Joint Finance Committee Passes Budget, Assembly to Vote June 25

The Joint Finance Committee voted 12-4 along party-lines this afternoon to pass their amended version of the state budget bill. It must now be passed by the full Assembly and Senate, after which it can be signed into law by the Governor.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says that the Assembly plans to vote on the budget on June 25. The Senate will likely vote on June 26 or 27.

The following are highlights from the state budget as passed by the Joint Finance Committee that are of interest to WEMTA.

Eliminates the TEACH Educational Technology Training Grants. The Joint Finance Committee approved the Governor's proposal to eliminate funding for TEACH Educational Technology Training Grants. These grants provide $1.5 million in yearly funding to eligible rural school districts and libraries to provide training to teachers and librarians on the use of educational technology. 

Maintains Funding for Personal Electronic Computing Device (1:1) Grant program. The Joint Finance Committee rejected the Governor's recommendation to eliminate funding for the 1:1 grant program after the 2019-20 school year. This grant program provides $9.2 million in yearly funding for the purchase of student one-to-one devices (laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, etc.) and supporting software, curriculum, and training. Every Wisconsin school or school district is eligible to receive $125 per 9th grade student.

Transfers $44 million of e-rate funds, which are used to support telecommunications services in schools and libraries, to fund Broadband Expansion Grants. The Joint Finance Committee approved the Governor's proposal to transfer e-rate funds to the Broadband Expansion Grant program and increased the amount of the transfer by about $20 million.  E-rate provides discounts for telecommunications, Internet access and internal connections to schools and libraries. Currently, schools and libraries are not expressly listed as eligible applicants for the Broadband Expansion grants and state statute requires political subdivisions to partner with a telecommunications company or private organization in order to apply.

Eliminates TEACH Curriculum Grant Program. The Joint Finance Committee approved the Governor's recommendation to eliminate the TEACH curriculum grants which support the development and implementation of technology-enhanced high school curriculum. These grants currently provide $25,000 per year to eligible consortia of school districts.

Extends the TEACH Information Technology Infrastructure Block Grant program until June 31, 2021 but reduces funding from $7.5 million per year to $3 million per year. The Joint Finance Committee approved the Governor's recommendation to extend TEACH infrastructure grants but to reduce funding.  These grants provide technology infrastructure to improve the capacity of rural school districts to utilize technology for students. Eligible purchases include: portable devices/hotspots, routers, access points, cabling, firewall services and other items.

Does not Restore State Funding for the Media Lab run by the Educational Communications Board. The Joint Finance Committee rejected the Governor's proposal to restore state funding for the Media Lab run by the Educational Communications Board. Media Lab funds support Wisconsin-based K-12 educational media production. State funding was eliminated for this programming in the 2015-17 state budget.

Maintains Funding for Information Technology Education Grant (Microsoft IT Academy): The Joint Finance Committee Rejected the Governor's proposal to delete the Information Technology Education grant program, which provides $875,000 annually to a recipient (currently Microsoft IT Academy) to provide information technology education to public school and technical college students as well as public library patrons.

 Fully Funds Library Service Contracts. The Joint Finance Committee approved the Governor's recommendation to provide an additional $133,200 in the first year of the biennium and $168,100 in the second year of the biennium to fully fund the library service contracts. The contracts are currently held by:  the Milwaukee Public Library (MPL), the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), the Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library (WTBBL), and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC).

Fully Funds BadgerLink and Newsline for the Blind. The Joint Finance Committee approved the Governor's proposal to provide an additional $345,800 to fully fund BadgerLink contracts and Newsline for the Blind.

 Increases Public Library System Aid.  The Joint Finance Committee voted to increase public library system aid by $1 million per year. The Governor had proposed a $2.5 million increase in the first year of the budget and a $4 million increase in the second year of the budget.