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Wis. Supreme Court budget concerns only partly answered

By: Dan Shaw, [email protected]//May 30, 2013//

Wis. Supreme Court budget concerns only partly answered

By: Dan Shaw, [email protected]//May 30, 2013//

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Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson

The chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court received only partial satisfaction Wednesday in response to her concern that a technical matter would cost the court millions of dollars over the next two years.

Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson told lawmakers in March that Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed 2013-15 budget would impose a “double reduction” that would end up costing the court about $10.3 million.

In 2011, state employees were required to begin paying a portion of their retirement and health insurance premiums, which saved the state money. Most state agencies’ budgets were reduced accordingly, but the Supreme Court’s was not.

When the mistake was noticed, the court was told it had to return $10.3 million to the state by June 30 of this year, the end of the current budget session. That request was promptly fulfilled, Abrahamson said.

Now, though, the court’s proposed 2013-15 budget is calling for the same transfer of $10.3 million, even though that budget correctly reflects the decline in state employee benefit costs. Paying the transfer will lead to the double reduction, she said.

Instead of completely eliminating that transfer, though, members of the Joint Finance Committee voted Wednesday to reduce it by about $5.2 million. That proposal is now incorporated in the draft 2013-15 budget, which still must be passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor to go into effect.

In March, Abrahamson said the double reduction would be the result of a mistake in the state’s current budget.

Abrahamson did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. Instead, her spokesman issued a statement:

“As an independent branch of government, the court system’s responsibilities are great, but our budget is less than 1 percent of all  state general-fund spending,” according to a statement attributed to Abrahamson. “It is disappointing that the Joint Committee on Finance voted to only partially address the double-cut applied to the court system as outlined by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. I hope the full Legislature will appreciate the detrimental effects the committee’s action will have on people and businesses who rely on courts in local communities throughout the state.”

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