Category: State budget

Several campus groups hosted a state budget roundtable Thursday to discuss Gov. Scott Walker?s upcoming budget and the impact it will have on the UW system.

Gov. Scott Walker may propose refinancing the state?s debt and tapping Wisconsin?s SeniorCare prescription drug program as a way to repair the current state budget.

State worker unions in Wisconsin could soon go the way of the dodo.

As we continue to assemble the pieces of our editorial agenda for the year, including a desire to support reasonable and responsible efforts by our elected leaders to move our state forward and not lose their focus on economic recovery and development, we must include the University of Wisconsin as a major force.

Gov. Scott Walker announced the budget shortfall for the current fiscal year and the budget deficit for the next biennium has increased compared to past estimates, prompting the administration to begin planning a budget repair bill.

Gov. Scott Walker said Wisconsin faces a $3.6 billion two-year budget shortfall.

Steve Nass has never made a secret of his dislike for the UW-Madison Havens Center and School for Workers. Back in 2007, the Republican state rep proposed completely eliminating state funding for both. Now, as chair of the Assembly?s Colleges and Universities Committee in an era of total GOP control, he?s in a position to make that happen.

State employee benefits could take a hit under a budget repair bill Gov. Scott Walker plans to announce soon.

Gov. Scott Walker promised that his upcoming two-year budget and a budget repair bill would be responsible, based on reality and free of trickery. As he noted, this is where “rhetoric meets reality.”And, we hope, where justice and moderation meet frugality, temperance and virtue.

Despite blizzard conditions that caused state emergencies in 29 counties, Gov. Scott Walker delivered his State of the State address Tuesday, calling for bipartisan unity to solve Wisconsin?s sluggish economy and budget problems.

While a blizzard pounded outside the Assembly chambers at the Capitol Tuesday night, Gov. Scott Walker announced his plans to shovel Wisconsin out of a looming $3.3 billion deficit.

Governor Scott Walker used his first State of the State address last night to signal there are tough choices ahead in his state budget.

Gov. Scott Walker promised Tuesday the state would not take the easy way out of its fiscal problems, casting the budget problems as “our moment in time” to fundamentally reform government in Wisconsin.

Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday delivered a sobering State of the State that, while light on details, warned residents of the hard sacrifices coming as lawmakers deal with Wisconsin’s budget troubles.

In his inaugural “state of the state” address Tuesday night, Gov. Scott Walker urged fiscal austerity to meet Wisconsin’s budget crisis even as he announced he would move up by two years the start of the massive Zoo Interchange highway project.

n his inaugural “state of the state” address Tuesday night, Gov. Scott Walker urged fiscal austerity to meet Wisconsin’s budget crisis even as he announced he would move up by two years the start of the massive Zoo Interchange highway project.

As Gov. Scott Walker makes his first “state of the state” speech Tuesday, he will look out at a friendly Legislature that has already helped him pass half of his opening agenda in a frenetic first month. With five jobs bills already sent to him and several more speeding through the Capitol, the new Republican governor will be able to tout tax cuts and broad new protections for businesses from lawsuits as early accomplishments and campaign promises filled.

Companies that relocate to Wisconsin won?t have to pay income taxes for two years under a bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Scott Walker. Walker, a Republican, has seen his legislative agenda speed through the Republican-controlled Legislature even though he has yet to explain how he?ll pay for everything in light of the state?s projected $3 billion budget shortfall….Aid to public schools, the University of Wisconsin system, local governments and Medicaid programs were all expected to be big targets for cuts in the budget Walker will release on Feb. 22.

One place that won?t be taking a snow day Tuesday is the Capitol. Gov. Scott Walker says the State of the State speech will go on as scheduled.

A new analysis shows Wisconsin will end the current budget year in better shape than previously thought, but big problems remain.

Gov. Scott Walker plans to plow ahead with his first State of the State speech Tuesday, despite predictions of heavy snowfall in the state?s capital and in southeastern Wisconsin.

Forcing concessions from state employees is a popular talking point for Gov. Scott Walker and one that likely will find a central place in his first State of the State speech Tuesday.

Publicly at least, union officials say they want to keep talking with Walker. Privately, they worry he will circumvent the bargaining table and go for an all-out evisceration of their right to negotiate over health care and pension costs.

The state?s health care programs for the poor face a shortfall of $214 million this year and a whopping $1.8 billion more over the next two years, the state?s top health official told a congressional committee Wednesday in high-profile testimony.

As Wisconsin?s projected budget deficit approaches $3 billion, the UW System is preparing for significant cuts in coming years.

University of Wisconsin System academic staff are now enlisting the help of state legislators in an effort to prevent getting folded into existing labor unions. Four Republican lawmakers said they will introduce legislation to stop the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC) from assigning nearly 500 UW System staff members into unions, according to a news release from academic staff.

The state?s bleak budget outlook brightened a bit Monday, as state officials projected that Wisconsin will take in $57 million more in taxes this year than previously expected and $235?million more over the following two years.