Mediaboss Marketing

Steven Walters

Monday, June 5, 2017

With their party adrift at both the state and national levels, the four Democrats on the Legislature's budget-writing Joint Finance Committee are trying to tease out issues that mayor may notwork against Republican Gov. Scott Walker in next year's election.

Because Republicans handily control both houses of the Legislature, there are 12 of them and four Democrats on the committee. Within weeks, the committee will forward a proposed 2017-19 budget to the full Legislature. If it's not amended, separate Assembly and Senate votes could put that budget could be on Walker's desk.

The committee's four Democrats come from different regions of Wisconsin: Sen. Lena Taylor, of Milwaukee; Sen. Jon Erpenbach, of the Madison suburb of Middleton; Rep. Gordon Hintz, of Oshkosh, and Rep. Katrina Shankland, of Stevens Point.

Oshkosh, part of the Fox Valley, and Stevens Point are make-or-break areas for Democrats. Four years ago, three Democrats and one Republican represented the Stevens Point area; Shankland is now the only Democrat.

With the Capitol focused on Joint Finance Committee, its Democrats have a chance to offer proposals they know won't pass but still lay down political markers for whoever will be the party's nominee against Walker of what willand won'twork as campaign themes.

More than 10 Democrats have said they won't run against Walker; five or six others are considering running. Whoever the candidate is, he or she has the luxury of embracing or abandoning the changes being floated by the committee's Democrats.

The committee has not yet acted on several budget issuesK-12 and transportation funding, and tax reformbut its Democrats have already showed what they support, and what the 12 Republicans oppose, on some major issues.

Free technical college tuition: Democrats said the state's 16 technical colleges, more than ever, offer a chance to train workers for future jobs. And, Democrats add, technical colleges are more nimble and affordable than the UW System's four-year campuses.

But, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the non-partisan budget office, making all technical colleges tuition-free would cost about $555 million over the next two years. That's cash state government does not have, Republicans say.

Free tuition at two-year UW colleges: Democrats said the two-year campuses offer students a chance to learn whether they like and can succeed in college, while commuting from home and families. Because students at two-year colleges come from middle-class families, they deserve financial breaks, Democrats added.

But, according to the fiscal bureau, making the two-year colleges tuition free would cost about $80 million over the next two years.

Republican Rep. John Nygren, a committee co-chair, dismissed the Democrats' proposals: Free college? News flash for you: Bernie Sanders lost. We don't just get things for free in this country. We work for them.

Student debt: Democrats tried to attach to the budget creation of a state agency to help students refinance their loans, saying Wisconsin residents are deeper in debt than most others nationally. Loan payments keep Wisconsin residents from buying cars and homes, Democrats added.

Republican Rep. Mary Felzkowski rejected that request, suggesting that students and their parents make better financial decisions to avoid going that deep in debt.

High-capacity wells: Led by Shankland, Democrats fought the bill Walker signed into law last week that will allow 13,178 high-capacity wellsmost of which are in the Central Sands region in and around Stevens Pointto be sold, replaced and repaired without a new permit from the Department of Natural Resources. Vegetable and potato growers pushed for that new law.

A former Joint Finance Committee co-chair, Democratic Sen. Mark Miller, offered his party's next candidate for governor a reason to use that against Walker.

Gov. Walker finishes what legislative Republican started, Miller said. He privatized the waters of Wisconsin. Senate Bill 76 gives high capacity well owners a permit forever.

There is one issuetransportation fundingwhere Democrats have been so far silent. The state transportation fund is hundreds of millions of dollars short of being able to keep current projects on schedule, but Walker has vowed to veto any tax or fee increase and wants to borrow $500 million to keep some major projects on track.

When the committee takes up transportation funding, the four Democrats will have to lead, follow or get out of Republicans' way.

Steven Walters is a senior producer for the nonprofit public affairs channel WisconsinEye. Contact him at stevenscwalters@gmail.com.

This column has been corrected to show making the two-year colleges tuition free would cost about $80 million over the next two years.

2017 GazetteXtra, a division of Bliss Communications, Inc.

View original post here:
Walters: Democrats explore themes to shape governor's race - Janesville Gazette