Ninety-Third Regular Session
The Chief Clerk makes the following entries under the above date:
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Assembly amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 340 offered by committee on Rural Affairs.
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Speaker's appointments
September 30, 1997
Representative Carol Kelso
Room 8 West, State Capitol
Madison, WI 53702
Dear Carol:
It is my pleasure as Speaker of the Assembly to appoint you as my designee to serve as Co-Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Council.
This appointment is effective immediately.
Sincerely,
Ben Brancel
Assembly Speaker
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Executive Communications
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
Madison
October 11, 1997
To the Honorable the Legislature:
The following bill(s), originating in the Senate or the Assembly, have been approved, signed and deposited in the office of the Secretary of State:
Bill Number Act Number Date Approved
AB 100 (partial veto)27October 11, 1997
Sincerely,
Tommy G. Thompson
Governor
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Communications
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Secretary of State
Madison
To Whom It May Concern:
Acts, Joint Resolutions and Resolutions deposited in this office have been numbered and published as follows:
Bill Number Act Number Publication Date
Assembly Bill 52014October 10, 1997
Assembly Bill 52115October 10, 1997
Assembly Bill 52216October 10, 1997
Assembly Bill 52317October 10, 1997
Assembly Bill 52418October 10, 1997
Assembly Bill 52519October 10, 1997
Assembly Bill 52620October 10, 1997
Assembly Bill 52721October 10, 1997
Assembly Bill 52822October 10, 1997
Assembly Bill 52923October 10, 1997
Assembly Bill 53024October 10, 1997
Assembly Bill 53125October 10, 1997
Assembly Bill 53426October 10, 1997
Assembly Bill 10027October 13, 1997
Sincerely,
Douglas La Follette
Secretary of State
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Governor's Veto Message
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
Madison
October 11, 1997
To the Honorable Members of the Assembly:
I have approved
Assembly Bill 100 as
1997 Wisconsin Act 27 and deposited it in the Office of the Secretary of State.
The budget bill is the most important piece of legislation enacted in each legislative session. It is the largest bill, it receives the most debate and it affects all citizens, businesses and local governments. The taxing and spending decisions made in the budget bill will have an impact far into the future. I am confident that this budget makes a wise investment in our future.
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The Legislature is to be commended for its hard work and bipartisanship in passing a budget. Wisconsin has waited a long time for this budget bill to be passed but the end product is good. The bill reduces and then permanently restrains the growth of state income taxes, continues our commitment to lower property taxes and makes responsible spending decisions within our ability to pay. The budget advances education and training programs to give all of our citizens the opportunity to succeed and enhances our environment.
While the product of the budget deliberations was a good one, the process itself needs improvement. Nearly 500 days elapsed from the time budget instructions were sent to state agencies in May of 1996 until the signing of the budget bill in October 1997. The bill itself was not passed by the Legislature until 91 days after the last budget ended. The debate dragged on so long that the budget outlook changed several times during the process. Since agencies prepared their 1997-99 budget requests, revenue estimates have been revised upward on three different occasions, school aid estimates have been revised upward twice, a major lawsuit against the state was settled and the Congress and the President agreed to major federal budget changes. All these events complicated a process that is difficult enough under normal circumstances. I challenge the Legislature to pass the next budget by June 30, 1999.
The budget I am signing appropriates $18.6 billion in fiscal year 1997-98 and $18.8 billion in fiscal year 1998-99, for a total of $37.4 billion in the biennium. This budget represents annual appropriation increases from all fund sources of 8.4% in fiscal year 1997-98 and 1.1% in fiscal year 1998-99, or an increase in the second year over the base year of 9.5%. Appropriations of general purpose revenue are set at $9.8 billion in fiscal year 1997-98 and $9.9 billion in fiscal year 1998-99, for a total of $19.7 billion GPR in the biennium. The GPR appropriations represent increases of 6.5% in fiscal year 1997-98 and 1.6% in fiscal year 1998-99, or an increase in the second year over the base year of 8.2%. Almost all of the increase in GPR spending is accounted for by three major items: settlement of the Special Investment Performance Dividend lawsuit ($215 million); increases in school aid funding; and increases in funding for the correctional system.
The budget bill continues the commitment we made to provide meaningful property tax relief. Property taxes on December 1997 tax bills are expected to drop for the second consecutive year, with taxes reduced by 1.2% on a home at the median value of $93,300. The budget also provides tax relief that our citizens deserve in a number of other ways, including substantial income tax cuts.
The combined effect of the tax cuts in the last two budgets is dramatic. The total state and property tax burden on Wisconsin citizens is now at its lowest level in 15 years when measured as a percentage of personal income. By the end of this biennium, the total state and property tax burden will have dropped in just five years from 12.1% of personal income in 1993-94 to 11.3% of personal income in 1998-99.
The budget bill I am signing has a total of 152 vetoes. A number of these vetoes are technical in nature or needed to correct drafting problems. The budget bill also contained over 130 new directives requiring agencies to prepare reports, studies or plans for the Legislature or Joint Finance Committee, or perform certain activities before funding is made available to the agencies. I vetoed the most burdensome of these new reporting requirements because most state agencies have seen their funding reduced in this budget, on top of the reductions in the last budget. Adding new workload demands at a time when budgets are further constrained interferes with the ability of agencies to provide basic services to citizens. I believe there are far too many legislative directives in the budget since the day to day management of state agencies is the responsibility of the executive branch of government.
I did not feel it was appropriate to use my veto power to eliminate any of the various budget reductions that the Legislature proposed for District Attorney offices, but the reductions are too severe and will harm prosecution efforts in all counties of the state. Instead, I will seek to have separate legislation introduced to restore the cuts made to the budget for District Attorney offices to ensure that DA offices around the state can operate effectively.
The partial vetoes I am executing will improve the general fund's ending balance by $20.5 million. The savings from vetoes are important to maintain adequate budget reserves for the management of state government.
The highlights of this budget include the following:
Tax Relief
• Reduces individual income tax rates by 1% in tax year 1998 and indexes the standard deduction and income tax brackets for changes in inflation beginning in tax year 1999.
• Creates a credit designed to eliminate any remaining tax liability for working families with incomes below $9,000 for a single filer or $18,000 for married filers.
• Increases the married couple credit over a four-year period beginning in tax year 1998, with the maximum credit increasing from the current level of $300 to $420 by 2001.
• Restores the lottery credit as a credit to all parcels of real and personal property. Under this proposal, the average credit is expected to be $84 on the December 1997 tax bills.
• Funds an increase in the school levy credit of $150 million beginning in FY98 as the final component in achieving two-thirds state funding of school costs beginning in the 1996-97 school year.
• Continues the state's commitment to property tax relief. When the state first achieved two-thirds state funding of school costs, the owner of a median value home saw a $121 reduction in his or her property taxes on the December 1996 tax bill. Under this bill, this same homeowner will receive an additional $25 reduction on the December 1997 tax bill.
• Specifies that any increase above $20 million in the general fund's expected balances be used to eliminate delays in school aid payments.
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• Provides the Department of Revenue with additional funding and positions to improve service to taxpayers and enhance the fairness of our tax collection system.
Economic Development and Transportation
• Improves highway safety and enhances economic development by increasing state and federal support for highway construction projects and local transportation aids by over $120 million annually.
• Establishes a new $5 million county road improvement program and increases existing local road improvement funding by over 42% to focus transportation resources on critical infrastructure projects.
• Increases local transportation aids by over 11% to meet maintenance and rehabilitation costs and to limit growth in property taxes.
• Establishes a three-tier transit aid distribution structure and increases state assistance to local systems by over 9%.
• Supports the installation of mobile data computers in State Patrol vehicles and the initial development of an improved radio and data communications system for state and local law enforcement efforts.
• Provides $10 million in grants and $22.5 million in loan guarantees for redevelopment of contaminated and underutilized land.
• Provides additional funds for rural and agricultural economic development through the Department of Commerce.
Education
• Requires school districts to adopt rigorous academic standards in core subject areas (reading and writing, mathematics, science, history and geography) by the fall of 1998.
