For more detailed information about these lobbyists and organizations and a complete list of organizations and people authorized to lobby the 2001 session of the legislature, visit the Ethics Board's web site at
http://ethics.state.wi.us
Bergersen, Gunnar Lake States Lumber Association
Blumenfeld, Michael Wisconsin Educational Media Association
Bogovich, Richard Wisconsin's Environmental Decade Inc
Bowen, Sarah Wisconsin Psychological Association
Bright, Michael Great Dane Pub & Brewery Co.
Bright, Michael Salomon Smith Barney Inc.
Carey, Ray Johnson Controls Inc
Christianson, Peter C American Insurance Association
Essie, Patrick Association of State Prosecutors
Green, Thomas Salomon Smith Barney Inc.
Handzel Jr, Henry Wisconsin Paper Council
Hauser, R F (Dick) Wisconsin Cattlemen's Association
Heins, Stephen A. Orion Energy Systems
Hoven, Timothy Orion Energy Systems
Kammer, Peter GlaxoSmithKline Inc
Kammer, Peter Wisconsin Liquid Waste Carriers Association
Kammer, Peter Wisconsin Water Well Association Inc
Kljajic, R Ray Salomon Smith Barney Inc.
Looze, Marcus Wisconsin's Environmental Decade Inc
Majeskie, Dennis Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, a Division of American Home Products
Mc Coshen, William J Hoffman York
Moore, Thomas E Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, a Division of American Home Products
Petak, George Hoffman York
Petersen, Eric J United States Cellular Corporation
Potts, Michael Orion Energy Systems
Reihl, Mark Wisconsin State Council of Carpenters
Rogowski, Michael University of Phoenix
Rollins, Luke Great Dane Pub & Brewery Co.
S79
Rollins, Luke
Salomon Smith Barney Inc.
Scheer, Derek Wisconsin's Environmental Decade Inc
Schimming, Brian Forest County Potawatomi Community
Schmidt, Claire Wisconsin's Environmental Decade Inc
Schreier, David Aventis Pharmaceuticals
Schulz, Lee Independence First Inc
Springer, Thomas J University of Phoenix
Springer, Thomas J Wisconsin School Food Service Association
Winters, Amy Gold'n Plump
Wood, Stephen Salomon Smith Barney Inc.
Also available from the Wisconsin Ethics Board are reports identifying the amount and value of time state agencies have spent to affect legislative action and reports of expenditures for lobbying activities filed by organizations that employ lobbyists.
Sincerely,
R. Roth Judd
Director
__________________
The committee on Agriculture, Financial Institutions and Insurance reports and recommends:
Relating to animal diseases, animal imports and livestock markets.
No action taken.
Relating to the agriculture development zone program.
No action taken.
Dale Schultz
Chairperson
The committee on Higher Education and Tourism reports and recommends:
Relating to the regulation of for-profit postsecondary schools; out-of-state, nonprofit colleges and universities; and in-state, nonprofit institutions incorporated after 1991.
No action taken.
Sheila Harsdorf
Chairperson
__________________
Senator A. Lasee, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate recess until 6:45 P.M..
10:19 A.M.
__________________
6:45 P.M.
The Senate reconvened.
Senator A. Lasee in the chair.
Senator Lasee, with unanimous consent, appointed Senators Darling and Decker to act as escorts to his Excellency the Governor.
__________________
Senator Panzer, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate recess for the purpose of convening in a joint convention to receive the Governor's budget message and adjourn until 9:00 A.M. Thursday, February 20 upon the rising of the joint convention.
6:56 P.M.
__________________
The President of the Senate in the Chair.
The committee to await upon the Governor appeared with his excellency the Governor, who delivered his budget message as follows:
__________________
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Mr. Speaker Pro-Tempore, Lieutenant Governor Lawton, Constitutional officers, members of the Cabinet, distinguished members of the Legislature and fellow citizens of Wisconsin:
Tonight we embark on a difficult journey together. The course will be demanding. The hardship will be real. But the destination is unmistakable: a brighter tomorrow for Wisconsin. Our state will be a better place for the choices we make. Fiscal responsibility will be restored. Our economy will be revived. And faith in government will be renewed.
Let me state this clearly … For too long, state government has spent too much and led too little. And it stops tonight. For the first time in 22 years, Wisconsin will live within its means. Our budget will be balanced -- not just on paper, but in practice. And I am proud to announce that despite a fiscal crisis of historic proportions, we have balanced this budget without raising taxes.
Just as important, we have done it without destroying what's most precious to us.
We all know how we arrived at this point. For years, state government has spent more than it could afford. The state bureaucracy has ballooned. At the height of the economic boom of the 1990s, Madison went on a spending binge but barely put a dime aside for a rainy day.
When the economy faltered, state government had a choice -- to look our problems in the eye or look the other way -- and it chose the easy road of the temporary fix. Tragic mistakes like selling the tobacco settlement made the problem worse while merely pushing the tough decisions off to another day.
Now that day has arrived. We are $454 million in the hole this year and we face a $3.2 billion shortfall over the next two.
And make no mistake: The choices are tough indeed -- among the toughest any of us will ever have to make. This budget eliminates 2,900 state jobs. It reduces funding for the University system by $250 million. It slashes one in every 10 dollars in state operating costs.
