Wis. committee makes no progress on budget

By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press Writer

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Democrats refused to allow Republicans to propose any changes to the state budget during the hastily called first meeting Wednesday of a bipartisan committee created to work out a deal.

There's an urgency to reach a compromise to eliminate Wisconsin's record-high $6.6 billion shortfall.

Republicans accused Democrats, who hold four of six seats on the committee, of negotiating the real deal on the $62 billion budget in secret and calling the meeting just to make it appear debate was happening in public.

"Every step in this process has been another charade done behind closed doors," said Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau. "I have no idea what we're doing here. I have no idea what we're trying to accomplish. What's happening here right now makes no sense to me."

He called the meeting a joke, insulting and abuse of power by Democrats.

Democrats on the committee said they were responding to concerns about the process by openly discussing the 189 differences between the Senate and Assembly budgets.

However, the four Democrats on the panel didn't allow the two Republicans to make motions to change anything. Democrats said that would be done at the next meeting, scheduled for Thursday morning, just 12 hours after the first meeting adjourned.

For much of Wednesday's 2 1/2 hour meeting, Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, merely read the titles of individual budget items with little comment or questions.

The Democratic-controlled Assembly and Senate must pass identical two-year budget bills before the measure can go to Gov. Jim Doyle, also a Democrat, for his consideration. However, the chambers passed budgets with major differences.

Some of the largest unresolved issues involve increasing the capital gains tax, imposing a new tax on oil companies, and issuing driver's cards for illegal immigrants.

Doyle has been pushing lawmakers to act before the new fiscal year starts on July 1 so the state won't lose more than $90 million in federal money tied to that deadline. Doyle also wants to start cuts to state agencies, about 6 percent for most of them, as soon as possible.

Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, said he was optimistic the Senate could vote on a compromise by Friday. He would not say which, if any, issues had been resolved following private talks with other lawmakers and Doyle's aides.

Doyle spokesman Lee Sensenbrenner said he couldn't characterize how the talks have been going.

The unresolved issues could affect nearly every Wisconsin resident.

The Assembly voted to tax oil companies, but allow them to pass along up to 4.4 cents per gallon of that to drivers at the pump.

The Senate eliminated that tax entirely. Doyle wanted the tax along with a provision barring oil companies from passing it along to consumers, even though many warned that would be unconstitutional.

The Senate voted to require every Wisconsin driver to carry car insurance. The Assembly and governor did not have that requirement in their budgets. Wisconsin, along with New Hampshire, are the only states that don't require car insurance.

The Senate's version of the budget eliminated all exemptions on capital gains. The governor and Assembly wanted to lower the exemptions from 60 percent to 40 percent.

The Assembly approved creating a new driver's card to allow illegal immigrants in Wisconsin to buy insurance and drive legally and also allowed in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. The Senate removed both of these provisions from its version of the budget.

The spending plan takes effect July 1.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/ ... TE=DEFAULT