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MADISON - A new tax that threatened to
increase gas prices would be eliminated and illegal immigrants would
not be issued special cards so they could drive legally on Wisconsin
roads under a budget deal passed by the Democratic-controlled Senate
early Friday.
The deal was released just four hours
earlier Thursday night following more than 12 hours of closed-door
discussions.
Under the agreement, Wisconsin drivers
also would have to buy car insurance, leaving New Hampshire as the
only state without the requirement.
The deal attempted to resolve major
differences between the two versions of the roughly $62 billion state
budget passed by the Senate and Assembly earlier this month. There is
urgency to get the budget enacted by the start of the new fiscal year
Wednesday to solve the state's projected $6.6 billion shortfall, the
highest ever.
The Senate passed it 17-15, with
Democratic Sen. Jim Sullivan of Wauwatosa joining 14 Republicans in
voting no. One Republican, Sen. Alan Lasee of DePere, was absent.
The Assembly was expected to vote
Friday. Once both chambers pass the budget, it heads to Democratic
Gov. Jim Doyle for his consideration.
Doyle spokesman Lee Sensenbrenner had
no immediate comment on the deal.
Republicans blasted Democrats for
reaching the deal in secret before presenting it to the conference
committee that passed it 4-2 along party lines to send it to the full
Senate.
"This is the deepest, darkest
budget I've ever seen negotiated in this building," said Senate
Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau. "We had no input into
this. ... It's just terrible."
Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker,
D-Weston, defended the plan, noting that there are no general sales or
income tax increases or higher payroll taxes. He said it also holds
the line on property taxes. Under the budget, the average-priced home
would see a $90 property tax increase this year, according to the
nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
The budget includes more than $2
billion in tax and fee increases, cuts most state agency spending by 6
percent, will result in all state employees being furloughed for 16
days over the next two years, force about 1,400 to be laid off and
rescinds 2 percent pay increases for state workers.
Under other previously agreed-to parts
of the budget, fees on phones would increase 75 cents a month,
cigarette taxes would go up 75 cents a pack and there is an income tax
increase on households making more than $300,000 a year.
Overall state spending, including about
$3 billion in federal stimulus money, would increase about 6.8
percent, the Fiscal Bureau said.
"I don't think family budgets at
home are getting to do an increase of 6.8 percent," said Assembly
Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon. "This does nothing to
protect the middle class."
Under the deal, taxes would be raised
on capital gains, though not as much as wanted by Senate Democrats,
whose budget would have no exemptions. The deal allows a 30 percent
capital gains exemption instead of the current 60 percent.
Doyle had proposed lowering the
exemption to 40 percent.
The oil tax was one of the most
contentious parts of the budget, with Doyle wanting to ban companies
from passing along the cost of the tax to customers at the pump. The
Assembly removed that ban under concerns it was unconstitutional.
Their plan would have allowed gas prices to go up 4.4 cents a gallon.
The Senate rejected the tax outright
and the agreement also does not include it.
The driver's card for illegal
immigrants also was divisive. Police and immigrant rights groups
lobbied for the cards, arguing they would make the roads safer by
ensuring even those who aren't citizens have identification and can
buy insurance. But Doyle didn't propose the idea and the Senate
rejected it in its budget. Only Utah has a similar card.
The agreement also would immediately
repeal a 16-year-old state law that effectively places a cap on
teacher pay increases. Doyle and the state teachers union have long
advocated for doing away with the so-called qualified economic offer.
But Republicans in control in the Legislature have blocked it.
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Highlights of
Wisconsin budget deal
MADISON - Changes approved
Thursday by a special committee created to reach a budget
deal:
— Do not impose a new tax on
oil companies as Gov. Jim Doyle and the state Assembly wanted.
Under the Assembly version, taxes on gas could go up by as
much as 4.4 cents a gallon.
— Lower capital gains
exemptions from the current 60 percent to 30 percent. Gov. Jim
Doyle wanted it to be 40 percent, while the Senate had
proposed eliminating all exemptions.
— Do not create a new special
card that would allow illegal immigrants to drive legally in
Wisconsin.
— Allow children of illegal
immigrants who attend state universities and colleges to pay
in-state tuition, as Doyle proposed and the Assembly agreed to
do.
— Keep the current threshold
required for someone to be found partially liable for damages
in a civil lawsuit at 51 percent at fault. Doyle had proposed
lowering it to 1 percent, which brought an angry response from
the business community warning that the threat of additional
lawsuits and higher insurance costs could drive some people
out of business. The Assembly rejected Doyle's proposal, and
the Senate agreed.
— Mandate that all car owners
must have auto insurance. Doyle said he would support such a
move. New Hampshire is the only other state that doesn't
currently require drivers to carry car insurance.
— Immediately repeal a state
law known as the "qualified economic offer" that has
effectively held teacher pay raises in check for 16 years. The
Assembly voted to repeal it in a year.
— Do not allow Calumet,
Outagamie and Winnebago counties to increase sales taxes a
half-cent under a regional transit authority to pay for a
regional bus system. The Assembly had it, while the Senate had
not.
— Restore $5.4 million in
funding for the Wisconsin Department of Justice that the
Senate had wanted to cut. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen had
argued the deeper cuts would cripple the agency. |
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