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5/29/2009
Who says the budget will be passed in the dark of night?
Dems met behind closed doors all day Wednesday, never seeing the light of day, and promising a start to the Joint Finance Committee by noon Thursday. A draft of a 65-page omnibus amendment was worked on in secret Wednesday and on into Thursday morning and afternoon. (Here’s a WisPolitics snapshot of just a few items in the omnibus.) Republicans were only able to glance at these huge, complex proposed changes when a copy was leaked sometime early afternoon. JFC finally began to meet after 5:30 last evening.
WisPolitics’ Greg Bump’s been posting (on this go-round) since Thursday morning. JFC just now (it’s 5:30 a.m. Friday morning) passed the full budget out of committee. Lots of budget news. Here’s a good compilation. Read Bump’s WisPolitics BudgetBlog from the top to get much of the scoop.
Bump’s post at 4:46 a.m. this morning:
“Who says the budget will be passed in the dark of night? The sun is rising folks.”
Why did JFC start over 4 hours late, after cancelling Wednesday’s meeting as well? “Pocan says the process was stymied by the leak of the draft earlier today.”
A 2-year Driver “Card” for illegal immigrants draws fire.
In the Driver “Card” discussion, Pocan and Colon say they're both “tools” – discriminated against (Pocan supposedly because he’s openly gay, Colon because he’s Hispanic.) 6’10” Rep. Phil Montgomery feels left out .
Two Dems join the 4 GOP JFC members in voting against the oil profits tax.
Huge hike to nursing home bed assessment.
Mega-budget fix (65 pp.) passed in total about 10:30 (reporting by the Wisconsin State Journal).
Trying to make the point that Republican amendments are not listened to, much less taken seriously, Assemblyman Robin Vos reads a list of attorneys from the Yellow Pages. When the chair ruled he was out of order, he decided to read the omnibus bill out loud verbatim. Vos: “You guys might think it’s a joke the way you’re screwing business, but I’m going to finish.”
Weird motion at the last minute – expanding access to patient records, expanding definition of “health care provider.”
l More on earmarks (see FP’s piece yesterday): The Journal Sentinel acknowledges the earmarks are for “key legislative Democrats”
Earmarks. Funding would be available for projects in million for the districts of key legislative Democrats, including: $6.6 million for the Bradley a Yahara River project in Dane County; $5 Center Sports and Entertainment Corp.; $4 million for planning a joint museum for the State Historical Society and Department of Veterans Affairs; $1.1 million for the AIDS Network and AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin; $500,000 for an environmental center in a park that borders Madison and Monona; $500,000 for the Oshkosh Opera House; $500,000 for Crosse; $250,000 for the Madison Children's Museum; Eco Park in La $50,000 for a consortium of seven Dane County schools; $50,000 for the Chequamegon School District; and $37,200 for the City of Stanley in Chippewa County.
The committee also approved six road and bridge projects around the state.On Tuesday, the committee approved $46,000 to the Town of Wrightstown in Brown County to purchase new recycling bins for residents. Requiring 2 license plates endorsed by JFC
JFC signs off on early release plan.
One by one, Republican efforts to stop dems failed on largely partisan votes.
Then Cap it all off with a Senate Democrat fundraiser/golf outing Friday at 9 a.m. Oh my. Senator Glenn Grothman points out the absurdity of it all, the Dems rushing to pass this budget (as noted above, at 5:30 a.m. Friday morning). It's what you call raising money for the budget. Unbelievable. Here's the invite.
Madison: Senator Glenn Grothman called upon Senate Democrats to delay their golfing fundraiser scheduled for tomorrow in Lake Geneva so that they are able to pass the most significant parts of their budget at a time when the public can have at least 12 hours to review it. A summary of the omnibus draft was not available to the general public until 1 p.m. this afternoon and the actual language I could not get until 5 p.m.
“It is very frustrating to hear representatives of the most affected groups in the state as well as legislators not knowing or understanding what the language is in the most significant budget provisions being proposed,” said Grothman. “I realize this golf fundraiser was probably planned months ago, but I personally would like to know more about the effect of removing the QEO half-way through a two-year contract cycle, the details of the mental health coverages, the cost to local districts of providing transportation for pregnant high schoolers, as well as other costly provisions.”
“You are in the majority, and I’m sure the lobbyists will be more than glad to give you money next week, but the damage various costly provisions being passed on the Thursday night [hmmm. Got to be Friday morning, 5:30 a.m., as you know.] before the golf outing may be permanent. I’m sure most of these lobbyists would prefer to know what you are voting on to going golfing anyway,” said Grothman. “Please re-schedule this vote for next week when you have time to familiarize yourself with the budget policies on which you are voting and the consequences thereof.” Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
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