The Wisconsin Senate has passed the budget, sending the $73 billion two-year spending plan to the state Assembly. The budget passed on an 18-15 vote, with Republican Sen. Rob Cowles joining all Democrats in voting against it. Republicans voted down a series of Democratic amendments during more than eight hours of debate, including attempts to increase funding for public K-12 schools and to eliminate a $250 million cut to the […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Republican-controlled state Senate began debate Tuesday of the two-year state budget. The Assembly plans to debate the budget on Wednesday, sending it on to Gov. Scott Walker later this week. Walker can use his powerful veto authority to edit or remove items in the $73 billion two-year spending plan. Here are some highlights of how the budget affects you: PUBLIC SCHOOLS — Public schools won't […]
Fond du Lac School District administrators recently received a one percent salary increase. The increase for the 27 administrators totals a little more than $25,000. Their combined salaries total more than $2.5 million. The highest paid administrators in the district include curriculum director Danica Lewis at more than $120,000, human resources director Sharon Simon receives $109,000, business manager, Wendy Brockert at $117,300, and Fond du Lac High School principal, Michelle […]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says Gov. Scott Walker's office had a hand in crafting a budget amendment scaling back the state's open records law. Fitzgerald says that he and Walker's office as well as Assembly Republicans were involved in drafting the language. He said he had discussions with Walker's staff about the number of record requests the governor's office receives. The changes generated a […]
Fond du Lac city officials are exploring a grant program designed to restore single family homes that have been cut up into separate apartment units. Community Development director Diane Benson says staff will propose spending $100,000 annually on the community housing program. "A lot of our older housing stocks have been converted to two and three family units and over time when these units are not reinvested in they experience […]
The Joint Finance Committee has voted to keep the Historic Tax Credit in place for the next biennium. Legislation sponsored last session by FDL Republican senator Rick Gudex increased the tax credit from 10 percent to 20 percent for qualified rehabilitation expenditures for certified historic structures. Gudex says the Historic Tax Credit also streamlines the credit approval process and decouples the credits from their federal counterparts, allowing flexibility for projects […]
The state Senate has passed a rollback of the state's prevailing wage law, which sets minimum salaries for construction workers on public projects. The Senate voted 17-16 on Tuesday to repeal the law for all local government projects like those done by school districts and municipalities, while keeping it in place for state projects. The changes also replace state salary levels for the federal prevailing wage scale. Republicans argued for […]
A Republican lawmaker from Beaver Dam says he supports a compromise In the state budget that would repeal the prevailing wage law for local governments. The state Assembly is scheduled to take up the state budget Wednesday. State reprentative Mark Born says he would have been fine with a full repeal of the prevailing wage law. "Compromise is sometimes the art in the legislative work and if this is what […]
A Democratic member of the legislature’s budget writing committee says the state budget has misplaced priorities. The state Assembly is scheduled to take up the budget Wednesday. State representative Gordon Hintz of Oshkosh there has been considerable public backlash to how the budget impacts public schools, the UW system, longterm care and natural resources. "There's been some attempts by the legislature to restore those things, but overall its a […]