Great emphasis in the media is being placed on Wisconsin being the last state in the country without a budget. Little, if any attention has been focused on one of the key reasons why Wisconsin’s budget is late.
Passing a budget has been difficult in Wisconsin because we are swimming in red ink. All other states have beaten Wisconsin to the budget finish line because they have enjoyed higher-than-expected revenues, making the task of crafting and adopting a final budget much easier.
The handwriting was on the wall earlier this year as signs pointed to other states having far greater ability to hammer out budgets than Wisconsin. In Marc h, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) issued the results of a national survey showing that legislators in 42 states had unexpected funds to work with as they approached the end of their budgets for fiscal year 2007 and worked on their budgets for 2008.
"The current budget situation is giving states an important and much needed window of opportunity to restore and reinvest in state programs," said Texas Senator Leticia Van de Putte, NCSL's president. "More money to work with also means more ability to innovate. Arkansas, for example, will use additional funding to build a new cancer research center. Many states are putting more dollars into higher education. Some states are saving, and still others are providing tax relief."
Other states had many positive budget options because of higher-than expected revenues and stable spending needs. Stable is an adjective rarely used to describe spending in tax-hell Wisconsin.
Legislators in other states had to feel like kids in a candy store. Lawmakers outside of Wisconsin had the enviable job of determining how to use unexpected resources.
The NCSL reported,
“At least a dozen states are considering tax cuts. Alabama is looking at reducing sales and income taxes. Florida, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and Texas may provide property tax relief. New Mexico passed an earned income tax credit and North Carolina is considering one. Utah reduced business taxes.
Several states, including Arkansas, Vermont and Virginia, will fund one-time projects. Some states are putting additional dollars into their 2007 budgets to resolve overruns or support more programs.
Transportation projects and other capital expenditures are popular targets for extra revenues. Many states will reduce unfunded pension liabilities or will put money into state retiree health care.
At least nine states are stowing portions of their unexpected funds in rainy day or other savings accounts. Other states plan to carry extra revenues into 2008 to hedge against unforeseen circumstances or slowing revenue growth.”As I blogged this summer, “Over 40 states are ending legislative sessions with more money in the coffers than expected. Governors in 23 of those states have put together tax cuts. Wisconsin is not one of them. As other states fix roads and schools and build up slush funds, all we can do is watch with envy what is going on in states like Utah and Idaho.”
Here’s my June
blog comparing Wisconsin’s grim budget to other states.
Contrast these rosy budgets with what ahs happened here. While other states cut back their spending in the early part of this decade, Wisconsin kept spending and spending. The result is property tax relief has been approved in other states while in Wisconsin, Governor Doyle has proposed a budget with $1.75 billion in tax and fee increases. Not to be outdone, Senate Democrats have passed a budget with even more tax increases, featuring a government health care plan with an annual start-up cost of $15.2 billion.
Other states get tax relief. Wisconsin gets the largest tax increase in the history of America.
The current budget battle in Wisconsin is a classic example of how different the fiscal approaches are in each party. Republicans see deficits and out of control taxing and spending and call for restraint. Democrats pull out the Visa card.
The parties are billions of dollars apart. Because other states put on the spending brakes years ago while Wisconsin kept their drunken sailor uniforms on, the others have long finished their budget work, and are enjoying all sorts of benefits, including tax relief.
Wisconsin is late because it was much easier for other states to get the job done, and those other states can thank themselves for having the foresight to spend less and make conservative revenue estimates. Wisconsin did not, and that is why we are still at the budget table.
