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11 Republican Legislators Demand Changes to State Budget

flickr/alumroot

A group of GOP state lawmakers sent a letter to legislative leaders on Thursday, saying they cannot support the proposed state budget, in its current form.

The 11 Republicans are members of the Assembly. Their letter is addressed to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Majority Leader Scott Suder.

The letter says a number of issues must be “substantially addressed” in order to satisfy the lawmakers’ “constituents and our conservative principles.” The Republicans say their demands include:

  • Adoption of Rep. Dale Kooyenga’s tax reform package
  • An overall reduction of $500 million in bonding
  • Removal of a proposal that would require DNA to be collected in arrests

The letter states that the group appreciates the hard work Vos, Suder and members of the Joint Committee on Finance have done so far on the budget; however, it says that “these concerns at a minimum must be addressed.”
The letter is signed by Reps. Tyler August, David Craig, Rob Hutton, Chris Kapenga, Stephen Nass, Adam Neylon, Don Pridemore, Joe Sanfelippo, Duey Stroebel, Gary Tauchen and Paul Tittl.

If the 11 Republicans were to vote against the budget, and all Democrats also opposed the spending plan, it would not pass in the Assembly.

The biennial budget must be approved by both houses of the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Walker.

Ann-Elise is WUWM's news director.