Earlier this month, members joined Senior Vice President for Legal and Public Affairs, Tom Larson, on an all-member call to discuss the impacts of the most recent State budget on Commercial Real Estate. Many engaged in the call and the conversation.
After a two-month delay in the state budget process, Wisconsin lawmakers finally wrapped up the 2017-19 state budget. Gov. Walker introduced the state budget in February, and the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee made a number of modifications to the budget before approving it in early September. In total, the budget consists of $76 billion in total spending over the biennium to fund over 50 state agencies, the state’s highway and transportation infrastructure, the University of Wisconsin system, K-12 schools, and much more. In addition to the money spent on state programs and services, the final budget adds $196 million to the state’s rainy day fund.
The WRA (Wisconsin REALTORS Association actively lobbied on various aspects of the state budget, which included a number of provisions affecting the real estate industry. While most of the WRA’s lobbying efforts were successful, Gov. Walker made a last-minute veto of some favorable provisions in the state’s historic rehabilitation program that will hurt the viability of the program. Click HERE to read more about the Wisconsin State Budget impact as published in the WRA Magazine.