The Good, Bad & Ugly in the Budget

Wisconsin State Journal Editorial Page (this link will go away soon as the WSJ takes them down...):

State lawmakers once again faced a tough job with few easy answers when Gov. Jim Doyle handed them his state budget request four months ago.

Credit the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee for resisting a borrowing binge and for slapping Doyle's hand when he reached for pots of money he shouldn't touch.

The committee, led by Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, and Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R- Juneau, reversed about half of Doyle's raid of highway dollars and stopped him from looting an account that pays for medical malpractice claims. Money for those programs comes from fees and taxes that users pay with the understanding those dollars won't be diverted.

The committee also stopped Doyle from borrowing money based on the future collection of excise taxes. Instead, the committee paid for medical care for the poor, elderly and disabled with real dollars.

That's the good part, along with the committee's empathy for the beleaguered property taxpayer.

But let's remember how the state's finances got screwed up to begin with. State leaders patched gaping holes in past budgets using one-time money that's now gone. They also backloaded past budgets to push higher costs - both for expensive new programs and tax cuts - into the future.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at June 12, 2005 6:35 AM
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