The Capitol was bustling with discussions and forums as state legislators displayed their prowess as master debaters Wednesday.
The Joint Committee on Finance met Wednesday to discuss the budgets of numerous Wisconsin state agencies.
According to Jeff Schoenfeldt, a spokesperson for state Assembly Committee Chair John Gard, R-Peshtigo, it was a successful day in which budget management was discussed and \across the board"" cuts of state agencies were investigated.
""Through cost-saving measures aimed at state agencies and state employees, we shaved $115 million off the deficit in one day,"" he said.
To combat Wisconsin's $1.1 billion deficit, Gard proposed a one-year wage freeze for all state employees, which would not allow anyone to receive a raise. However, Gard's proposal was defeated along party lines 8-8, according to Schoenfeldt.
John Torphy, vice chancellor for administration at UW-Madison, said he believes that had Gard's proposal passed, the university would have been seriously affected. He cited examples of how it is difficult to reach contract agreements with and retain faculty of a high caliber.
""I'm very glad [the proposal] didn't pass,"" he said.
At a public hearing at the Capitol Wednesday, Democratic state senators introduced a proposal calling for the redistricting of legislative districts based on the results of the 2000 census.
Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said no executive action was taken, though many issues were brought to the table by both the Democrats and the Republicans. He said a goal was to create competitive districts with involved communities. He said another goal was figuring out how to handle Milwaukee losing 100,000 residents over the past 10 years.
