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Conservatively Speaking
State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) represents parts of four counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Walworth. Her Senate District 28 includes New Berlin, Franklin, Greendale, Hales Corners, Muskego, Waterford, Big Bend, the town of Vernon and parts of Greenfield, East Troy, and Mukwonago. Senator Lazich has been in the Legislature for more than a decade. She considers herself a tireless crusader for lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government.
State Budget Watch: Policy items in Governor Doyle’s budget need to be tossed
By Mary Lazich
Thursday, Apr 9 2009, 02:30 PM
The Wheeler Report has done a marvelous job comparing the non-fiscal policy items that are in Governor Doyle’s proposed 2009-11 state budget as determined by the legislative Fiscal Bureau to those policy items that were removed from budget consideration by the co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee. I believe all non-fiscal, policy items should be taken out of budget negotiations and debated as separate pieces of legislation.
Thank you to Dick Wheeler and his staff for compiling this great information:
LIST OF NON-FISCAL ITEMS IN BUDGET RELEASED
Fiscal Bureau Director Bob Lang released a list of 80 non-fiscal policy items contained in the Governor’s proposed budget. Below is the list of items using the following criteria: 1.) generally, the item has no state fiscal effect; 2.) if there is a state fiscal effect associated with an item, the policy implications of the provision outweigh any potential fiscal effect; 3.) the item has been, or is, the subject of separate, non-budget legislation; 4.) the item is one that typically would be reviewed by a standing committee of the Legislature; and 5.) the provision could be accomplished without statutory directive, such as reports, studies, and audits.
Co-Chairs Miller and Pocan asked Fiscal Bureau to review the list using the following criteria: 1.) the item has no effect on state appropriations or state or local revenues in the 2009-11 biennium; or 2.) the provisions could be accomplished without statutory directive, such as reports, studies, and audit. The items in italics below are the eleven items that meet the non-fiscal policy, but not the modified criteria of the co-chairs.
In a memo from the co-chairs, 45 items have been identified as non-fiscal policy and will not be addressed with the budget, “but should be considered as non-budget legislation by other standing committees.” Those 45 items are underlined below. All items not underlined will be considered as part of the budget in the Joint Finance Committee.
General Agency Provisions
- Reassignment of Executive Branch Employees (Page 38, #20)
- Cost-Benefit Analysis (Page 39, #21)
- Prohibit Use of Private Aircraft for Out-of-State Travel (Page 39, #22)
Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
- Technical Statutory Changes (Page 104, #26)
Budget Management and Compensation Reserves
- Repeal Obsolete Provisions Relating to State GPR Spending Limit (Page 118, #8)
Building Commission
- State Building Contracting and Construction Procedures (Page 120, #3)
Children and Families
- Children and Families: Child Welfare Alternative Response Pilot Program (Page 141, #8)
- Economic Support and Child Care: W-2 Agency Requirements (Page 155, #4)
Circuit Courts
- Expunging Record of Conviction (Page 177, #6)
Commerce
- Economic Development: Commerce Authority Under Eminent Domain (Page 196, #17)
- Housing, Buildings, and Environmental Regulation: Landlord Proceeds from Sale of Abandoned Tenant Property (Page 200, #8)
- Housing, Buildings, and Environmental Regulation: Repeal Building Inspector Review Board (Page 200, #9)
Employee Trust Funds
- Retirement Eligibility for Educational Support Personnel (Page 237, #7)
- Early Retirement Creditable Service Calculations for Certain Part-Time Employees (Page 238, #8)
- Wellness and Disease Management Programs (Page 238, #10)
Employment Relations Commission
- Repeal QEO Provisions (Page 240, #4 and #5 and Page 526, #1)
- Duration of Collective Bargaining Agreements for School District Employees (Page 241, #6)
- Combining Collective Bargaining Units of School District Employees (Page 241, #7)
- Weighting of Factors Considered in Arbitration Awards for School District Employees (Page 241, #8)
- Technical Correction to Definition of Collective Bargaining (Page 243, #9)
General Fund Taxes
- Excise Taxes and Regulation of Tobacco: Direct Marketing of Cigarettes and Tobacco Products (Page 285, #4)
General Provisions
- Contributory Negligence (Page 304, #1)
- Establishment of Domestic Partnership and Related Rights and Benefits (Page 304, #2)
- City of Milwaukee Appropriation Obligation Bonding Authority (Page 315, #3)
- Restrictions on Smoking (Page 322, #4 and Page 355, #6)
Health Services
- Departmentwide: Eliminate Certain Required Reports (Page 340, #13)
- Medical Assistance and FoodShare Administration: Consolidation Enrollment for Public Benefits Programs (Page 373, #8)
- Care Facilities: Escorts for Sexually Violent Persons During the First Year of Supervised Release (Page 383, #3)
- Care Facilities: Treatment to Competency (Page 384, #14)
- Care Facilities: Supplementary Mental Examinations (Page 384, #15)
- Quality Assurance, Disabilities, and Substance Abuse: Wisconsin Quality Home Care (Page 385, #1)
- Quality Assurance, Disabilities, and Substance Abuse: Contesting Actions and Receiverships (Page 392, #6)
- Quality Assurance, Disabilities, and Substance Abuse: Nursing Home Bed Transfer (Page 393, #7)
Insurance
- Health Insurance Coverage: Coverage Requirements for Dependents (Page 417, #11)
- Independent Review of Coverage Denial Determinations and Rescissions (Page 417, #12)
- Individual Health Policies: Modifications at Renewals (Page 418, #13)
- Individual Health Insurance Policies: Preexisting Condition Exclusions (Page 419, #14)
- Individual Health Insurance Policies: Uniform Application (Page 419, #15)
- Individual Health Insurance Policies: Cancellation and Rescission Reports (Page 420, #16)
- Motor Vehicle Insurance: Uninsured, Underinsured and Medical Payments Coverage (Page 420, #17)
- Motor Vehicle Insurance: Umbrella and Excess Liability Insurance (Page 421, #18)
- Motor Vehicle Insurance: Proof of Financial Responsibility (Page 422, #19)
- Motor Vehicle Insurance: Prohibited Policy Provisions (Page 422, #20)
Justice
- Collection of Traffic Stop Data (Page 434, #13)
Medical College of Wisconsin
- Eliminate Certain Reporting Requirements (Page 442, #4)
Natural Resources
- Departmentwide: Land Program Title Change (Page 460, #15)
- Air, Waste, and Contaminated Land: Local Recycling Program Variances (Page 486, #6)
Office of State Employment Relations
- Collective Bargaining Rights for UW System Faculty and Academic Staff (Page 494, #5 and Page 661, #23)
Public Instruction
- School District Operations: High School Graduation Requirements (Page 526, #2)
- School District Operations: Consolidated District Board Membership (Page 526, #3)
- School District Operations: LRB Bill Draft on MPS Operations (Page 527, #4)
- Choice and Charter: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program – Assessments, Promotion, and Standards (Page 528, #3)
- Choice and Charter: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program – School Accreditation (Page 530, #4)
- Choice and Charter: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program – Staff Credentials (Page 531, #5)
- Choice and Charter: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program – Hours of Pupil Instruction (Page 531, #6)
- Choice and Charter: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program – Provision of Information (Page 531, #7)
- Choice and Charter: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program – Pupil Records (page 533, #8)
- Choice and Charter: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program – Pupil participation in Religious Activities (Page 533, #9)
- Choice and Charter: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program – Priority Under Enrollment Limit (Page 534, #10)
Public Service Commission
- Immediate Savings Energy Efficiency Program (Page 543, #6)
- Filing Extension for Public Utility Balance Sheets (Page 544, #7)
- Review of Telecommunication Depreciation (Page 545, #9)
- Telecommunications Reports by the PSC (Page 545, #10)
- Review of USF Rules (Page 546, #11)
Revenue
- Tax Administration: Tax Appeals Commission Standard of Review (Page 563, #14)
Shared Revenue and Tax Relief
- Property Tax Credits: First Dollar Credit – Distribution of Credits to Counties (Page 571, #3)
- Property Tax Credits: First Dollar Credit – Installment Payments (Page 572, #4)
- Property Taxation: Property Tax Exemptions for Biotechnology and Manufacturing Research (Page 582, #2)
- Property Taxation: Review of Assessments by Class of Property (Page 583, #3)
- Property Taxation: County Property Tax Assessment Program (Page 584, #4)
- Local Revenue Options: Expansion of Premier Resort Area Tax (Page 585, #1)
Transportation
- Local Transportation Assistance: Regional Transit Authorities (Page 607, #2)
- State Highway Program: Design-Build Contracting for Highway Improvement Projects (Page 629, #9)
- State Highway Program: Appeals in Eminent Domain Proceedings (Page 629, #10)
- Motor Vehicles: Milwaukee Brewers License Plate (Page 641, #14)
- State Patrol: Photo Enforcement of Traffic Light and Work Zone Speed Violations (Page 646, #8)
University of Wisconsin
- Eliminate Certain Reporting Requirements for the UW Medical School (Page 661, #24)
Workforce Development
- Workers Compensation: Work Injury Supplemental Benefit Fund Claims (Page 690, #13)
- Equal Rights: Dismissal of Complaints for Probable Cause (Page 693, #18)
- Equal Rights Labor Standards: Local and Municipal Public Works Project Prevailing Wage Applicability Thresholds, Records, and Publicly Funded Private Construction Projects (Page 695, #19)
Items not on the original Fiscal Bureau Memo to be removed:
- Commerce: Economic Development: Minority Business Certification Definition Modification (Page 195, #16)
- Commerce: Housing, Buildings, and Environmental Regulation: PECFA Eligibility Notification Deadline (Page 197, #3)
- Employee Trust Funds: Wellness and Disease Management Programs (Page 238, #10)
- Health Services: Public Health: Audit of Grants for Dental Services (Page 378, #9)
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