You thought GOPs were done changing the budget? Nope.

Today, the full Assembly is getting its chance to amend and vote on the state budget. And they had to do quite a few tweaks to try to get the document to Governor Evers' desk.

Here's a link to the 31 changes that the Assembly Republicans put in to the budget today. The first one I want to discuss has to do with the method chosen to reduce property taxes to a level below Governor Evers' original budget.

And while I predicted it would be done by limiting school revenues, but instead it was through putting in even more tax dollars into the Wisconsin Lottery.

6. Increase GPR Funding for the Wisconsin Lottery. Modify the provisions of the substitute amendment to provide an additional $1,500,000 GPR in 2019-20 and $4,683,400 GPR in 2020-21 to the Division of Lottery's general program operations GPR appropriation and modify the appropriation to support administrative expenses, excluding costs associated with salaries and product information (advertising). This would result in a total increase in GPR for lottery administration of $31,700,000 in 2019-20 and $33,083,400 in 2020-21. Reduce the SEG appropriation for general program operations by $1,500,000 SEG in 2019-20 and $4,683,400 SEG in 2020-21 and provide an additional $1,500,000 SEG in 2019-20 and $4,683,400 SEG in 2020-21 for the lottery and gaming credit. As a result of the amendment, GPR funding for the lottery would total $71,700,000 in 2019-20 and $73,083,400 in 2020-21. The amendment would support an estimated average lottery and gaming credit of $177 in 2019-20 and $178 in 2020-21.

So how much would that extra $6.2 million in tax dollars save the typical Wisconsin homeowner? $1 this year and $4 next year. Don't spend it all in one place, folks! And all to have some kind of lame talking point of "Our budget has lower property taxes than Gov Evers' does."

Well aren't you clever?

There was also some nice pork doled out for GOP legislators to encourage them to go along. For State Sen. Andre Jacque, Vos and company reversed the course of the Joint Finance Committee, added back some prosecutor positions, and allowed them to get paid more.

11. District Attorney Pay Progression. Increase the amount provided in the substitute amendment by $1,246,600 GPR in 2019-20 and $2,231,300 GPR in 2020-21 to provide a one-step pay progression increase to eligible district attorneys on July 1, 2019, and 2020.

12. Additional Assistant District Attorneys. Increase the amount provided in the bill by $1,430,000 GPR in 2019-20 and $2,162,000 GPR in 2020-21 and 34.95 GPR positions annually, to provide additional prosecutors to District Attorney Offices across the state as indicated in the table below. New GPR positions would have an anticipated start date of October 1, 2019.

Naturally, 34.8 of those new 34.95 tax-funded positions are outside of Milwaukee and Dane Counties, with Jacque's home of Brown County getting 3 additional prosecutors with state backing.

There's also more money for rural roads through this provision.

4. Supplemental Transportation Aid to Towns. Modify the substitute amendment to provide $2,500,000 SEG annually from an annual, sum certain transportation fund appropriation to fund annual, supplemental mileage aid payments to towns that are currently limited by the 85% of three-year average cost limitation under the general transportation aid program. Require that each year any town subject to the 85% of three-year average cost limitation under the general transportation aid program would be eligible to receive a supplemental mileage aid payment under a separate appropriation. Specify that any supplemental aid payment, when combined with a town's general transportation aid payment, could not exceed 100% of that town's three-year average costs submitted under the general transportation aid program.

Towns being areas outside of city and village limits, this means that $5 million in extra payments are overwhelmingly going to go to rural areas represented by Republicans. I'm good with helping local communities get their roads fixed, but this is transparently one-sided toward one type of community over another.

There's also this bit of sketch, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

A last-minute budget provision to make it easier to sell cars made by Tesla is aimed at winning the crucial vote of Sen. Chris Kapenga, who has pushed for the measure in the past and owns a business that sells Tesla parts and salvaged electric vehicles....

The budget measure would allow Tesla to sell its electric vehicles directly to consumers rather than having to go through dealers.

Kapenga, a Republican from Delafield who works as an accountant, owns Integrity Motorsports of Eagle, which sells Tesla parts and rebuilds and sells salvaged Teslas, according to the company website. A 2019 Tesla Model X sells at prices ranging from $83,000 to $139,000, according to Kelley Blue Book.

I don't mind the idea of allowing Tesla to sell their vehicles direct in Wisconsin, as long as they have to follow the same consumer protection rules as other auto dealers. But this is such an obvious bit of self-dealing to get Delafield Dumbass Kapenga to not hold up the budget in the Senate, that Evers should veto it on general principle.

Integrity Morotsports, eh?

That's quite a bit of extra spending that GOPs are throwing into the budget. So it's gotta be offset by something. Oh, here we go.

Medical Care Insurance Deduction for Self-Employed Persons. Delete the provision in the substitute amendment that would have modified the limitation on the deduction under the individual income tax that self-employed persons may claim for medical insurance for themselves, their spouse, and their dependents, beginning in tax year 2020. Instead, retain the current law provision that limits the deduction for all persons to the self-employed person's aggregate net earnings from a trade or business that are subject to Wisconsin tax. The modification would have sunset the current limitation and, instead, limited the deduction to the person's aggregate wages, salary, tips, unearned income and net earnings from a trade or business that are subject to Wisconsin tax. In addition, delete the provision that would have modified the proration of the deduction for nonresidents and part-year residents and the provision that would have repealed obsolete provisions regarding medical care insurance deductions that were sunset in prior years. Increase individual income tax collections by an estimated $9,500,000 in 2020-21.

This was a tax cut Evers put into the budget, and it went through JFC. But apparently this is too much to ask for from the fuill gerrymandered Legislature. So much for helping entrepreneurs. Yeesh.

Assuming it passes the gerrymandered Assembly (and with 63 GOPs with only 50 votes needed, why wouldn't it pass?), it is slated to go to the Senate tomorrow. Let's see if there are 17 people in that body that'll go for it, after the extra goodies that were handed out today.