MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Latest on Gov. Scott Walker signing the state budget (all times local):
1:35 p.m.
State Superintendent Tony Evers says the Republican-controlled Legislature should override a Gov. Scott Walker budget veto that would take money away from about 200 mostly rural schools.
Evers is a Democrat running for governor. He said Thursday that the Legislature should override Walker’s veto of a budget provision that would have allowed low-spending districts to raise more from local property taxes without a vote.
The change was backed by Assembly Republicans who saw it as a way to fix an inequity in the current school funding formula. But Walker objected to the property tax increase.
Republicans have never voted to override a Walker veto and leaders have not been calling for any action this year, either. Walker signed the budget Thursday while Evers was giving his annual state of education speech.
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12:30 p.m.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has signed the $76 billion state budget into law nearly three months after it was due.
Walker on Thursday signed the two-year spending plan at an elementary school in Neenah surrounded by students, teachers, Republican lawmakers and others.
The budget increases state aid for K-12 schools but also expands the private school voucher program. It freezes tuition at University of Wisconsin campuses and increases funding for higher education, but does not make up for cuts in the last budget.
The budget also increases fees on hybrid and electric cars but does not include a long-term funding solution for roads.
It would slightly reduce property taxes on the typical home, but proposed income and sales tax cuts were rejected by the Legislature.
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8:25 a.m.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is signing the nearly three-month late state budget into law, a move that will allow him to transition into re-election mode.
Walker planned to sign the budget Thursday afternoon at an elementary school in Neenah. On Wednesday, he made public nearly 100 items he was striking from the $76 billion, two-year spending plan.
Now Walker is expected to hit the road to tout the positives in the budget, including a $639 million increase in funding for K-12 schools, a tuition freeze at the University of Wisconsin and a small property tax cut.
But Walker’s numerous Democratic opponents are also zeroing in on aspects of the plan they will use to attack him over the next year of the campaign.
