Wisconsin budget bill passed but it'll be another day before GOP leader sends it to Scott Walker

MADISON - The missing signature of a top Republican lawmaker will delay the already late state budget until Wednesday at least.

The two-year, $76 billion state budget bill passed the Legislature last week and was otherwise in position to be signed by Gov. Scott Walker as soon as Tuesday. There's just one problem — he doesn't have it yet.

On Monday morning, the governor requested that the budget bill be sent to him from the Assembly, but so far that hasn't happened.

"Governor Walker is ready to sign the budget as soon as we receive it from the state Assembly," spokesman Tom Evenson said.

The budget was supposed to be passed by July 1 and Walker has promised to have it passed by Thursday to ensure that local governments aren't left in further uncertainty about how much they'll receive in state aid for their own budget. 

But Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) isn't rushing to get it to Walker. As the head of the Assembly, Vos needs to sign the legislation before it can be handed off to Walker for the governor's signature and partial vetoes. 

The budget bill will go to Walker automatically on Oct. 12 but to get there sooner it needs to have the signatures of Senate President Roger Roth (R-Appleton) and Vos. Roth signed the bill on Monday, but Vos still hasn't. 

In an interview Tuesday, Vos said he was working in his popcorn factory Tuesday and will return to the Capitol Wednesday to sign the budget and get it to Walker. 

"I didn't say to (Walker), 'I'm not going to release the budget unless you do certain things.' I don't operate that way," Vos said in an interview. 

Rick Champagne, the chief and general counsel of the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau, said this situation may have arisen before but he doesn't recall any recent instance. 

"It's a normal practice that when the governor asks for (a bill), the Legislature will send it. However, it's not required by law," Champagne said. 

In 2011, Secretary of State Doug LaFollette sought to delay the effective date of Walker's collective bargaining repeal for most public workers by refusing to publish the bill. The difference then was that it was debatable whether LaFollette had the authority to do so, whereas Vos clearly does have that power. 

Vos hasn't been shy about voicing his displeasure about how the budget wrapped up, with Walker agreeing to make certain partial vetoes of the budget to win the votes of three conservative holdouts in the Senate. 

The speaker said he objects to having been "held hostage" by those senators when Republicans had already negotiated a budget deal the week before in the Joint Finance Committee. In a meeting late Monday, Vos said he told the governor that he doesn't see the vetoes as being very important but doesn't like the process that produced them. 

"When you change a process that's worked for 50 years and you do it because someone threatens you, I don't think that's good," Vos said. 

In the meeting, Vos said he also explained to Walker why Assembly Republicans had put certain provisions and language in the budget. The speaker didn't say what, if anything, Walker had promised in return. 

The budget vetoes from last week were sought by GOP Sens. Duey Stroebel of Saukville, Chris Kapenga of Delafield and Steve Nass of Whitewater. The partial vetoes would: 

• Tighten limits on when school referendums can be conducted.
• Repeal the ability of school districts to exceed their revenue limits for energy projects. 
• Allow the Department of Transportation to reallocate which projects get federal money, allowing it to avoid federal rules — and supporters say save money —  on some projects.
• Immediately repeal the prevailing wage law that is paid to those working on public infrastructure projects.
• Modify an overhaul of the state Transportation Projects Commission.

In addition, Walker agreed to strike out a provision that would have expanded the powers of a little known body called the Public Finance Authority that has quietly been helping local governments all over the country issue billions of dollars of bonds in recent years.