Highlights of Wisconsin budget up for final committee vote

Money to pay for voucher students would now come out of public school aid.

The state would also seek a waiver from the federal government to allow for schools to choose between three and five standardized tests to measure student performance.

— Home-schooled students, and those attending private, virtual or charter schools, would be able to play sports and participate in extracurricular activities at their local public school.

— Wisconsin would be the first state in the country to allow anyone with relevant experience, including high school dropouts, to be licensed to teach non-core academic subjects in grades six through 12.

The decision on whether to hire someone with the alternative certification would be up to the school district, including private schools that accept voucher students and independent charter schools.

— Several tax changes are in the offing, including increasing the standard deduction for married couples filing jointly by $550, delaying the full phase-in of an income tax credit benefiting manufacturers and farmers, reducing the alternative minimum tax, allowing teachers to deduct up to $250 a year for classroom expenses, and reducing taxes on hard cider.

— Family Care and IRIS, programs that strive to keep elderly people and those with disabilities out of nursing homes, could be reshaped in a way that would allow for-profit managed care organizations to enter Wisconsin's market and compete with networks of nonprofit groups that currently provide long-term care and ordinary medical care.

— Recipients of public aid programs like food stamps and unemployment benefits would have to undergo screenings for drug use that could subject them to drug tests later.

— The university system's budget would be cut by $250 million, it would be easier to fire tenured faculty, and faculty would have less of a role in making decisions under a weakening of the shared governance principle that national higher education experts say would make Wisconsin unique.

— Businesses looking for a state-backed loan from a regional development organization will have to keep searching for other pots of money.

The committee made the move after a series of audits found WEDC has failed to track past-due loans, failed to follow state contract law and hasn't demanded proof from grant and loan recipients that they've created jobs.