July 26, 2002 budget repair edition

Shared Revenue Plan
McCallum Restores ERP Program 

As previously announced, Gov. Scott McCallum restored funding for the the expenditure restraint program for 2004 in his budget repair bill vetoes.  The governor also restored the utility aid payment portion of the shared revenue program, separating out $58.1 million in expenditure restraint money and an estimated $28.8 million in utility payments from the $999.7 million remaining in shared revenue in 2004 under the bill the Legislature passed earlier this month.

McCallum also called for a special legislative session prior to the November elections to pass a constiututional amendment to create a state "rainy day" fund and to require a referendum whenever there is a tax increase. Under another one of the governor's proposals, legislators and the governor would not be paid if a budget isn't done on time.

Among issues that concern us, McCallum also vetoed:

• as previously announced, a provision allowing Madison to annex the town of Madison.
• language allowing municipalities broader authority to charge subdivision fees on developers than current law provides.
• a provision allowing appeals of disciplinary actions against police and firefighters to go to arbitration rather than to court, a veto that we had requested.
• changes in the recycling grant formula that would have based recycling grants on population rather than costs.
• inflexible ambulance staffing requirements, a veto we had requested.
• a provision that land must be on a farm to qualify for agricultural use-value assessment, and that farmers file a form to receive a tax break.
• as "too narrow" a provision of the bill that defines farmland the same way as the North American Industry Classification System, the standard developed jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau, Canada, and Mexico to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America.

McCallum backs 10-lane Freeway Plan

How the Shared Revenue Debate Shook Out