Although property taxes are a local tax, the state can still take steps to further help control and cut them. So let's:
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Add $12 million to the Homestead tax credit.
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Maintain our commitment to funding two-thirds of public schools, cost controls, and assistance to local governments through shared revenue.
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And pass the constitutional amendment on April's ballot that will direct the lottery credit solely to Wisconsin homeowners.
So there you have it – the most fundamental and dramatic restructuring of our tax system in generations. Simpler, Fairer, and most of all, Lower.
This tax reformation etches in stone our state's abiding faith in its people. It invests in our future by trusting the people to build a stronger society in the frontiers of possibility.
Agriculture
For good reason, we have made farmers among the greatest benefactors of our tax cuts through the years. Fortifying the state's economic base for the next century includes strengthening our bread and butter – agriculture.
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Therefore, we should replace an outdated Farmland Preservation program with a new initiative that ties tax relief directly to sound conservation practices.
The old system was largely based on property tax rates. But since we've reduced taxes on farmland, the value of the credit has diminished. Our plan creates a new $35 million Conservation Tax Credit program which provides participating farmers an average tax break of $625.
This plan achieves two very important goals: keeping valuable farmland in production and providing important property tax relief for farmers.
Today, record crops are being harvested, farmland values are up, and our proud dairy farmers experienced record high milk prices last year…while corporate farms in California stumbled.
Quality, it seems, does count for something.
Wisconsin farmers produce the highest quality products in the world and we must make sure they are on every store shelf and dining room table from Stevens Point to San Francisco to Singapore.
Therefore, we should provide the International Agricultural Exports Initiative with $300,000 to market our products abroad, opening new opportunities for our farmers in the global marketplace. Our farmers deserve it.
And I would like to introduce two brothers who exemplify the unparalleled quality of agriculture in Wisconsin. Bob and Fred Uphoff of the Town of Dunn recently received the Governor's Leadership Award for Livestock and Poultry Production as well as the prestigious Steward of the Land Award from the American Farmland Trust. Gentlemen, thank you for setting a high standard of excellence in farming. You make the entire state proud.
The Uphoffs are hog farmers and we all know that industry is going through tough times. Together we recently provided low-interest loans to hog farmers, and my administration plans to help further by serving more pork in its institutions and programs.
And finally, we need to help grow the new and promising sectors of our agriculture economy.
For example, fish farming is a swimming business. We can help spawn new entrepreneurs in this endeavor by developing a $3 million state-of-the-art aquaculture center in Ashland, providing the latest techniques and practical applications of this rapidly growing industry.
New tax credits, enhanced farmland policy and strong investments in the markets of tomorrow will help our farmers plant the seeds for continued growth in the frontiers of possibility.
Higher Education
No matter what economic fields we plow in the next century – the tools to cultivate success are forged in the classroom.
In my State of the State, we spent a great deal of time talking about our K-12 public schools and early childhood development. In this budget, we're raising the bar for our students, teachers and schools and making them accountable to parents and taxpayers.
Our $3 billion increase in local school aids and bold educational reforms reinforce our commitment to public education. Our investments make the K-12 system a rich soil from which fertile imaginations will grow and blossom to one day take root in our technical college and university systems. Two systems we seek to further strengthen.
As much as 80 percent of the fastest growing jobs in the future will require technical training. For our students to compete and succeed in that market, they must have the job skills taught by the Wisconsin Technical College System.
Therefore, I propose creating a $3.3 million Governor's Challenge Grant Program to make a technical education more accessible to our youth. High school students with a B average would be eligible for a $500 grant towards tuition at a WTCS school.
These colleges prepare students for high-demand, high-paying careers. Together, let's give these students a break by making technical college more affordable.
The crown jewel of our education system is the University of Wisconsin System – an incubator of ideas that improve our economy and better the condition of our society. The UW stands as a bright beacon of knowledge that will guide us forward on our journey into the new millennium.
So today, I present to you a $66 million investment in the UW System and our future.
We begin with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the nation's leading education and research institutions.
Its hallowed halls are the birthplace of landmark discoveries, from revolutionizing the dairy industry and discovering vitamin D to mapping living DNA.
The UW-Madison remains one the world's great laboratories of innovation – and the products of its research netted the university $18 million in royalties and licensing fees last year alone.
To keep the University of Wisconsin on the cutting-edge of the nation's public research universities, we should support a new Madison Initiative -- a $30 million investment in the campus and the discoveries of tomorrow.
The Madison Initiative invests directly in facilities renewal, preventive maintenance and library acquisition – upgrading laboratories and computer resources.
Also, the Madison Initiative would attract and keep world-class faculty with competitive salaries, stimulate increased federal and privately supported research, enhance Wisconsin's competitiveness in the global economy, and generate new high-tech businesses from cutting-edge research.
The initiative particularly seeks to build upon the University of Wisconsin's national leadership in biotechnology, providing resources for faculty and courses in biomedical engineering, computer engineering and biotechnology.
In addition, we seek $1 million to create a non-profit venture capital company to invest in biotechnology projects and transfer discoveries to the private sector for the benefit of everyone.
The Madison Initiative is a dramatic investment that matches the boldness of our flagship university, and its benefactors will be the people of Wisconsin.
Our proposed investments in higher education rightfully reach beyond the Madison campus as well, bolstering the strongest system of universities in America. For the entire UW System, this budget invests:
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$12.5 million in library and acquisition capabilities, including expansion of electronic information resources and hiring additional student IT workers.
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$3 million to expand international education opportunities, including a new undergraduate program in global studies at UW-Milwaukee.
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And $2.5 million for undergraduate academic and career advising to help our students focus on their individual goals once they reach a UW campus.
Finally, our budget builds on one of the greatest strengths of the university system – its accessibility.
A UW education remains the best bargain for the buck in America: tuition is the 10th lowest in the Big Ten and accessibility ranks 11th best in the entire nation.
However, we seek to make our universities even more accessible by:
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Spending an additional $700,000 to prepare minority high school students for college – building on efforts to attract more minorities to our campuses.
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Increasing student financial aid by 12 percent over the biennium – an $8.7 million increase -- and providing greater flexibility in setting the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant formula.
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And providing the Board of Regents greater flexibility to meet the resource needs of the university system – making sure the UW System remains dynamic and strong.
Our plan is a bold new investment in higher education that will return great dividends for our families, our economy and our state.
Just as there are no limits to our students' imaginations, there are no limits to the greatness of the Wisconsin education system in the frontiers of possibility.
Corrections
If new futuristic discoveries and technologies can help us grow our economy and better educate our children – it can certainly provide for the safety of our families.
We have been diligent in our efforts to be one of the safest states in America, so today we put the latest technological innovations to work fighting crime in our streets.
The new Law Enforcement Technology Initiative is a $22 million investment in state-of-the-art technology that will link all facets of our justice and law enforcement systems to better serve and protect.
This initiative empowers those on the front lines to quickly and efficiently access vital information – cutting through red tape and cutting down on time.
To assist our men and women who wear the badge, I am also allocating more than a half-million dollars for a Law Enforcement Training Fund to help train new recruits and provide advanced training for veterans – both on the state and local level.
We will be no less aggressive in deterring and investigating criminal activity in all corners of the state. This budget provides $250,000 to beef up the state's crime lab in Wausau to better coordinate field response activities, train law enforcement and reduce response times.
The proper training, the proper tools – Joe Friday meets Robo Cop. Wisconsin's law enforcement will be the best prepared and outfitted in the country. I would like to introduce Sheriffs Gary Hamblin and Steve Fitzgerald who represent the strong partnership between the state and local law enforcement to protect our citizens.
The technology we use on the front end of our daily battle with crime will also be applied on the back end. I am earmarking $6 million to upgrade technology in the Department of Corrections – including a quarter million dollars to fund literacy software at correctional institutions around the state.
Getting tough on crime has a price. Plain and simple it means our prison population will grow. We will not back away from our commitment of keeping those who break the law behind bars.
So we must meet the challenge of a crowded prison system not just through new correctional institutions but with innovative rehabilitation and crime prevention programs.
Our investments in early childhood, education and welfare reform will help steer our young people away from crime. But we can bolster these efforts by adding $6 million to the Youth Aids program to prevent troubled youth from becoming incarcerated adults.
If someone commits a crime, however, they will do the time. This budget provides staff for four new correctional facilities and one expansion; Supermax, Redgranite, the Milwaukee Probation and Parole Facility, New Lisbon and the Ellsworth A-O-D-A Unit
It also provides money to expand the sexual predator evaluation unit, sufficiently fund the sex offender registry program, and staff the 300-bed Brewer Creek Treatment Center for sexual predators.
And we will work with our great partners in fighting crime – the counties – to further relieve prison crowding by leasing unused space in their jails.
These additions will increase our prison system's capacity, but common sense tells us that simply building prisons is not the sole solution to the problem at hand.
We will tackle the issue of recidivism head-on by targeting the very core of its source – drugs, alcohol and a lack of job skills.
For too many offenders alcohol and drug addiction is the chain that binds them to a life of crime. Let's help free them by committing an additional $2 million to rehabilitation programs in our prisons.
We must also teach inmates job skills and a work ethic. If we allow inmates to exit prison unprepared for the workforce, we are failing the inmate, the taxpayer and society.
Just look at the success of the Computer Recycling Project at Taycheedah Correctional Institution. The women prisoners at this institution take discarded computers otherwise destined for landfills, refurbish and upgrade them, then give them to schools or senior centers. In the process, these women are learning marketable technical skills that will allow them to get jobs in the high-demand, high-paying computer industry after prison.
And the odds of these women returning to prison drops dramatically. A meaningful job is probably the most effective weapon we have in fighting recidivism.
Therefore, we must do more to teach prisoners work skills and prepare them for transitioning into the workforce after serving their sentences.
Today, I am proposing the creation of two Department of Corrections Work Houses --150-bed "job-skill" dormitories. They will house pre-release inmates who will work in the community at market wage jobs then return to prison after their shift.
Inmates will put in an honest day's work for an honest wage. In turn, they will pay for their room and board, clothing, medical costs and any child support and victim restitution. And the real-world work experience they gain will ease the transition back into society and help them stay out of trouble.
Imagine if you will, a corrections initiative that reduces recidivism, provides badly needed workers for employers, and saves taxpayers' money. A smart way to tackle crime.
Let us work together to make sure the frontiers of possibility provide for a safe journey for our families as well as new opportunities for everyone – including those with a troubled past.
Tobacco Settlement
A safe and secure Wisconsin family in the 21st century will also mean they are healthy.
We have been waging a battle with deadly diseases and the root of their existence for years – especially the harmful side effects of tobacco use.
The state has taken a multi-pronged approach – cancer control and prevention grants, A-O-D-A programs, funding for the UW Cancer Research Center, the McCardle Lab for Cancer Research, and the Center for Tobacco Research.
We've worked hard to deny minors access to tobacco, and we've created new education and prevention programs for our youth like the one named after our departed friend Tom Melvin.
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We have been fighting this battle for years and have spent millions of dollars doing it. Our fight has now been validated. Thanks to the efforts of Attorney General Jim Doyle, a team of dedicated Wisconsin lawyers, and states across America, Wisconsin and others will begin receiving multi-million dollar payments from tobacco companies. To the president and Congress, who have thoughts of cashing in on our hard work, we say: "Keep your hands off. This money belongs to Wisconsin families."
This biennium, I am directing a substantial portion of this money into BadgerCare and Family Care – landmark programs to create a health care system that has no equal.
For too long the taxpayers have carried the burden for heath-related costs associated with smoking – so today we will repay them by building the best health care system in America.
We also seek to strengthen and expand smoking prevention programs. This budget directs $1 million to the Medical College of Wisconsin and Women's Health Initiative and $2 million to the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention for research, cessation and intervention activities.
And to help our schools keep cigarettes out of children's hands, the Department of Public Instruction would receive $1 million to help schools develop smoking prevention programs.
Keeping our children away from tobacco also means cutting off their supply. To assist our shopkeepers in identifying and turning away minors, the state will begin issuing drivers' licenses that clearly identify those under 18. Rep. Kaufert deserves special recognition for his leadership on this proactive measure. Thank you, Dean.
When it comes to smoking, we want to send a strong message made famous by First Lady Nancy Reagan: "Just say no."
Environment
