Walker spending spree might be slowed or an odd reason- GOP dysfunction

After last night's vote-o-rama in the State Senate, let's take a look at where we are budgetarily, and on other bills.

HEADING TO WALKER'S DESK: $6.8 million "talent attraction" program, a bill that slants things heavily for landlords vs tenants, and $24.0 million to adjust the tax code to federal changes.
OUT: The $50 million rural WEDC program, and this potential future expense.

.@ACLUofWisconsin and @wisdom4justice praise death of bill approving $350 million in borrowing for new prison. Bill passed the Assembly, but died last night in the Senate. It also had $4 million for additional prosecutors

— Scott Bauer (@sbauerAP) March 21, 2018

That adds a bit of cushion back, but there's one other category that we have for this session - UP IN THE AIR. One reason is because the State Senate was first to vote on the $100 million "student safety" package (that does nothing about the guns that threaten student safety), and the Assembly hasn't voted on it yet. Ominously, a scheduled vote in the Assembly Education Committee was put off today, which means that maybe even the GOPs know that this thing is being rushed and has a lot of gaps in it.

And oh yeah, there's another sizable bill that leaked out yesterday to add to the pile.

State settles lawsuit brought by former inmate at Lincoln Hills for $18.9M. #wipolitics

— Molly Beck (@MollyBeck) March 20, 2018

But there's another reason that some of these initiatives are up in the air - because the Senate modified several Assembly-passed bills yesterday, which tosses it back over to the lower house. While you might think it's a formality for the Assembly to shove it ahead tomorrow, the Wisconsin State Journal's Mark Sommerhauser says that's not a sure thing.

Interesting: On eve of WI Assembly's planned extraordinary session, the agenda appears to still be in flux. Office of @SpeakerVos won't say if Assembly GOP will take up versions of key bills that passed the Senate yesterday (school safety, tax cuts, juvenile prisons)

— Mark Sommerhauser (@msommerhauser) March 21, 2018

So are we going to be seeing more of this tomorrow?


And yes, Walker has been this feckless.

Remember, the Senate is supposed to have started their 9 1/2 month paid vacation today, so if another modified bill comes out of the Assembly, does that mean those bills are dead? Or does Fitzgerald call them back in?

If those bills do die tomorrow, it would be somehow fitting if these pre-election stunts were to avoiding hitting Scott Walker's desk because Vos and Fitz had hurt fee-fees against each other, and insisted on having the bill THEIR WAY. Combined with the fact that most of these bills won't be for anything that helps the overwhleming majority of people in this state long-term, and will tie the hands of future legislatures, it's a big reason why these guys gotta go ASAP.