Tonight the Wisconsin State Senate passed the 2015-2017 Wisconsin State Budget (2015 Senate Bill 21) on an 18-15 vote.  Senator Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay) voted with the 14 Democrats against the budget because of what he termed "the excessive amount of policy" in the budget. (Journal Sentinel article on Cowles' vote)

The bill now goes to the State Assembly, which is scheduled to convene on Wednesday at 11:30 am and will adjourn at 11:00 pm on Wednesday night, per an agreement with Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha). 

Upon passage by the State Assembly, the bill will then head to Governor Scott Walker for veto review and his signature.  Over the weekend, Governor Walker told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he "hopes to sign the budget late in the coming week."  Governor Walker is expected to formally announce that he is joining the large list of candidates seeking the Republican nomination for President at an event in Waukesha on Monday, July 13th in Waukesha. 

The budget bill was amended with two amendments one unanimously and one on a slim 17-16 vote.  The first amendment, Senate Amendment 1, undid changes to the states' open records law that were adopted on the last night of Joint Finance Committee action.  The amendment also deleted changes to the Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems and to the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access System. 

Senate Amendment 2 was adopted on a narrow 17-16 vote, with the repeal of prevailing wage for local government projects the most controversial provision in the motion.  Two Republicans; Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Sen. Rick Gudex (R-Oshkosh) voted with the Democrats against the motion.  

Senate Democrats offered 44 amendments to the bill, all of which were procedurally tabled on a party-line 19-14 vote.

The Senate which started its work around 3:30 pm, concluded its work at midnight.

Two Fiscal Bureau Papers of Note Released:

At the request of Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha), the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) prepared a memo on the non-fiscal policy items that are contained in 2015 AB/SB 21. 

The LFB memo identified over 100 new items added by the Joint Finance Committee, and 18 that the Governor introduced that the Committee removed for separate consideration.  The memo can be found here.

The LFB also released a memo on the condition of the state's general fund for 2015-2017 and 2017-2019 bienniums under the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Finance.  

With the disclaimer that the memo is based on "commitments under current law and the provisions of the Finance Committee's 2015-17 budget recommendations." And noting that  "No assumptions are made regarding revenue modifications in 2017-19 due to such unknowns as future law changes or economic factors. Likewise, no assumptions are made to appropriations regarding changes in caseloads, population estimates, enrollments, employee compensation, or inflation," the memo notes that 2017-2019 budget is projected to end with $490 million structural deficit. 

LFB creates this memo "to provide policymakers with an indication of the beginning point for the budget of the succeeding biennium. It does not project whether the next budget will have a surplus or a deficit (the Constitution requires that the Legislature pass a balanced budget). Rather, the analysis is intended to serve as a guide during current budget deliberations and provide some insight regarding the succeeding budget."

Two items of note as well from the memo:

• when this same memo was done for the preceding 10 biennia, only 1 biennia (2013-2015) had a positive structural balance.
• the budget stabilization fund currently has a balance of $280 million.

Over the weekend Governor Scott Walker, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and the Joint Committee on Finance Co-Chairs John Nygren (R-Marinette) and Alberta Darling (R-River Falls) announced that they were going to remove the provisions adopted during the Joint Finance Committee action on the budget in the #999 Motion related to the state's open records law. 

They released the following statement on Saturday:

"After substantive discussion over the last day, we have agreed that the provisions relating to any changes in the state's open records law will be removed from the budget in its entirety. We are steadfastly committed to open and accountable government. The intended policy goal of these changes was to provide a reasonable solution to protect constituents' privacy and to encourage a deliberative process between elected officials and their staff in developing policy. It was never intended to inhibit transparent government in any way. 

In order to allow for further debate on this issue outside of budget process, the Legislature will form a Legislative Council committee to more appropriately study it and allow for public discussion and input." - Link to release 

Senate Amendment 2 was termed by Majority Leader Fitzgerald the Prevailing Wage and "Technical Amendment."  

Senate Amendment 2 was adopted on a 17-16 vote with Republicans Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Rick Gudex (R-Oshkosh) voting with the Democrats against the amendment.

The most controversial provision in Senate Amendment 2 was the repeal of the state prevailing wage law that applies to local projects of public works.

#14 Repeal of the state prevailing wage law that applies to local projects of public works.

This provision of the amendment would does the following things:

• Retain the prohibition against local governmental units enacting or administering their own prevailing wage laws or similar ordinances.
• Repeal all provisions directing the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) to determine prevailing wage rates and redefine "prevailing wage rate" for state projects to instead mean the applicable prevailing wage rate as determined by the U.S. Department of Labor under the federal Davis-Bacon Act.
• Exempt from the state prevailing wage law laborers, workers, mechanics, or truck drivers that are employed to transport excavated material or mineral aggregate away from or to a project site of public works.
• Eliminate various statutory provisions with respect to the prevailing wage law for projects other than state highway projects and provide the Department of Administration (DOA) with rule-making authority, including emergency rule authority, to enforce and administer the law other than for state highway projects which are administered by the Department of Transportation (DOT). Eliminate DWD's existing role in enforcing and administering the prevailing wage law and transfer that role to DOA.
• Specify that DOA promulgate any rules that the Department determines are necessary to implement and ensure compliance with the state's prevailing wage law. Specify that if requested by any person performing prevailing wage work, DOA or DOT (as applicable) inspect the payroll records of any contractor, subcontractor, or agent performing work on a state prevailing wage project to ensure compliance with state law.
• Eliminate the requirement that state agencies post prevailing wage rates and hours of labor on sites, for projects other than state highway projects.
• Retain enforcement and oversight of the prevailing wage law on state highway projects by DOT. Move DOT prevailing wage provisions from the purview of the general employment statutes to be under DOT's general highway construction authority.
• Specify that if a person who is not a DOA employee or the contracting state agency or who is not an employee of DWD that is conducting an investigation contacts an employee performing prevailing wage work for the purpose of investigating compliance with the prevailing wage law, the person shall provide a written statement to the employee stating that the person is not affiliated with DOA, the contracting state agency, or DWD and disclosing the principal source of funding for the investigation.
• Delete provisions for liquidated damages and debarment in regard to state projects.
• Specify that these provisions take effect on January 1, 2017, and apply to any request for bids issued on or after that date. If a project is not subject to bidding requirements, the amendment applies to a contract that is entered into on or after that date.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau)

"Today the Wisconsin Senate advanced a bill that I believe our members can be proud of. While there is no doubt that this was a difficult budget, it was also a responsible one; by making some tough financial decisions, we ensured that the interests of Wisconsin's hardworking taxpayers were protected. We refused to raise sales, income or property taxes. We undertook long awaited, meaningful reforms to Wisconsin's antiquated prevailing wage law which artificially inflated the cost of taxpayer-funded projects to the tune of hundreds of millions annually. 

We looked towards the future by refusing to allow our state's borrowing to swell to unmanageable levels, and made difficult decisions to ensure that we will continue to foster the development of infrastructure-but not at the expense of maxing out the state's credit card. 

Equally importantly, we ensured that we continued to invest in our priorities, fully funding K-12 education in the first year of the biennium and allocating an additional $100 per pupil to our schools in the second year. We reduced the proposed cut to the University of Wisconsin System and created new flexibilities to allow one of our state's greatest institutions to be reactive to this and future financial challenges. 

Throughout this process, we have listened to and implemented the valuable feedback we received from our constituents. We protected the programs that Wisconsin's most vulnerable populations rely on, including SeniorCare, FamilyCare, and the Wisconsin Retirement System. The extensive public input we received played a significant role in shaping the document we approved today. 

I thank and commend all of my Senate colleagues for their hard work and dedication in completing this enormous task." 

Minority Leader Sen. Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse)

"Wisconsin is home to almost six million people, but legislative Republicans carefully crafted this budget to benefit one person who just so happens to be running for president. Rather than selling out Wisconsin to advance Gov. Walker's presidential ambitions, we need to work together to lift up all families and move our state forward.

 

"While parents and families have said they want education to be a top priority for our state, Legislative Republicans continue to cut our schools and waste hundreds of millions on tax breaks for special interests. It's time to put Wisconsin families first, restore the cuts to our schools and invest in the future of our state."

 Sen. Frank Lasee (R-De Pere)

"Senate Republicans are again leading to pass big, bold reforms of government. By including my conservative prevailing wage reform into the state budget today, my colleagues and I ensure that taxpayers will save hundreds of millions of dollars moving forward. It was a long and winding road and we proved today that meaningful and lasting reform is possible.
 

"I especially thank my colleagues, Majority Leader Fitzgerald and Senators Stroebel and Nass, for their efforts and leadership moving this big win for taxpayers forward. 

"Change is hard and harder still when going against the grain of strong interest groups. I'm proud of my colleagues for fighting for taxpayers and fully expect that we will see the same from the Assembly."  

Senator Robert Cowles (R-Green Bay)

"During my time in the legislature, I have often said that non-fiscal policy items don't belong in

the state budget. These items deserve to be debated on their own and should have public input and discussion as separate legislation.

While I understand that all budgets have some amount of policy, it is always best to keep those

policy items to a minimum. Unfortunately, this budget has an excessive amount of policy in it. 

By my count there are nearly 140 non-fiscal items contained in this budget. All of those items, could, and should, be introduced and debated as separate legislation. For that reason, I could not in good faith vote in favor of this budget."

Governor Walker's campaign today released a web video in advance of his expected presidential campaign announcement on Monday July 13th.  The ad, entitled Recall the Recall, is a compilation of news clips and headlines from the protests surrounding 2011 Act 10, and the subsequent recall attempt of Governor Walker.  The web ad closes with a silhouette of Governor Walker and next Monday's date.

Walker Campaign: Recall the Recall

Path forward:

In advance of his announcement, the Washington Post has a pretty lengthy article reporting on the Walker team's path forward in the Republican Primary.  Highlights include:

• Governor Walker has broader appeal than any other candidate- Campaign Manager Rick Wiley discusses how well Walker performs with the three legs of the Republican Party stool- Tea Party activists, Christian Conservatives and Establishment Republicans.
• Money- According to the article, Keith Gilkes, former Walker campaign manager believes the SuperPAC that he runs will have raised $40 million by the end of the year.
• Primary path- The Walker team believes he is well positioned to win Iowa, finish in the top 3 in New Hampshire and South Carolina, and potentially win Nevada.  With 15 Republican Primary candidates, they believe doing well in the four first states will create the momentum necessary to be competitive in the rest of the process.