Rep. Kelli Linville just said it’s “very likely” that a revenue proposal will come up before session ends, but that it would be up to voters to decide.

Any tax increase would either require a two-thirds vote or a vote of the public, under Initiative 960.

“There are no specifics in our caucus right now,” she said. “This is the budget we’re going to accept for the next two years… there have been so many people involved that they’re willing to make these decisions now and then continue to fine tune the spending plan.”

Tags: Budget

Linville said the House plans to hold hearings today and vote the bill out of committee on Thursday. She stressed that, while the proposal was well thought-out, this is only the beginning.

On the subject of cuts to basic education, Linville and Haigh said they did not cut anything that is essential. Instead, they cut initiatives to increase teacher pay and two extra school days, among other things, she said.

Haigh said she hasn’t figured out the Senate budget yet, but that the House tried to preserve teaching positions so that classrooms “don’t double in size.”

A reporter asked how the House’s numbers compare to the Senate’s, which they said would lead to about 2,500 fewer teachers. Haigh said “it’s going to have a little bit different impact at every district level … not all districts purchase teachers with those dollars,” she said, referring to $400 per student school districts received.

Tags: Budget, education

Rep. Jeannie Darneille, talking about “general government” spending, said it includes some of the largest agencies down to the smallest — about 80 in total.

“One of them included the revenue department, so we did not include the revenue department. In fact, we increased the revenue department,” she said.

“In some ways, the general government agencies create the village that is our state government.” She said they tried to make cuts that didn’t negatively impact public safety.

Tags: Budget, general government

Rep. Haigh said Initiative 728 was cut by about half, and there’s no Initiative 732 increase. “Our teachers are some of the most underfunded in the nation, and yet they do great things,” she said. “I’m committed to, as soon as we build out of this budget, that this is one of the places that we put our money.”

She said cutting those initiatives will mean less pay for teachers, but that fewer will lose their jobs.

Rep. Eric Pettigrew: “When I look at this budget, one phrase comes to mind. It’s a phrase that was often given during my football career and that is, When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

He said the state’s top priority was protecting the most vulnerable. “We worked really hard to make sure that we maintained as many of those strands of the safety net that we could.”

“We definitely believe that there’s going to be a time when the economy gets better and we are able to spend” more. He said he’s proud that the cuts they made are “definitely responsible and it, again, allowed us as a body to rise to the occasion.”

Tags: Budget, education, human services

Kessler said all but 7 House members were included in the appropriations process, and 35 were involved on a daily basis. That number does not include Republicans.

Rep. Kathy Haigh: “I will have to tell you that about a week ago, when the reality of this budget sunk in to me, I had several people in my office talking about the budget … then I had a teacher from my own district … to talk about the budget,” she said. He talked about the students, the kids and how much he enjoyed working with everyone. “And then he turned to me and he said, What can I do to help. And it was a very emotional moment for me,” she said, because this budget asks the teachers and schools to sacrifice while providing high-quality education. She said higher education could be hit the hardest. “We’re asking them to take the biggest cut … and they will have to be the most resourceful.”

Tags: Budget, education

Rep. Mark Ericks: “From my perspective, many of these choices were very difficult and certainly just like if you went to your neighbor with your family budget and said, What do you think… your neighbor might have a different idea,” he said.

“You may find some different schools of thought throughout our caucus andn throughout our committee,” he said, but the bottom line is that he thinks it’s a responsible budget.

Rep. Lyn Kessler: “This is not a pleasant day for any of us … I would like to at least say to all of you that this was a very thoughtful, inclusive and difficult process.” Linville said the House for the first time separated the budgeting process into several different appropriations sub-committees. “All of us looked at this budget with the intent of protecting what we need to protect and suspending what we could not fund momentarily and in some instances, cutting,” she said.

Tags: Budget

Linville said there’s some capital budget money transferred into the operating, some lottery money, some tobacco settlement money and others.

“The reason I’m listing all these things is not that it’s pleasant for me to say this, but it’s because one of our goals was for our budget to be as transparent as possible,” Linville said.

She said there are big cuts to health and human services, schools, higher education, judiciary, natural resources and general government.

Now, for Rep. Mark Ericks.

Tags: Budget

The House budget roll-out just started. Rep. Kelli Linville began by saying the two-year budget maintains the “safety net” and other crucial services. She said they believe the state’s economy will recover.

“Counter to some sentiments, this is a global recession that we are responding to,” Linville said. “Our revenue has plummeted.”

“When we look at what we’re going to be spending in 07-09 and what we’re going to be spending for 09-11, it is a billion dollars less,” she said, saying that she’d read in the news “a lot of numbers” that made it seem like state government wasn’t shrinking.

She said the budget uses $3 billion in federal money.

Tags: Budget

This just in from Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office: Susan Dreyfus is her pick for the leader of the Department of Social and Health Services, the largest state agency. She’ll start May 18 and make $163,056.

According to the release, Dreyfus is the executive VP of strategy for Rogers Behavioral Health System, Inc. She has lived in Wisconsin for 33 years. She has also worked for the National Alliance for Children and Families and Families International.

“Susan brings an outstanding record of accomplishment, particularly in the areas of child welfare and mental health services,” Gregoire said in the release. “She has the knowledge, leadership experience and vision necessary to succeed in one of the most difficult jobs in state government.”

DSHS has 19,000 employees and a budget of $10 billion a year.

The press conference will play on TVW today, but no word yet on when. Check back for details (and the video).

Tags: DSHS

Right now on TVW, you can watch the House floor session. They’re debating a bill that would add a fee (or a tax, depending on who you ask) to your phone bill every month to pay for 911 service that routes cell phone and VOIP calls to the proper call center.

The debate has been heated — and long. In fact, so long that we’ve delayed our coverage of the Ways & Means Committee, where the budget is getting its first hearing. That started at 3:30 p.m., but we’ll join it live as soon as this debate ends.

Here’s the 911 bill.

Tags: 911, Budget, TVW