Last Friday, our great state’s Joint Finance Committee approved a two-year budget plan that was completed in a marathon budgeting cram session the night before. The Committee worked until 5:30am Friday morning, and mostly behind closed doors. The plan includes tax increases, cuts in state aid, and much to the riled-up chagrin of Republican lawmakers, millions of dollars in pork-barrel spending for Democratic districts. All of this during Wisconsin’s Holy Crap Deficit Crisis.

In addition to measures like taxing oil companies, a higher cigarette tax, and the early release of prisoners, the plan details 29 pet projects for things like renovations to the Oshkosh Opera House ($500,000), an environmental park center by Madison ($500,000), Manitowoc Road repairs in Bellevue ($1.25 million), renovations to a stone barn in Oconto County ($100,000), and a handful of items in the $5 million+ range.

The largest item is close to home: a University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire “education building” for $44.5 million, mostly in bonds. Other local projects include a shooting range near Eau Claire ($50,000), highway repair in Chippewa County ($430,000), and a $125,000 grant towards the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library remodeling project.

The state Assembly will check out the budget around June 9, and then it’s on to the Senate and Governor Doyle. Check out JSOnline for some detailed coverage and a sweet little Google map showing the specific destinations of all that porky goodness.