The state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee held a public hearing Wednesday to listen to citizens’ concerns over Gov. Scott McCallum’s amended budget reform proposal.

Public sentiment was divided on aspects of McCallum’s plan, said Committee Chair Sen. Brian Burke, D-Milwaukee.

“I think we had a fairly broad cross section of testimony,” Burke said. “At this point, everyone realizes that cuts have to be made at the state and local level. We need to avoid pitting one group, one set of interests against each other.”

Committee member Rep. David Ward, R-Fort Atkinson, said he felt the commentary of the public failed to suggest any other significant courses of action.

“We heard a lot of ?protect my program’ talk,” Ward said. “Mostly ?here’s why my program is so important and it shouldn’t be cut’.”

Sen. Kevin Shibilski, D-Stevens Point, said he observed a concurrence within the testimony on the need to preserve education funding.

“If you really want to bolster Wisconsin’s economy in the long run, invest in education,” Shibilski said. “I think you’re going to see a bipartisan effort to protect all levels of education from these budget cuts.”

Joe Quick, spokesman for Madison Public Schools Superintendent Art Rainwater, who testified before the committee, said the schools are hoping to be spared the brunt of the budget axe.

“The message was that we realize that the state is in a difficult fiscal situation, but when you’re looking at places to cut, K-12 education just isn’t the place,” Quick said.

“We support the K-12 provisions in the governor’s original budget proposal, but we’ve had to cut over $17 million and positions because of revenue limits last year. We’ve had declining enrollments this year so that means less state aid. Other units of government say we need to share the pain. School districts have felt that pain for almost a decade.”

Ward said he thought the budget struggle needed to be resolved quickly and without squabbling, as the situation will not resolve itself without strong consensus from both sides of the aisle.
“We’re gonna have to make some tough choices and so are you,” Ward said. “And I keep telling people that the longer this stays around the worse it is going to get.”