Governor's assurances helped pass budget repair bill
11:48 PM 7/09/02
Tom Sheehan State government reporter

indentMoments before the Assembly met to consider a budget repair bill Monday night, Gov. Scott McCallum found himself surrounded by a handful of conservative Republicans looking to make the best of what they say is a flawed deal.
indentIn the end, assurances from McCallum helped ease tensions and corral just enough votes to get the bill passed 50-47. All 50 favorable votes were needed for passage, and at least three of those votes were agreed to just before the Assembly met, Republicans said.
indentIn one of the last-minute deals, McCallum agreed to protect jobs at the Stanley prison and to preserve the expenditure restraint program, said Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend.
indentGrothman, who proved to be the 50th vote, said rejecting the deal worked out by party leaders could have been worse. Five Republicans voted against the plan.
indentSome Republicans feared if they didn't support the plan, McCallum could have reached across the aisle to liberal Democrats to make deals, Grothman said.
indentLegislators couldn't offer amendments and could only vote for or against the package. But McCallum's line-item veto authority and administrative oversight give him the ability to make some adjustments.
indentFor example, McCallum agreed to protect 77 workers already hired at Stanley prison through the use of partial-vetoes or by transferring the workers temporarily, said McCallum spokesman Tim Roby. McCallum also promised to push for approval of 108 additional jobs at the prison by the end of the year, Roby said. When fully staffed, Stanley will employ more than 600.
indentRep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, who proved to be the 49th vote, agreed to vote in favor of the repair bill after receiving those assurances, Roby said.
indentSuder, who was among three final holdouts that included Neal Kedzie, R-Elkhorn, said he agreed to vote for the budget after McCallum agreed to protect the jobs in writing and with a handshake.
indent"It was tense, I think, because of the moment in history. But it wasn't animosity, it was just tough negotiations," Suder said. If the budget deal had been voted down, Republicans faced the possibility that Senate Democrats, who approved the bill last week, would reshape the deal or use the Assembly misstep as a campaign issue, Grothman said.
indentGrothman said the bill fails to make the spending cuts necessary to avoid a deficit in the next biennium.
indentSome Republicans are touting the fact that the bill preserves shared revenue and two-thirds funding for schools. Instead, they should be upset that it doesn't cut enough to protect taxpayers, Grothman said.
indentGrothman said he decided to vote for the plan once McCallum said he would support continuation of the expenditure restraint program. McCallum had proposed ending the program, which rewards communities for keeping spending increases below the rate of inflation, in favor of levy limits.
indentMcCallum's levy limit proposal was removed from the bill, but the expenditure restraint program was not assured to continue into 2004, Grothman said. McCallum agreed Monday to push for continuation of the program, however, Grothman said.
indent"This was a horrible budget. But I think the idea of letting this thing be signed without expenditure restraint being part of the equation on your December 2004 property tax bills would be such a disaster that I was willing to throw in .