State Building Commission split and won't recommend Evers' capital projects proposal
Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said she thought there were 'worthy' projects in the proposal but criticized the $3.85 billion in bonding to pay for the projects. Gov. Tony Evers delivers his seventh State of the State address while standing in front of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Felzkowski. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner
The State Building Commission is not recommending Gov. Tony Evers' $4.1 billion capital projects proposal to the budget committee after Republican lawmakers voted against doing so saying that it wasn't realistic and wasn't created in a bipartisan manner.
The State Building Commission is made up of eight members including Evers, four Republican lawmakers, two Democratic lawmakers and one citizen member appointed to the body by Evers. The votes on each section of the capital projects budget was split down the middle, with Republicans all opposed. The outcome was expected as Republicans have said they plan to create their own proposal.
Evers' proposal includes nearly $1.6 billion in projects for the University of Wisconsin System, $634 million to the Department of Corrections, $195 million for health facilities, $170 million for Department of Veterans Affairs' projects, $164 million in projects requested for the Department of Natural Resources and investments in other areas.
Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said she thought there were 'worthy' projects in the proposal but criticized the $3.85 billion in bonding to pay for the projects.
'This is more new bonding in this capital budget than the last five capital budgets combined, and I think to get to a more appropriate level, further discussion is needed,' Felzkowski said. 'We need to hear from stakeholders and the public and that just hasn't happened.'
Sen. Andre Jacque (R-New Franken) said that he thinks lawmakers and Evers will be able to find some agreement, but argued that 'shoehorning' money at the moment for projects will 'limit the ability to have some of those discussions, or in some cases might prejudice the [Joint Finance] Committee against whatever we might do here.'
Evers' ambitious proposal for reforming the state's prisons would include infrastructure upgrades and capital improvements to Waupun Correctional Institution, Lincoln Hills School, Stanley Correctional Institution, Sanger B. Powers Correctional Center and John C. Burke Correctional Center. The projects are planned to be carried out one after the other and culminate in the closing of the Green Bay Correctional Institution.
Felzkowski said she was 'very saddened' about the corrections proposal and called it a 'missed opportunity' for a bipartisan solution.
'There's quite a few of us in this Legislature who have worked diligently for corrections reform, and so much of the DOC capital budget rests on the changes to policy around corrections reform,' Felzkowski told Evers. Republican lawmakers have expressed opposition to proposals in the corrections budget that would increase early release.
'We could have been brought in earlier to discuss the changes or even when you had brought in a consultant around corrections, I would have loved to have been able to work with them and to help bring my side of the aisle into the reform process,' Felzkowski said.
The Joint Finance Committee, which is responsible for writing the budget, will kick off its work next week with briefings from the University of Wisconsin System and the Department of Corrections. Public listening sessions will then take place starting next week with lawmakers traveling to Kaukauna on April 2 and West Allis on April 4.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Lake County GOP chair alleges Dems set up for caucus during work hours
Lake County Republican Party Chairman and county councilman Randy Niemeyer raised concerns Tuesday about Democratic employees setting up for the party's caucus during work hours and paying student election workers for training they didn't attend. Lake County Board of Elections and Registration Director Michelle Fajman said the set-up for the caucus took place over the weekend, and that student election workers have a different training sign-in and payment process compared to other election workers. Niemeyer, R-Cedar Lake, said during the council's Tuesday meeting five or six Democratic employees spent three hours setting up for the county Democratic Party caucus, which was held Saturday, March 1, at the Lake County Government Center auditorium, during work hours Friday, February 28. The county's employee handbook says 'that activity is deemed improper,' Niemeyer said, so he'd like to look into why the employees set up the caucus during work hours, what has been done to correct the action, and who paid for the workers' time. 'That is not allowed to happen on government time even if there is someone else paying for it,' Niemeyer said. 'I don't think it's ever good practice for government workers to be participating in political work during their work hours.' Lake County has a history of employees doing political work in the office, Niemeyer said, like former Lake County Surveyor George Van Til who was convicted in federal court for using county resources to run his campaign. 'We've had situations here in the past where people have faced legal consequences for those sorts of things, and I sure as heck don't want to see another black eye on Lake County.' Employees did not spend three hours setting up for the caucus during business hours. The voting machines and tables were delivered that Friday, Fajman said, but all set up was done Saturday morning. Fajman said some employees could've walked into the auditorium to see if the equipment was in the room ready to be set up the next day. Employees like to walk the government campus during their breaks, so it's possible some employees could've walked by the auditorium, she said, but no set-up was done. During the May special Crown Point and Hobart school referendum elections, Niemeyer said he was concerned about inspectors and students being paid for training, which they have to attend by law, but records indicate that some didn't receive training. 'We've got some discrepancies there in processes and systems that need to be looked into,' Niemeyer said. Fajman said that special elections are paid for by the entity holding the election, so all payments of election workers would be paid for by the school districts. Initially, the money comes out of the county's general fund, and then the schools reimburse the county for the elections. Under Indiana law, clerks and judges can complete election training online or in person, Fajman said. Inspectors have to do training in person, she said. Further, Indiana law dictates that students have to attend training, Fajman said, so they can pick in person or online. Fajman said when election workers go to training, they show their driver's license and check in on a poll pad against voter registration data. Because some students aren't old enough to vote yet, Fajman said they are checked in manually. To get paid, students on Election Day sign a pay claim and mark on the claim that they attend training. Inspectors could have a discrepancy in training attendance because there could be situations where an inspector had to back out of working the election – but remains on the record – and another inspector fills in, Fajman said. The election office has been working toward coming up with a system to better track attendance and payments, Fajman said, and hopes to launch it by the next general election. 'Right now, there's no foolproof method that we have, but we're looking into it right now,' Fajman said. Ted Bilski, D-Hobart, said he supports Niemeyer raising questions about what occurred in the election office and during the special election. But there's 'agencies out there to police that,' Bilski said. Bilski said the situations should be looked into and see what the investigations find. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, said since Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, was in the audience of the meeting, maybe the legislature could look into election training criteria to make it more clear who can and can't do which type of training. akukulka@
San Francisco Chronicle
34 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Associated Press seeks full appeals court hearing on access to Trump administration events
The Associated Press on Tuesday asked for a hearing before the full U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, seeking to overturn a three-judge panel's ruling that allowed the Trump administration to continue blocking AP access to some presidential events — a four-month case that has raised questions about what level of journalistic access to the presidency the First Amendment permits. Three judges of that court on Friday, in a 2-1 decision, said it was OK for Trump to continue keeping AP journalists out of Oval Office or other small events out in retaliation over the news outlet's decision not to follow his lead in changing the Gulf of Mexico's name. He had sought a pause of a lower court's ruling in AP's favor in April that the administration was improperly punishing the news organization for the content of its speech. 'The decision of the appellate panel to pause the district court's order allows the White House to discriminate and retaliate over words it does not like, a violation of the First Amendment,' AP spokesman Patrick Maks said. 'We are seeking a rehearing of this decision by the full appellate court because an essential American principle is at stake.' A hearing before the full court would change the landscape — and possibly the outcome as well. The two judges who ruled in Trump's favor on Friday had been appointed to the bench by him. The full court consists of nine members appointed by Democratic presidents, and six by Republicans. The news outlet's access to events in the Oval Office and Air Force One was cut back starting in February after the AP said it would continue referring to the Gulf of Mexico in its copy, while noting Trump's wishes that it instead be renamed the Gulf of America. For decades, a reporter and photographer for the AP — a 179-year-old wire service whose material is sent to thousands of news outlets across the world and carried on its own website, reaching billions of people — had been part of a small-group 'pool' that covers a president in places where space is limited. ___ David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at and
Politico
38 minutes ago
- Politico
Cuomo, Adams battle for Orthodox Jewish support in mayor's race
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams suggested Tuesday that Orthodox Jewish support flocking to mayoral front-runner Andrew Cuomo is lighter than it seems. He may have a point. Cuomo has been racking up endorsements from influential leaders in a community long considered a potent electoral force as he leads the Democratic mayoral primary field. On Tuesday, he scored the top ranking from a major Hasidic sect in Brooklyn. But one of the former governor's most prominent backers suggested days earlier his brethren would be supporting Adams in the general election — and would do so with a similar fervor to 2024, when they came out en masse for President Donald Trump. 'In November you'll see the same thing with God's help,' Rabbi Moishe Indig, a top leader in Brooklyn's Satmar community, said during an event focused on combating antisemitism. 'We will come out to show our great support for our great mayor and brother, Eric Adams.' Indig was speaking at an event headlined by Adams and conservative television personality Dr. Phil on Sunday, the day before he publicly endorsed Cuomo. In addition to pledging fealty to the incumbent in the November general election, the Brooklyn religious and political fixture estimated 75,000 people in his community voted in the presidential race, mostly breaking for Trump. That number explains the nascent battle between Cuomo and Adams, who are both preparing for a potential general election showdown after Adams dropped out of the primary. 'We are talking about relationships of over 30 years — 30 years,' Adams, a Brooklyn borough president and state senator before becoming mayor, said of his ties to the borough's Orthodox communities during an unrelated press conference. As he spoke, he again excoriated Cuomo and accused him of overstating his support in Jewish and Black communities, both central to Adams' winning 2021 coalition. 'So let the primary run its course,' he said. 'We are going to see what's going to happen in the general.' Adams, a registered Democrat, opted out of the Democratic primary in April, recognizing he was too damaged by a federal indictment, and his related choice to cozy up to President Donald Trump, who pushed for a judge to drop the charges. As The New York Times reported Tuesday, Adams' team has been working behind the scenes to dissuade rabbis from endorsing Cuomo as the mayor publicly pursues policies sought by the community. A mayoral aide, for instance, was successful in persuading 25 Hasidic groups and institutions to endorse City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams over Cuomo in the primary, according to the Times. And another prominent Jewish leader in Brooklyn who endorsed Cuomo later clarified in a social media post that his backing was only for the primary and that he has a close relationship with the mayor. But despite animus between many religious communities and Cuomo over his Covid-era prohibitions on large gatherings, the front-runner has already landed crucial backing from some of the most important Jewish leaders in Brooklyn and Queens. And even Indig walked back his stated support for Eric Adams when asked by POLITICO, noting he hasn't made a general election endorsement yet. 'I don't know what's going to happen in November,' he added. With that in mind, Cuomo's team dismissed the mayor's assertions. 'Governor Cuomo's relationship with the Jewish community is deep, strong and stretches back decades and we're proud to have assembled one of the largest Orthodox coalitions in history in support of our campaign to get New York City back on the right track,' Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said in a statement. 'We're not surprised the mayor is trying to play games behind the scenes.' Jeff Colin contributed to this report.
