State Dems Look For Two GOP Senators To Change Budget

The state Assembly is scheduled to begin debate on the Wisconsin state budget tomorrow, but already the focus is on what might happen in the state Senate. Two Senate Republicans would need to buck their party leadership in order to make changes to the bill.

Several Republican senators have criticized pieces of the budget at one point or another this year. At a press conference this morning, Democratic state Sen. Chris Larson called a few of them out by name.

“If you dislike provisions in this budget or the budget overall, please stand with Senate Democrats to build a middle-class budget. From Senator Schultz’s broad comments against the budget, to comments made by Senators Ellis, Moulton, Cowles, Petrowski – we’re well aware of this broad distaste for many provisions in this budget.”

Republican Senators Terry Moulton, Robert Cowles and Jerry Petrowski did not return calls seeking comment. An aide to Senator Mike Ellis said he was unavailable. Senator Dale Schultz, however, was talking. Of all the Republican senators, he’s been the most critical of the budget, but he wasn’t sure whether he’d get another Republican to join him.

“Well, that’s the $64,000 question. I think there’s a lot of consternation about the budget.”

If Schultz were to get a chance, he says he wants to remove policy items from the budget, including one that would legalize bail bondsmen. He also said he wanted an expansion of publicly-funded voucher schools taken out of the budget.

“The problem here is we’re embarking on a massive expansion that threatens a very high quality public education system and we’re doing it for reasons that don’t make sense. This doesn’t work better.”

While much of the focus is on the Senate, Republican state Rep. Steve Nass announced he’s voting ‘no’ on the budget, in part because of the structural deficit it leaves. But Nass would need 10 Assembly Republicans to join him to derail the budget there.