Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) discussed the state budget on WKOW’s Capitol City Sunday with Greg Neumann this week.
Fitzgerald was asked how his caucus will prioritize any additional revenue after revised estimates are announced next week. He said the estimates are likely to be lower than hoped and the first priority is K-12 education, followed by the state’s transportation needs.
When asked about Governor Scott Walker’s proposed $300 million budget cut to UW System, Fitzgerald said he had less of a commitment to decrease the cut after the Board of Regents approved tuition increases on out-of-state and professional students earlier this month.
Despite the unpopularity of the proposed cut — one poll found seventy percent of the state opposed — Fitzgerald told Neumann that some legislators still have a bitter taste in their mouths after the budget surplus issue of the last biennium.