Wisconsin Senate GOP leader wants to restore education cuts

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Friday that his fellow Republican senators want to restore much or all of the $127 million that Gov. Scott Walker has proposed cutting from public schools in the first year of his budget plan.

Speaking at Marquette Law School, the Juneau Republican said the precise amount will depend on updated revenue projections that will be issued in the next few weeks. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported (http://bit.ly/1OkBfXC ) that Fitzgerald was optimistic that the new revenue estimates will be higher than current estimates.

"If there is enough revenue, I think there is a real commitment to do that," Fitzgerald told reporters afterward. "There is definitely a commitment to take care of K-12 education."

Fitzgerald also said GOP senators want to increase K-12 per-pupil spending in the second year of the budget but declined to specify how much because of uncertainty about the upcoming revenue estimates.

While Republicans control the Senate and Assembly, they've differed at times with the GOP governor on spending priorities.

Restoring the K-12 cuts may mean there would be less money available to prevent some of the $300 million in reductions Walker is seeking from the University of Wisconsin System over the next two years.

Fitzgerald was more guarded about whether lawmakers would restore any funding to the UW system. He said they've always had a "love-hate relationship" with the system and the independent board of regents that governs it.

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Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com

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