Born Discusses Budget Hearings On WBEV

4/24/17 – State Representative Mark Born joined us live from the sixth and final state budget hearing this past Friday on WBEV’s Community Comment. The three-term Beaver Dam Republican was appointed this year to the Joint Finance Committee, a 16-member panel consisting of eight State Representatives, and eight State Senators, working throughout the budget process on determining the best way to allocate state resources. In the two months since the introduction of the budget, Joint Finance held public briefings with various state agency heads before hitting the road for the series of statewide, public-input hearings. He says the two-year budget affects everyone as it funds priorities from education to health to public benefits to natural resources, which is why there is such a significant process for public input. Born says there has been some consistent issues brought up by the 200 or so people in attendance at each hearing. That includes public education, both the university system, K-12 and tech schools; natural resources, the DNR and the environment, especially in the northern part of the state; public health, especially from local officials and finally, transportation which he says comes as no surprise. Born says the final public hearing and that information gathering represents the halfway point in the budget process. Next week he says legislators will start taking votes and crafting the budget. Upon final approval by the Joint Finance Committee, the budget bill must be passed in identical form in each house of the Legislature. Once that step is complete, the budget heads back to the governor for his signature and potential vetoes. The intention is to get the document to get the process complete by late June, early July. Legislators are accepting public input on the budget clear through its planned adoption in July.

Audio Links:

Contact Inforamtion:
State Representative Mark Born contact information: 608-266-2540, rep.born@legis.wisconsin.gov Born’s budget survey can be found at: legis.wisconsin.gov/assembly/39/born