Gov. Scott Walker says he and Republicans who control the Legislature have reached a deal "in principle" over transportation funding and other issues to end an impasse that's held up passage of the state budget.
Walker said Tuesday that the deal does not include any gas tax or vehicle registration fee increases. He also says there will be a reduction in the personal property tax favored by the state's business community, but not a full repeal.
The co-chair of the Legislature's budget-writing committee says the framework of the deal would include a new fee on electric vehicles amount to about $100 a year and include around $400 million in additional borrowing to pay for roads.
Rep. Jon Nygren said Tuesday that details of the agreement were still being worked out. He says one area that remains unresolved is how much to loosen the income eligibility cut-off to participate in the statewide private school voucher program.
Walker says the tentative deal should be approved by the Legislature's budget committee sometime in the next two weeks and clear the Legislature by mid-September. Nygren says he agrees with that timeline.
Nygren says the deal would cut the personal property tax paid by businesses by about $73 million, but not eliminate it.
Walker says the budget deal will move through the Legislature concurrently with a bill extending $3 billion in tax incentives for electronics manufacturer Foxconn.
