WisGOP asks "Why pay for drinking water, insurance and the Census?"

Wanted to go over a few items from today's budget hearing at the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee today.

First of all, an item relating to the approval of $17 million in funding to clean up drinking water via the state's Environmental Fund. All members of the JFC approved of that funding, but it led Dems to complain in the JFC hearing room and on social media about other actions on drinking water that were and were not taken.

….the debate turned into a series of jabs over Republicans’ decision to reject $40 million in additional bonding that would’ve gone to replace lead laterals. Evers included that bonding in his budget, but Republicans voted last week to pull it out.

Dems then countered today with a motion to provide $35 million in bonding for the program, but Co-chair John Nygren, R-Marinette, ruled the motion was out of order because the provision had already been pulled out.

He also rebuffed Dems’ arguments by pointing out Republicans last session approved legislation to allow local units of government to offer low-interest and potentially forgivable loans through their utilities to address the issue. He said that was a perfect opportunity for municipalities to step up and help their residents. What’s more, he said replacing lead laterals is only part of the problem and the lead pipes in homes need to be replaced as well.

But Rep. Evan Goyke, D-Milwaukee, fired back by pulling out a travel mug full of water he poured from his tap this morning. Goyke said he replaced the lead lines in his home, but the program to address the lateral bringing water to his family doesn’t go far enough or fast enough....

Sitting the glass of water before him, Goyke challenged his colleagues, “Any of you all want to drink it? It’s right here.”

In addition to Nygren refusing to bring up any items that the GOP-led JFC removed in a party-line vote, his meme of "Well, Milwaukee can pay for it on its own is dishonest, as Milwaukee has been handcuffed from paying for cleanups by WisGOPs via reduced shared revenues and low revenue limits.

Goyke and other Dems on the JFC also reminded us of the cheap shot Nygren pulled when he and his other GOPs cut that $40 million in funding out.

ICYMI this is what the JFC co-chair, Rep. Nygren, said about @GovEvers’ plan to ensure clean drinking water throughout Wisconsin. This is unacceptable. #wibudget https://t.co/bPE2nai57w pic.twitter.com/MsKousDyCn

— WI JFC Democrats (@JFCDemocrats) May 14, 2019

The GOPs also refused to fund a couple of other relatively small-number items that would have allowed for certain duties to be fully funded. One involved money that the state could set aside to help with the 2020 Census, to get a more accurate (and increased) count of people that can translate into more federal funding.

The administration indicates that with funding provided under the bill, outreach efforts in Wisconsin would focus on hard-to-count (HTC) residents, described by the Census Bureau as residents who are difficult to locate, contact, persuade to participate, or interview. For example, residents in rural areas without traditional addresses do not receive questionnaires by mail. Other individuals may be difficult to count because they lack internet access, are suspicious of the government, or are highly mobile. According to the administration, approximately 613,700 Wisconsin residents lived in HTC areas during the 2010 census (217,100 lived in areas that did not receive a 2010 census questionnaire by mail, and 396,600 lived in areas where less than 75% of residents submitted the census questionnaire)….

The amount requested ($1,000,000) is based on the administration's calculation that outreach to approximately 500,000 HTC residents would cost $2 per person. Based on 2010 response rates and a cost of $2 per person, outreach to residents in HTC areas is estimated to cost in the range of $793,200 to $1,227,400 in 2020 (to support outreach to between 396,600 and 613,700 residents). The administration indicates that it selected the midpoint of this estimation for its recommendation ($1,000,000).

The GOPs on the JFC felt that wasn't needed, so they turned it down and decided to make the Evers Administration eat the cost for the Census themselves.

The GOP-run Finance Committee also refused to set aside more money that the Evers Administration wanted for state agencies to insure themselves. Due to lawsuits and natural disasters, the LFB says the amount of money state agencies have to spend on insuring themselves is going to rise quite a bit in the next 2 years.

1. The risk management program is self-funded to insure state agencies against property, liability, and worker's compensation losses. Coverage for state agencies is funded by an annual premium based on prior losses, current exposure, and administrative expenses. The state also purchases excess property and excess liability coverage from private insurance carriers for losses that exceed self-funded coverage for the programs. Payment to private insurance carriers is funded from the risk management administration appropriation, which would be modified under the bill. Excess insurance premiums are generally paid in July of each year…

4. The administration indicates that excess insurance premiums have increased in recent years due to claims by the state and general market conditions. For example, several storms led to property losses throughout the state, including a significant loss at University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point in 2016-17. In addition, a claim of $18,900,000 involving the Department of Corrections was paid during 2017-18. According to the administration, property and liability insurance premiums have also increased due to national events, including natural disasters such as hurricanes, and "trends in police brutality allegations, incarceration liabilities, sexual misconduct claims, and concussion injuries."

5. As a result of increased excess insurance premium costs, DOA submitted a request for additional expenditure authority in 2018-19 under s. 16.515 of the statutes. On December 26, 2018, the Committee approved DOA's request for $1,412,500 PR to fund excess insurance premiums. The supplemental authority was limited to 2018-19 and is not included in the agency's base budget. The Governor recommends providing an amount equal to the 2018-19 supplement for the 2019-21 biennium.

You may recall that $18.9 million settlement by the Department of Corrections from March of 2018, which involved a case at the state’s Copper Lake School in Irma (the female equivalent of Lincoln Hills).

In that case, guards ignored a suicidal girl’s call for help, didn’t come around for required cell checks, and tried to cover up their negligence. The result is that the girl hung herself long enough to be permanently brain damaged, and now all state agencies are slated to pay more in the next 2 years to deal with the huge settlement that resulted.

But despite the fact that $8.7 million had to be spent in this account last year, and more will be spent this year, the GOPs on JFC refused to set aside the additional $2.8 million needed to pay for that in this budget. Which likely means that the Evers Administration will have to come back at a later point to make ends meet and find a place to add money to pay these insurance costs.

These three choices by the Republicans to play games instead of letting state government run as usual is not a good sign, and I have to wonder how much more they will mess with in the coming weeks as the bigger-ticket items make their way through.