DBA's Policy Radar

A glance at issues DBA is tracking:

Transportation: The  transportation debate revolves around whether to continue the level of borrowing we have in years past or start to cut down that level by raising money through additional taxes or fees. Transportation funding  will be a major part of the budget process unless lawmakers remove it to allow more time to find solutions. Walker’s budget proposal does increase the amount of state aid available to local governments by $76 million over the last budget.

Budget: Walker’s 2017-19 budget proposal introduced in February is being deliberated by the Joint Finance Committee for potential changes. Budget discussions involving agriculture will revolve around increasing rural broadband funding, increasing funding for conservation efforts, maintaining producer-led watershed grants, reducing farmer and business fees used to manage the Ag Chemical Cleanup Program, and eliminating the Stray Voltage Program and the manufacturing and agriculture tax credit.

Anti-sanctuary cities bill: State Rep. John Spiros reintroduced a revised version of his bill that would penalize any jurisdiction that adopts “sanctuary city” measures, for example, preventing local governments or police from inquiring about someone’s immigration status or cooperating in certain ways with federal immigration enforcement. Last session, this bill was one of the reasons for a  protest at the State Capitol.