Legislative Committee Meets To Discuss Budget
Republicans Criticize Meeting
Updated: 8:15 am CDT June 25, 2009
MADISON, Wis. -- Democrats refused to allow Republicans to propose any changes to the state budget Wednesday during a hastily called first meeting of a bipartisan committee created to work out a deal.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportLeadership in both houses of the Legislature said at this point there is no budget deal, but late Wednesday afternoon they created a conference committee made up of four Democrats and two Republicans to work out their differences.Republicans accused Democrats of negotiating the real deal on the $62 billion budget in secret and calling Wednesday evening's meeting just to make it appear debate was happening in public.Republican Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said every step in the budget process has been a charade done behind closed doors."This is a dog and pony show, to supposedly wipe away all the secret meetings that have been held on this budget, going back to February when the governor announced what was in it," Fitzgerald said.Democratic Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan said the meeting was designed to discuss 189 items in the budget that passed the Senate and Assembly in different forms.There's pressure for the Legislature to pass a budget before July 1 to avoid losing federal money tied to that deadline. On Wednesday, lawmakers said the budget will still get done on deadline."Obviously there's a lot of heavy lifting to do to get that done, but that's our commitment and we're going to make every attempt to do that," Sheridan said.Gov. Jim Doyle is pushing the Legislature to pass a budget by July 1 to help address a $6.6 billion shortfall.The conference committee is expected to resume at the Capitol at 8 a.m. Thursday.Senate Democrats are planning to meet at 1 p.m. Thursday, and the full Senate is scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. Thursday.
Previous Stories:
- June 24, 2009: Legislature Still Looking For Budget Deal
- June 23, 2009: Lawmakers Mull Driver's Cards For Illegal Immigrants
- June 20, 2009: State Budget Writers Weigh Tax, Immigration Policy
- June 18, 2009: State Budget In Limbo Until Tuesday
- June 18, 2009: Wisconsin Senate Passes Budget
- June 17, 2009: Senate Democrats Look To Make Changes To Oil Tax, Other Budget Measures
- June 15, 2009: State Senate Democrats Talk Budget
- June 13, 2009: Democrats Scale Back Changes On Milwaukee Schools
- June 13, 2009: State Lawmakers Pull 'All-Nighter' Debating Budget
- June 12, 2009: Assembly Begins Wisconsin State Budget Debate
- June 10, 2009: Assembly Democrats Back Away From Liability Change
- June 10, 2009: Report: Wisconsin Schools Get Sense Of Budget Cuts
- June 9, 2009: Speaker: No Major Budget Changes
- June 8, 2009: Budget Cuts Could Mean Taller Grass For State Parks
- June 8, 2009: State Budget To Be Debated Wednesday
- June 5, 2009: Citing Budget, State To Cut Renewable Energy Fund
- June 3, 2009: Republicans Question Earmarks In Budget
- June 2, 2009: State Justice Department Braces For Budget Cuts
- June 1, 2009: State Lawmakers Find Funds For Pet Projects
- May 29, 2009: State Cuts Force School Districts To Trim More In Budgets
- May 29, 2009: State Panel Works To Finalize Budget Plan
- May 29, 2009: State Budget Plan Passes Committee
Copyright 2009 by Channel 3000. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.








