Few show up for start of first Wis. budget hearing

Only about 200 people have shown up for the start of a public hearing on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's budget plan that was moved to a university arena in anticipation of a much larger crowd.

The hearing is expected to last all day and more people could still show up at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point gymnasium to address the Legislature's finance committee.

The panel scheduled three public hearings on the Republican governor's two-year spending plan. It would drastically cut funding to public schools in order to avoid raising taxes.

The plan comes on the heels of Walker's contentious collective bargaining law. That law would require public workers to contribute more to their health care and pensions, and strip them of most of their union rights.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)