Wisconsin Legislative Joint Committee on Finance begins its executive hearings on Gov. Jim Doyle’s budget proposal today, some of the proposal’s most controversial issues are likely to spur debate among lawmakers during the coming months.

Among the most controversial issues are a proposed statewide smoking ban, benefits for domestic partners of state employees along with the creation of a statewide registry where same-sex couples can register with Wisconsin counties to get the same legal benefits currently available to heterosexual couples, and a plan to release nonviolent criminals from prison.

During his budget address in February, Doyle advocated the proposals as policies that would help fix Wisconsin’s current financial problems.

The statewide smoking ban, which bans smoking in public areas in Wisconsin, has gained support from Democrats in the Legislature. Joint Committee on Finance Co-Chair Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, previously supported the measure, according to spokesperson John Anderson.

Miller and Joint Committee on Finance Co-Chair Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, decided to keep the item in the bill, allowing it to be voted on by both the Assembly and Senate as part of the budget proposal, despite a report from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau that the measure did not have any real fiscal effects.

Committee member Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, said he believes while the issue is nonpartisan, it is one of an individual’s civil rights, arguing if businesses, such as taverns, want to allow customers to smoke in their establishment, they should be able to do so.

Miller has also supported same-sex benefits in the past, according to Anderson, and decided with Pocan to also help keep the item in the budget proposal.

Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, is against the proposal, however, according to spokesperson Kimberly Liedl.

“Scott is just concerned about the fiscal impact of it (the registry),” Liedl said. “It would cost the state anywhere from $8 to 15 million … he just questions the timing of it, with the challenges we’ve been facing in this budget.”

Vos said a basic privilege, such as allowing individuals to visit loved ones in the hospital, is not a partisan issue.

“But creating a domestic registry … anything close to gay marriage, that’s just way too far out of the mainstream,” Vos said.

A plan that would release criminals from jails will also likely be decided as the budget moves through the Legislature.

Vos said he is against the plan.

“Letting prisoners out early … who in the world thinks violent prisoners should be let out early?” Vos said. “I think the only people who want to let criminals out early are the liberals in Madison and the liberals in Milwaukee…”

The proposal must help balance the state’s budget as Wisconsin faces a record $5.9 billion deficit.

Both the Assembly and the Senate must vote on the plan before it can go into effect. Once approved, the budget will be effective from July 2009 until July 2011.