State budget negotiations escalated Wednesday, with Republicans in the state Assembly formally proposing a vote on several contentious issues in a move Senate Democrats will likely vote down.
Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said in a statement the Assembly will vote next Tuesday on K-12 education funding, local government funding and property tax levies.
The vote is in reaction to Department of Public Instruction statements that warn property taxes will need to be raised if state funding for local schools is not passed by Sept. 28, according to Huebsch.
We remain committed to meeting these deadlines and providing funding for our state's top budget priorities while protecting property taxpayers from record increases,"" he said.
State Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit, called the proposal a ""political stunt."" The Senate will ignore the pieces of budget passed by the Assembly, Robson said in a statement.
""It's time for the Republicans to stop running away from their own budget they passed earlier [in the Joint Finance Committee] and get the job done,"" Robson said, adding negotiations need to be done in the Conference Committee of legislative leaders.
If the Assembly passes part of the budget, the political pressure will be on Democrats in the state Senate, according to Mike Mikalsen, spokesperson for state Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater.
""In the end they will be forced to agree and pass it,"" Mikalsen said.
Mikalsen said K-12 spending is the single largest item in the budget and that passing it will not have an impact on other state funding.
According to Josh Wescott, communications director for Robson, Republicans are merely trying to gain political cover because they cut millions from K-12 funding over the summer.
Wescott said the Assembly proposal is only a ""stall tactic.""
State Sen. Neal Kedzie, R-Elkhorn, released a statement Wednesday praising the budget stalemate, an indication some Republicans are glad the budget has not passed, according to Wescott.
""It's becoming clearer and clearer who are dragging their feet,"" Wescott said
UW System spokesperson David Giroux said the budget impasse continues to have a real effect on UW students.
The Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board put on hold the financial awards of 5,051 UW students, according to Giroux.
The 5,051 students all come from families that make less than $27,000 per year and cannot afford college without the financial awards, Giroux said.
""It's not a crisis yet,"" Giroux said in regard to how the delay affects the UW system as a whole, ""but every passing day brings us one step closer to that crisis.""
The Conference Committee meets today for the 11th time to discuss the budget.
