Wisconsin taking slower pace to pass budget, what's the holdup & why it matters

MADISON Wis. (CBS 58) -- The clock is ticking for state lawmakers to pass a new budget with the fiscal year nearing an end next month.

And there's still some big decisions to be made on tax cuts, education, prisons and more.

Members of the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) are off to a slower pace than previous budget cycles but they are not late yet on reaching the June 30 deadline to pass the next two-year spending plan.

They've met twice, with the first significant step taken three weeks ago to cut over 600 items from Gov. Tony Evers' 2025-2027 state budget. Since then, JFC has only acted on eight agency budgets.

It appears there won't be notable action until GOP leaders and Gov. Tony Evers hammer out a deal on tax cuts.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu have met with Evers twice, according to WisPolitics. The third meeting is in the works after they first got together on March 26 to discuss tax relief.

Jason Stein, President at nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum, said a key difference from prior budget cycles is there's a willingness from both sides to find compromise.

"It seems there's a real give and take this time and that normally takes more time rather than one side simply doing it on their own," Stein said.

Earlier this month, Vos said his preference is to agree on a tax cut plan before JFC considers other major areas of the budget.

"It's still our preferred option to get an agreed upon tax cut so we know we have "X" dollars to invest in schools, health care and other things that are important," Vos told reporters on May 13th.

If lawmakers don't pass a budget by the end of June, current spending levels will continue, unlike at the federal levels where the government shutdown.

Stein said there's pros and cons to delaying passage of a budget.

"The good news is nothing immediately catastrophic happens," he said. "It's also bad news because if you don't get a budget, there's no impending crisis forcing anyone to act."

The last time lawmakers neared a breaking point with a divided legislature was in 2007. That's when a budget conflict lasted months between then-Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and former Republican Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch.

It wasn't until late October that a compromise was reached, which Stein says is around the time local governments begin to panic.

"Local governments and schools need to know things like what their shared revenue payments are going to look like," he said. "For schools in particular, it's very important that they know what their general state aid school payments are going to be."

The 2025-2027 budget cycle also comes as states are feeling economic uncertainty due to federal budget cuts and potential budget shortfalls.

Wisconsin does have a $4.2 billion surplus lawmakers can use to cushion some of the blow or spend on their priorities, but that money only goes so far when everyone wants a piece of it.

Top Republicans have said they want to spend at least half of the surplus on tax cuts. They've also signaled spending the one-time money on building a new prison in Green Bay, while Evers proposed a different plan.