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In this update:

Budget Updates
Election Updates
Committee Schedule
Upcoming Events

Budget Updates

JFC votes on several agency budgets

The Joint Finance Committee met on Thursday to consider eight agency budget requests. This included the sections of the budget for:

The Department of Safety and Professional services had requested funds for additional positions as included in the Governor’s budget. The committee voted to extend five project positions in the department’s call center for another three years. However, the permanent position funding that was included in the governor’s budget was struck down by the committee and will not be included in the legislature’s version of the budget. In addition to the work on the budget, the committee also met in a 13.10 hearing to consider Department of Justice settlements.

Following the hearing, legislative offices received additional LFB budget papers for upcoming action items. However, there has been no notice posted for when the next committee meeting will be. JFC Co-Chairs Rep. Mark Born (R) and Sen. Howard Marklein (R) also released a statement following the committee’s work. They stated that Republicans on the committee had voted to “invest in important government services while holding the line on spending.” Additionally, they stated, “Our action today demonstrates our commitment to right-sizing Gov. Evers’ budget and the continuation of responsible Republican budgeting.”

JFC Democrats hold press conference

Democratic members of the Joint Finance Committee held a press conference ahead of Thursday’s action on the budget. Democratic State Representatives Tip McGuire and Deb Andraca and State Senator Kelda Roys told media that it had been three weeks since the Republican members of the Joint Finance Committee “stripped over 600 items from the Governor’s budget” that were aimed at helping Wisconsinites “succeed in our economy today.” The Democratic legislators also discussed how the events happening at the federal level and in Wisconsin go against the feedback they have received from constituents and are largely unpopular. Rep. McGuire stated that as they travelled the state for the public hearings on the budget, they heard about issues that are being “neglected both federally and here at home.” They stated that those include cuts to Medicaid, a fix to the school funding formula, and predictable funding for education. They said that they also heard that Wisconsinites do not want another version of a tax cut, but instead want investment in “things that make Wisconsin worth living in.” The three called for their Republican colleagues to put their tax proposal into writing, and stated that introducing “Senate Bill 1” would give more transparency to the process. Sen. Roys stated that she found it disappointing that Republicans are “willing to ignore everything they heard [across Wisconsin] in order to have a tax cut.”

Watch the full press conference here (1:20 mark).

GOP Leaders & Governor Evers continue budget negotiations

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told WisPolitics in a statement this week that he and other Republican legislative leaders are continuing to work with Governor Tony Evers (D) to meet and have negotiations on the state budget. Speaker Vos stated that the “goal is to continue talks to reach a bipartisan consensus on the budget that invests in priorities, including a tax cut for those who need it most.” The statement was released following a news conference by Democratic members of the Joint Finance Committee.

Election Updates

Candidates for DPW Chair set ahead of convention

The three candidates who are running for chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, following the departure of current Chair Ben Wikler, are set ahead of the state party’s convention next month. Appearing on the ballot will be:

William Garcia (The current 3rd Congressional District Chair)
Devin Remiker (The former Executive Director of DPW; Endorsed by Chair Ben Wikler)
Joe Zepecki (A political operative & owner of Zepecki Communications LLC)

To qualify for the race, the candidates had to submit a minimum of sixty signatures from current party members, at least ten of those signatures had to be from at least six of Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin will hold its convention from June 14-15th in the Wisconsin Dells.

Committee Schedule

The following meetings have been noticed as of 12:15 pm Friday. Committee and Agency meeting notices are frequently updated and can be found here (for the Legislature) and here (for the Administration).

Monday, June 2

Senate Committee on Government Operations, Labor, and Economic Development

Executive Session at 10:00 AM

Tuesday, June 3

Assembly Committee on Campaign and Elections

Public Hearing at 10:00 AM

Wednesday, June 4

Assembly Committee on Children and Families

Executive Session at 10:00 AM

Assembly Committee on Jobs and Economy

Executive Session at 10:00 AM

Assembly Committee on Science, Technology, and AI

Executive Session at 10:00 AM

Assembly Committee on Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care

Executive Session at 12:00 PM

Thursday, June 5

No meetings currently scheduled

Friday, June 6

No meetings currently scheduled

Upcoming Events

Capitol Chats

June 13th at 8:30am - Capitol Chats with Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara (virtual)
June 20th at 8:30am - Capitol Chats with Rep. Priscilla Prado (virtual)
June 27th at 8:30am - Capitol Chats with Rep. Tony Kurtz (virtual)

Meet the Cabinet

June 16th at 11:30am - Meet the Cabinet with Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman (in-person/virtual)

June 24th at 11:30am - Meet the Cabinet with DOT Secretary Kristina Boardman (in-person/virtual)

ABOUT US

If you would like any additional information about the above topic, or if you would like to find time to discuss the above matter in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact your Michael Best Strategies contact.

Have a great day,

Wisconsin GR Team

Government Relations Team

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