MADISON, Wis. — After nearly three hours of passionate debate on the floor Wednesday night, the Wisconsin Assembly has passed a revised version of the Republican shared revenue bill.
The bill is moving on to the Senate after a 56-36 vote with all Republicans in support except for three who joined all Democrats in opposing it. The Republicans who opposed were Reps. Scott Allen of Waukesha, Janel Brandtjen of Menomonee Falls and Chuck Wichgers of Muskego.
Republicans released the revised version of the bill just two hours before the Assembly began their vote on Wednesday.
Democrats say this historic shared revenue bill isn't even close to being ready, while Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says his caucus is done making deals.
Around 5 p.m. Wednesday, Vos said they struck a deal after tense negotiations that Rep. Bob Donovan said at times, wasn't pretty.
The bill would increase shared revenue, money that the state gives back to the city, and for the first time allow the City of Milwaukee to raise the sales tax 2-percent, and Milwaukee County to raise their sales tax by 0.375-percent, so long that each of the sales tax increases are approved by voters. That money could be used to offset future pension obligations.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson warned lawmakers last week the city will not be able to fund outstanding pension liabilities by 2025 without help.
The proposed bill comes with strings attached, including requiring school resource officers with a new caveat that they have proper training at Milwaukee Public Schools, giving the police chief power to set policies instead of the Fire and Police Commission, and a requirement to not spend any revenue from the sales tax on The Hop street car.
While Milwaukee will get a 10% shared revenue bump, Speaker Vos shared an adjustment made for all other cities in the state.
"We guaranteed that every single community in the state of Wisconsin had at least a 10-percent shared revenue in perpetuity," said Vos. "The bill that we are voting on today has a guaranteed 15-percent increase for every single community in the state. That was at the request of Governor Evers, and one of the things through negotiations we were happy to accept."
During the discussion on the Assembly floor, Democrats made clear they didn't believe the bill with its stipulations was ready to move on.
"Instead of giving us a clean bill that deals with shared revenue, which we have been asking for for years, you have decided to load it up with policy issues that are extremely harmful for the City of Milwaukee," said Milwaukee Democratic Rep. Christine Sinicki.
Rep. Darrin B. Madison of Milwaukee's 10th district agreed saying, "At the end of the day, this body has given local governments a losing hand. Now, we come to them at their most vulnerable and we offer them this measly improvement."
Meanwhile Republicans on the floor emphasized the bill is ready to move forward and that the state is in need of these changes
"Other administrations couldn't even get to first base. We have rounded third and are heading home," said Rep. Bob Donovan (R) Greenfield. "It would be a tragedy and a monumental disaster if we were to stumble now."
Republican Rep. Tony Kurtz, the measure’s sponsor, emphasized that Milwaukee officials, Gov. Evers, and Democrats were all involved with the bill's creation.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
