State budget hearings begin Tuesday with motion to remove hundreds of proposals

MADISON, Wis. (WMDX) – The Wisconsin state budget process begins in earnest Tuesday with hearings set to begin late in the morning at the state capitol.

The Joint Finance Committee will begin by taking its first votes on the 2023-25 budget and hearing a motion that would scrap a total of 545 proposals from Gov. Tony Evers.

Budgets for 13 different state agencies will be affected by Tuesday’s votes. That includes budgets for both the Governor and Lt. Governor, the Elections, Judicial, and Labor and Industry Review commissions, the Court of Appeals, State Fair Park, and others.

Before the Joint Finance Committee takes on the budgetary items, it will look over five settlements reached by the Wisconsin Department of Justice. The settlements will fund efforts to combat opioid addiction and contain $19.2 billion nationally, with $324 million coming to Wisconsin. The Joint Finance Committee has to approve the settlement according to state statute, and then the Wisconsin Department of Health Services is required to send its proposal to the Committee in order to use the funds. Local governments must also enter into an agreement with the state to access the money.

There will be another hearing Thursday that will cover a dozen state agencies on Thursday as the budget process continues. You can see the full Joint Finance Committee calendar on the Wisconsin Legislature’s website.