Doyle warns of possible government shutdown
Gov. Jim Doyle said a partial government shutdown "may well be necessary" if lawmakers can't reach a deal on the budget during a press conference this afternoon in his office at the State Capitol.
"And until Assembly members, Republican Assembly legislators do their job, the threat of a government shutdown remains very real," Doyle said.
Doyle refused to give details of a possible shutdown, including what departments or services would be affected. But he has spoken with his cabinet about the possiblity and is working "day and night" on how to deal with it.
"I don't want to be scaring people unnecessarily," Doyle explained.
Doyle said a possible shutdown would occur in the "next month or two" without a budget deal. Pressed for details, Doyle would only say he would not totally shutdown the prison system. He instead laid out what he said were the possible impacts of no budget deal.
Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, called the governor's warning a "doomsday scenario" and said the government doesn't need to shutdown without a new budget.
Huebsch said that the state can continue to operate under last biennium's budget and Wisconsin taxpayers will have a "healthy skepticism" if Doyle orders a partial government shutdown, should a new budget continue to be delayed.
"Taxpayers are going to be asking 'Where are you spending my money? We're the eighth highest taxed state in the country,'" Huebsch said.
Huebsch did say that he believes a budget will be passed.
Huebsch said Doyle did tell him that he would be briefed in the upcoming days about the governor's plan to break the budget impasse. But Huebsch said Doyle did not tell him about a partial government shutdown.
Check the PM Update for audio from Doyle's news conference.
