Speaker Huebsch Says There's a Great Amount of Policy in Doyle's Budget
Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said Dem Gov. Jim Doyle is trying to implement a "great amount of policy" in his latest proposal - much more than his previous budgets.
Huebsch said nobody was surprised that Doyle proposed eliminating the QEO in his latest budget. Members of his caucus keep finding new policy items in the budget, Huebsch said, including a provision one that would expand the Department of Justice's ability to sue individuals.
Doyle spokesman Matt Canter said Doyle has put substantially less policy in the budget than previous administrations.
"What is there is good, and the governor deems (it) important," Canter said.
Huebsch also said his biggest concern with Doyle's budget is the "innumerable tax increases" and called the reliance on federal Medicare and Medicaid funds "mediscam." Huebsch cited concerns with the long-term problems the state budget could encounter with the use of one-time funds and proposed transfers from segregated funds.
Huebsch also said today that he hopes the Assembly and Senate can push through the budget repair bill for this fiscal biennium before the Joint Committee on Finance goes into executive session for the 2007-09 budget, which would probably be around mid-April.
Listen to the audio from Huebsch's meeting with reporters here
Labels: Doyle, Huebsch, Policy in Budget
