Capitol capsules
State Administration Secretary George Lightbourn has requested that state agencies cut spending by 0.5 percent.
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau reports that the revenue projections for the 2000-01 fiscal year and the 2001-03 biennium are approximately $650 million less than what was reported at the end of November. Agencies are asked to freeze hiring of non-essential positions, non-essential travel spending, the purchases of permanent property and to not enter any new discretionary contracts for good or services.
The reduction for the UW System only applied to administrative costs, not instructional costs.
Incoming Gov. Scott McCallum plans to impose a spending cap to limit state spending increases to the rate of personal income growth. McCallum wants half of budget surpluses to be put in a fund for protection against recession. Sens. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and Bob Welch, R-Redgranite, have announced their support of the proposed spending cap.
Given that the state typically requires 4 to 5 percent revenue growth to meet ongoing policy and statutory commitments such as school aids, BadgerCare and corrections, the lower estimates suggest that most state agencies will not see big increases in funding in the upcoming state budget.
Legislature back in session
Leaders of both houses hope to pass legislation on education, tax cuts, health care and campaign finance reform in the upcoming session. Steve Baas, press secretary for Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, says the state needs to invest more in education in order to meet demands for the 21st century work force. Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, says priorities include legislation to increase financial aid.
Credit transfer hearing set
Invited speakers and the public will give testimony regarding credit transfer between the UW System and technical colleges before the Committee on Colleges and Universities at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, 225 NW State Capitol. UW System President Katharine Lyall and Regent President Jay Smith have been invited to testify.
New committee focuses on higher education
The State Senate has created a universities committee to work on higher education issues. Previously, the senate only had one education committee for all levels of education. The new committee is chaired by Sen. Mark Meyer, D-La Crosse. Meyer says he hopes the committee would address the issues of brain gain strategies, diversity, affordability and adult education.
Legislation Introduced:
Fiscal limits: Rep. Lowell Wieckert, R-Appleton, and Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, introduced a bill (AB 1) that limits the aggregate amount of tax money (general purpose revenue) that may be appropriated in any fiscal biennium.
Social Security Numbers: Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, and Rep. Steve Foti, R-Oconomowoc, introduced a bill (SB 12) that prohibits use of social security numbers on certain state documents. For example, the social security number of a Wisconsin retirement system participant would not appear on any statements sent to that participant. And no state agency could require its employees to record their work hours worked on documents that include their social security numbers.