Highlights of Wisconsin budget signed by governor

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker signed the $73 billion state budget into law Sunday, a day ahead of announcing his bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Here are some ways the budget could affect Wisconsin residents:

SCHOOLS

— Public school funding: It won't be cut by $127 million as Walker proposed, but there won't be much more money. Funding will be flat the first year of the budget and go up by about $69 million in the second year, but schools aren't being given the authority to increase spending. That means if a district does get more aid, it will have to divert it to lowering property taxes unless voters approve a special referendum.

— Vouchers: More students who meet income qualifications will be able to attend private voucher schools because the current 1,000-student statewide enrollment cap changes to no more than 1 percent of a district's total students. That will increase 1 percentage point a year for 10 years until there is no cap. Money to pay for voucher students will come out of public school aid. Also, students with disabilities who are denied open enrollment in another public school district will be able to use a voucher for private schools.

— School Ratings: A new five-star system will have no sanctions for poor performers. Federal law currently requires schools to take the same standardized test, but Wisconsin will seek a waiver to allow for schools to choose between three and five standardized tests to measure performance.

— Civics test: Starting in the 2016 school year, high school students will have to correctly answer at least 60 of the 100 questions on a civics exam before graduation. They could retake the test until they pass.

— Sports: Home-schooled students will be able to play sports and participate in extracurricular activities at their local public school.

— Milwaukee schools: The worst-performing Milwaukee Public Schools could be converted into independent charter or private voucher schools under control of a commissioner appointed by the county executive.

TRANSPORTATION

— The state will borrow $850 million for road projects, down from Walker's $1.3 billion proposal. That will mean delays in major highway projects and resurfacing and reconstruction work.

TAXES

— The budget makes a number of changes to state taxes, including increasing the standard deduction for married couples filing jointly by $550, delaying the full phase-in of an income tax credit benefiting manufacturers and farmers, reducing the alternative minimum tax, allowing teachers to deduct up to $250 a year for classroom expenses and reducing taxes on hard cider. Property taxes will be held basically flat, and there are no increases in sales or income taxes.

PREVAILING WAGE

— The law that sets a minimum salary for construction workers on public projects like road building and schools will be repealed for local governments but remain for state projects.

LONG-TERM CARE

— Family Care and IRIS programs that strive to keep elderly people and those with disabilities out of nursing homes could be reshaped under budget provisions to allow for-profit managed care organizations to compete with networks of nonprofit groups that currently provide long-term care and ordinary medical care if the state gets federal approval.

DRUG TESTS

— Recipients of public aid programs such as food stamps and unemployment benefits will have to undergo initial screenings for drug use and could be subjected to drug tests later.

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

— The university system's budget will be cut by $250 million and make it easier to fire tenured faculty. Also, faculty will have less of a role in making decisions. In-state tuition will be frozen over the next two years.

NATURAL RESOURCES

— Fees for Wisconsin state parks will go up by $3 for annual admission and by $1 for daily admission. Camping fees for residents will increase $3 to $5 per night depending on a site's popularity; out-of-staters will pay an extra $5 to $8. The cost of an annual trail pass will go up $5. The fee increases will help offset the end of tax support for state parks.

— There may be more places to backpack, ski or snowshoe. The budget committee authorized the state's stewardship program to borrow $9 million per year for land acquisition. That's down dramatically from $19.3 million next year and $22.2 million in each of the following fiscal years through 2020, however.

— The budget cuts 17.5 researcher positions from the Department of Natural Resources' Sciences Services Bureau, which has worked on issues such as pollution and mining. The bureau will have 12.85 researcher positions left.

—About half-a-dozen nonprofit conservation organizations won't get about $1 million in grants after the governor vetoed the money out of the budget.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

— Republicans eliminated Walker's plan to provide $55 million in Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. grants to regional groups for loans to businesses after a series of audits found WEDC has failed to track past-due loans, failed to follow state contract law and hasn't demanded proof from grant and loan recipients that they've created jobs.

PRISONS

— Prison towers will stand empty during the night, as 60 third-shift tower guard positions across 10 prisons will be eliminated, saving nearly $6 million. Those employees will be moved into other vacancies.

OIL PIPELINE

— Counties couldn't force companies that are building oil pipelines to purchase additional insurance, a provision that will help Canada-based Enbridge Energy finish work on an expansion that has been held up for months in Dane County.

SEVEN-DAY WORK WEEK

—Factory and retail employees will be allowed to volunteer to work seven straight days, a change from current state law that says those workers must get at least 24 consecutive hours of rest for every seven-day stretch.

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