Your Deficit-Cutting Governor Shows His True Colors - Red, Red and More Red
Lasee’s Notes
Last week I explained that Wisconsin has a budget deficit of $2.15 billion using honest accounting standards. To get out from under this deficit, state government has to go on a diet. Instead of cutting out trans fats and calories, this diet requires $430 million less in each of the next five biennial budgets (ten years) to get back to a positive balance in the budget using honest accounting standards.
Considering the critical need to get the state’s financial house in order, what do the Governor’s state agencies do when they submit their budget requests? Do they take a hard look at their budget and see where they can trim to contribute to the overall fiscal health of the state? Do they come up with a comprehensive plan to cut this deficit? No.
Unfortunately, state agencies submitted proposals that read like the state has a two billion dollar budget surplus instead of a deficit. The combined agency wish list adds $1.6 billion in new state spending on top of anticipated new tax dollars when we are already two billion dollars in the red.
The agency heads tell us that the $1.6 billion in new spending is a wish list and not what they expect to get. The fundamental problem with that approach (asking for more than you expect to get) is that the agencies obviously expect to increase their spending in this budget. None of them are talking about how to cut spending or eliminate our budget deficit. This is not surprising, since the agencies are in the business of spending tax dollars, not conserving them.
According to the Governor’s inaugural speech. He intends to expand BadgerCare’s free, government-provided health insurance (Medicaid) to every child in the state. He claims he can add a huge number of new users to the state’s Medicaid rolls without increasing costs. You and I know that huge expansions to state programs cost money. Lots of money. It is hard to cut a deficit when you are adding spending.
Another of the Governor’s priorities is greatly increasing funding for education. This is not a surprise since 80 percent of the cost of education is union employees. WEAC, the state teacher’s union, is one of the Governor’s biggest campaign supporters.
The Governor is also proposing, and I support, a tax deduction on health insurance premiums. This means a $50 million savings for premium-paying taxpayers, and $50 million less coming into the state.
Requiring honest budgeting in state government, would be a good start to get Wisconsin back on track. It does not cut spending, but it makes it a lot harder for legislators and the Governor to sign bills that increase spending when the taxpayers know we are already in the red.
In Fiscal Year 2005, Wisconsin was one of only three states carrying a GAAP deficit and our deficit was the largest of any state by a wide margin. This is one of the reasons we have one of the worst bond ratings in the nation (which means it costs Wisconsin more to borrow money than it costs other states). Wisconsin should be working to regain our tarnished reputation for clean and honest government. Requiring honest budgeting and admitting that we have a deficit problem would be the first step toward solving the problem and rehabilitating our reputation.
The bottom line? The state is broke and this Governor is not helping it get better. Taxes are high and getting higher; what is this Governor doing to help the situation? He proposes increases in funding and new programs.
Running up deficit after deficit is not going to help citizens, taxpayers or businesses in Wisconsin. Hopefully, the deficit-cutting Governor (self-proclaimed) will re-appear before the budget address and not wait for the next re-election campaign.
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Lasee’s Notes is a weekly column by Representative Frank Lasee, 2nd Assembly District, covering events in the Legislature and statewide.
Last week I explained that Wisconsin has a budget deficit of $2.15 billion using honest accounting standards. To get out from under this deficit, state government has to go on a diet. Instead of cutting out trans fats and calories, this diet requires $430 million less in each of the next five biennial budgets (ten years) to get back to a positive balance in the budget using honest accounting standards.
Considering the critical need to get the state’s financial house in order, what do the Governor’s state agencies do when they submit their budget requests? Do they take a hard look at their budget and see where they can trim to contribute to the overall fiscal health of the state? Do they come up with a comprehensive plan to cut this deficit? No.
Unfortunately, state agencies submitted proposals that read like the state has a two billion dollar budget surplus instead of a deficit. The combined agency wish list adds $1.6 billion in new state spending on top of anticipated new tax dollars when we are already two billion dollars in the red.
The agency heads tell us that the $1.6 billion in new spending is a wish list and not what they expect to get. The fundamental problem with that approach (asking for more than you expect to get) is that the agencies obviously expect to increase their spending in this budget. None of them are talking about how to cut spending or eliminate our budget deficit. This is not surprising, since the agencies are in the business of spending tax dollars, not conserving them.
According to the Governor’s inaugural speech. He intends to expand BadgerCare’s free, government-provided health insurance (Medicaid) to every child in the state. He claims he can add a huge number of new users to the state’s Medicaid rolls without increasing costs. You and I know that huge expansions to state programs cost money. Lots of money. It is hard to cut a deficit when you are adding spending.
Another of the Governor’s priorities is greatly increasing funding for education. This is not a surprise since 80 percent of the cost of education is union employees. WEAC, the state teacher’s union, is one of the Governor’s biggest campaign supporters.
The Governor is also proposing, and I support, a tax deduction on health insurance premiums. This means a $50 million savings for premium-paying taxpayers, and $50 million less coming into the state.
Requiring honest budgeting in state government, would be a good start to get Wisconsin back on track. It does not cut spending, but it makes it a lot harder for legislators and the Governor to sign bills that increase spending when the taxpayers know we are already in the red.
In Fiscal Year 2005, Wisconsin was one of only three states carrying a GAAP deficit and our deficit was the largest of any state by a wide margin. This is one of the reasons we have one of the worst bond ratings in the nation (which means it costs Wisconsin more to borrow money than it costs other states). Wisconsin should be working to regain our tarnished reputation for clean and honest government. Requiring honest budgeting and admitting that we have a deficit problem would be the first step toward solving the problem and rehabilitating our reputation.
The bottom line? The state is broke and this Governor is not helping it get better. Taxes are high and getting higher; what is this Governor doing to help the situation? He proposes increases in funding and new programs.
Running up deficit after deficit is not going to help citizens, taxpayers or businesses in Wisconsin. Hopefully, the deficit-cutting Governor (self-proclaimed) will re-appear before the budget address and not wait for the next re-election campaign.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lasee’s Notes is a weekly column by Representative Frank Lasee, 2nd Assembly District, covering events in the Legislature and statewide.
posted by John Q Cheesehead | 3:46 AM
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