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Joint Finance Committee To Meet Next Week

Wikimedia Commons Vijay Kumar Koulampet

Merrill-  During a press conference on the state Assembly's education budget plan, Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette), co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, confirmed that the group will be back to work next Thursday.

Nygren spoke with Joint Finance co-chair Senator Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) this past Tuesday after their full committee meeting was canceled, and they're looking forward to meeting next week. "Education is not the topic, as of right now, but we scheduled to meet on other topics, and it's our hope that we come to an agreement on education, transportation, and anything else that's remaining," said Nygren. Nygren said that Senate leadership has begun to look at the Assembly's education plan more favorably.

He said, "I think that when [the plan] originally came out, [the Senate] said, 'We're just going to stay with the governor.' If you look at more recent statements that have come from my colleague, the Senate chair, and the Governor himself, they're accepting the fact that this is a real problem that we should address. The plan calls for increasing the levy limits that have locked low-income school districts at what the Assembly calls a non-competitive funding level, while reducing property taxes by an average of $10 for a median-level home.

Divides on education and transportation have spurred talks of the Assembly and Senate working on separate budget bills entirely, a move that would almost certainly push the current budget past its expiration of June 30th. Nygren was not concerned with that idea. "If folks expect that when the Governor puts out his budget, we in the Legislature all come in and salute and go home, then we shouldn't have a Legislature. The Legislature represents constituencies throughout the state that bring different perspectives to the table, and this is just a normal part of the process."

Nygren described transportation funding, however, as "a lot bigger" than education when it comes to the rift of ideas between the Senate and Assembly.

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