UPDATED Friday, February 18, 2011 --- 5:40 p.m.

From the Governor's Office:
Budget Address to Joint Session of Legislature Rescheduled to March 1st

Madison – Today, Governor Walker’s office announced that the Governor’s Budget Address to the Joint Session of the Wisconsin Legislature has been rescheduled. Details for the rescheduled budget address are below:

Budget Address to Joint Session of Wisconsin Legislature
When: Tuesday, March 1st
Where: Wisconsin State Assembly
Capitol, Madison, WI

Governor Walker’s spokesperson, Cullen Werwie, released the following statement:

Wisconsin is facing a $136.7 million deficit in the current fiscal year. The importance of passing this budget repair bill for Wisconsin’s fiscal health cannot be overstated. It is for this reason that Governor Walker’s budget address has been rescheduled for March 1.

Note that the event that was to be held on February 22 at Vita Plus is cancelled.

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UPDATED Friday, February 18, 2011 --- 2:05 p.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is pushing back the release of the state's two-year budget by a week.

Walker had planned to release it on Tuesday. Instead, he will still deliver a budget speech on Tuesday but he won't actually release the budget itself for another week.

The state Senate met briefly on Friday to approve a resolution that grants the delay to Walker. No Democrats were present when the action was taken.

Democrats left town on Thursday in protest over a Walker proposal to strip collective bargaining rights from nearly all public workers. They were still absent on Friday, hoping that their action would force Republicans to make concessions on the bill.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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UPDATED Tuesday, February 15, 2011 --- 7:05 p.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's plan to have the Legislature meet outside of the Capitol may not be legal.

Walker said Tuesday he planned to announce details of his state budget plan on Feb. 22 before a joint session of the Legislature at animal feed manufacturer Vita Plus in Madison.

But one of the Legislature's attorneys says in a memo that unless there is an emergency, state law requires the Legislature to meet in the Capitol building.

The Wisconsin Legislative Council memo says circumstances do not currently exist that allow for convening the Legislature outside of the Capitol building.

For decades Wisconsin governors have delivered their budgets at a joint session of the Legislature in the Assembly chamber. Walker says he wanted to do it at a business instead.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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Posted Tuesday, February 15, 2011 --- 10:25 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is breaking with tradition and releasing his two-year state budget at a private Madison business outside the Capitol.

Walker announced Tuesday that he will deliver his budget on Feb. 22 at Vita Plus, an animal feed manufacturer.

For decades Wisconsin governors have delivered their budgets at a joint session of the Legislature in the Assembly chamber.

Walker says he is releasing his budget outside the Capitol to highlight the promise of his administration to create 250,000 jobs over four years.

Walker is proposing taking away collective bargaining rights for nearly all public employees in a separate budget bill he wants the Legislature to pass this week. Republican leaders in the Senate and Assembly say there are enough votes to pass his plan.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.