1000 Friends of Wisconsin

Transportation in the State Budget

A Primer on the Budget Process

Wisconsin’s budgets are developed on a biennial basis, once every two years. The process begins with state agencies developing proposed budgets, in this case the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which are submitted to the Governor’s administration. The Governor’s staff then revises and combines the agencies’ budgets into a single budget bill. In the early months of the odd-numbered years, the Governor unveils his budget and it is introduced into one of the houses of the legislature – in 2003 it was the State Senate.

The budget bill is then referred to the Joint Committee on Finance (JFC), which consists of an equal number of members from the Senate and Assembly. The JFC modifies the budget bill over a series of meetings, usually taking place over the course of between two and four months. After finishing with its hearings, the modified bill is return to the chamber in which it started. In 2003, the Senate debated the bill and amendments to it, and then voted to approve the bill. Following the Senate’s action, the House followed the same course and – if the two chambers pass the same bill – it is forwarded to the Governor’s desk for signing. (If the two chambers pass bills with different amendments, representatives from each meet to develop a compromise bill in conference committee.)

Once the legislature has passed the bill, the Governor has the option to sign it into law, veto it in its entirety, or line-item veto it. In Wisconsin, the Governor may line-item veto out words, phrases or even digits to rework the bill as he sees fit. After the Governor signs the bill, the legislature may try to override the Governor’s vetoes; however, such an action requires the votes of 2/3s of the members of eac