WisPolitics Budget Blog

Gov. Jim Doyle said today he does not support proposals to increase the gas tax. He also questioned a Dem lawmaker's proposal to eliminate exemptions under the state sales tax and shift funding for public schools off the property tax and onto the sales tax.

Doyle, speaking with reporters after a town hall meeting in Cudahy, noted that the automatic increase in the gas tax had just been eliminated.

"I don't think it's time to increase it," he said.

Doyle also said consumers ultimately pay for sales tax exemptions that are lifted. He said he'd be open to proposals to shift the burden off property taxpayers but he would like to see a guarantee that it would provide property tax relief.

"You end up just paying more sales tax and then over the next couple of years your property taxes continue to go up," Doyle said. "I obviously am not going to go along with anything like that."

Listen to audio of Doyle's remarks

GOP Rep. Kitty Rhoades of Hudson will co-chair the Joint Finance Committee, Assembly Speaker-elect Mike Huebsch announced this morning.

Rhoades downplayed the $1.6 billion gap between agency budget proposals and projected revenues, saying the requests are like "a Sears Christmas catalog" from the agencies and "not the cost to continue current levels of funding."

Rhoades told WisPolitics today that she expects the budget turned over by Gov. Jim Doyle to be policy free.

"We didn’t have policy in the last two budgets," the Hudson Republican said. "And I hope we have learned transparency in government is a good thing."

Despite the power split in the committee, which will consist of eight Democrats and eight Republicans, Rhoades thinks a conference committee can be avoided and she said she looks forward to working with Sen. Russ Decker, the Dem co-chair.

"I think that the people made it very clear that they expect all elected officials to come together and work together and get the job done," Rhoades said.

Other Assembly Republicans named to the panel are JFC veteran Dan Meyer of Eagle River, who will serve as vice-chair, and Jeff Stone of Greendale. Newcomers on the committee include Robin Vos of Racine, Scott Suder of Abbotsford and Steve Kestell of Elkhart Lake.

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser, D-Kenosha, yesterday reappointed Dem Reps. Pedro Colón of Milwaukee and Mark Pocan of Milwaukee to the committee.

See Huebsch's release: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=78019

Huebsch told WisPolitics this morning that his picks reflect a wide range of abilities and experience. He touted Rhoades' expertise on Medicare and Medicaid issues, Kestell's knowledge of education issues, and Suder and Vos' small business credentials.

The group will bring a "conservative perspective" to the budget-writing committee, he said.

Huebsch also doesn't expect the budget to be riddled with new spending. "The governor and Senate Democrats certainly respond to the same message we heard from people of the state, and that's that they're taxed too much," he said. "I think they are going to recognize we all have to be within a level people will be able to pay."

*See the Kestell release
*See the Rhoades release
*See the Stone release
*See the Suder release
*See the Vos release

Democratic Sens. Dave Hansen of Green Bay, Bob Jauch of Poplar, Mark Miller or Monona, Lena Taylor of Milwaukee and Sen.-elect John Lehman of Racine will serve alongside Senate co-chair Russ Decker of Weston on the Joint Finance Committee, Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson announced today.

In a press release, Robson said the appointments represented a cross-section of the state. "Together, they'll craft a fiscally responsible budget that reflects what's important to working families across this great state. Blue-collar employees in Milwaukee and Racine along with the mill workers in Green Bay and loggers up north will all have a voice in setting the state's spending priorities," Robson said.

*See Hansen release
*See Jauch release
*See Lehman release
*See Miller release
*See Robson release
*See Taylor release

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser, D-Kenosha, re-appointed Dem Reps. Mark Pocan of Madison and Pedro Colón of Milwaukee to the Joint Finance Committee.

See the release

Senate Minority Leader-elect Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, appointed GOP Sens. Alberta Darling of River Hills and Luther Olsen of New Berlin to serve on the Joint Finance Committee next session.

Darling has been on the committee since 2001 and served as co-chair from 2003 to 2005. Olsen was a member during the previous session.

The state faces a $1.6 billion deficit for the 2007-09 budget after agency requests outstripped expected revenue growth, according to a Department of Administration report released today.

DOA estimates revenue growth of 3.6 percent in the first year of the 2007-09 budget and 4 percent in the second year, producing new GPR of $1.42 billion. In August, DOA had predicted revenue growth of $1.9 billion for the biennium based on historical growth of 5 percent annually.

State budget director Dave Schmiedicke said revenue projections were lowered to account for new tax cuts that take effect over the biennium, including eliminating the state tax on Social Security income and the single factor sales apportionment for corporate income taxes.

The report does not include a rate increase to medical assistance providers, as well as increased costs for debt service, fuel and utilities, state employee compensation and fringe benefits, and UW faculty pay.

Schmiedicke said he could not estimate how much that would add to the state's deficit.

A spokesman for Gov. Jim Doyle said he would find a way to balance the budget through cuts while finding enough money to cover a series of proposals he made during the campaign, including new deductions for health insurance premiums and child care costs.

"We're still seeing the kind of revenue growth that will pay for the governor's priorities," Doyle spokesman Matt Canter said, adding it was premature to identify potential cuts.

"When the governor submits his budget in January, it will be a balanced budget."

*See the full DOA report
*See the DOA statement
*See the DOR statement

Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, who served as Joint Finance Committee co-chair during the last budget and was elected Senate minority leader last week, said in a statement the DOA "waited until after the election to confirm what everyone but the administration had admitted all along - four years of spending increases, raiding segregated funds and massive borrowing hasn't solved our fiscal problems"

Assembly Speaker-elect Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said in a statement that Republicans were willing to work with "to fix the deficit without raising taxes."

"As long as the needs of the taxpayers are the top priority this legislative session, there is no limit what we can accomplish together," he said.

*See the Huebsch statement
*See the Fitzgerald statement