With Passage Nearly Certain, Senate Takes Up Budget

The Wisconsin Senate is set to debate the state budget today after it sailed through the state Assembly yesterday with only minor changes.

During the unusually short session of the state Assembly, Democrats offered no amendments to change the budget, with Minority Leader Peter Barca saying it was “beyond repair.” All Democrats voted no and three Republicans joined them. Barca said he hoped at least two Republican Senators would follow their lead.

“We did not want to waste our time on [the Assembly] floor. We are heading out. We’ll be going to different parts of the state. We’ll be reaching out to our personal media. We want those calls to come into those Senators. We want them to pay close attention.”

Republican state Senator Dale Schultz has been highly critical of the budget. Green Bay Senator Robert Cowles has said he has issues with it, too.

If both Senators joined together, they could block the budget or demand changes. But Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald told reporters he’s not worried.

“I think we’re in pretty good shape. I think we’re in pretty good shape right now. I mean I never like to assume anything, but I think we’re in really good shape right now.”

Assembly Republicans did make tweaks to the budget, including amending it to delay a provision making it harder to block high capacity wells. But the product up for debate in the Senate was largely unchanged. It would expand school vouchers statewide, decline federal funds to expand Medicaid, cut taxes for all income brackets and bring back a structural deficit that Republicans erased in the last budget.