WisPolitics Budget Blog

Gov. Jim Doyle tonight proposed offering health insurance to 98 percent of Wisconsinites through an expansion of BadgerCare that would provide all state parents the opportunity to purchase coverage for their children and extend coverage to some 71,000 low-income adults who don't have kids.

"If - in your heart - you believe no child, no worker, no family should go without health coverage ... if you believe the cost of inaction - in lives and dollars - is both immoral and unacceptable," Doyle said. "If - as Democrats, Republicans, Wisconsinites - you take this bold step forward ... here is what you will achieve:

"At least 98 percent of our people will have access to health care coverage -- more than any other state in the nation. More than any other state in the nation.''

Under the proposal, parents would be allowed to purchase coverage for as low as $10 a month, and Doyle promised no family would be denied coverage for their children because their incomes go up.

He also would allow individuals making about $20,000 a year and pregnant mothers making up to $30,000 to receive coverage through the program, which to date has been reserved for children and their parents.

But while Doyle drew standing ovations when he said there should be "quality health care affordable to all" and that politicians should unite to "make Wisconsin America's leader in health care," Doyle's plan to fund the additional health care programs and his effort to snuff out smoking drew a very mixed reaction from legislators who will pass judgment on Doyle's proposed $1.25-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax and his proposed statewide smoking ban.

Only a handful of Republicans stood to cheer when Doyle discussed the discussion of BadgerCare, the key to his plan. His cigarette tax increase plan drew a mixed reaction from his fellow Dems with only two GOP lawmakers standing to show their support -Sen. Carol Roessler of Oshkosh and Rep. J.A. "Doc" Hines of Oxford. Hines authored legislation in the last session to increase the tax, but it went nowhere.

Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-New Salem, questioned Doyle's approach to expand health care coverage through a government program. Huebsch said lawmakers on both sides of the aisle share the same goal of making health care affordable, but he questioned a plan that essentially tells consumers "while you can't afford yours, you're also going to have to pay for others."

"We can't continue to promise so much through government, under fund those programs and not expect health care costs to go up," Huebsch said.

See the rest of the story on the State of the State address: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=87756

See WisPolitics full coverage of the State of the State, including text of the governor's speech, and video interviews with key lawmakers: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=87712

Labels: State of the State

Shortfalls in four areas will likely wiple out the additional $40.7 million in tax revenue the state is expected to collect through June 30 and whittle down the state's gross balance to just more than $10 million, according to a report released by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau today.

LFB's revenue projections largely mirror those releaed by the Department of Administration in November, including an expected $1.2 billion in revenue growth for the biennium that leaves the state $1.6 billion short of meeting all of the spending requests by state agencies.

But LFB also found shortfalls in the Public Defender's Office, BadgerCare, Corrections, and W-2, child care and related programs of $99.3 million through June 30. LFB director Bob Lange said fixing those deficts would eat up most of the projected gross balance of $110.7 million for the fiscal year.

He said those shortfalls need to be dealt with before the fiscal year ends.

"The public defender is going to run out of money very soon," he said.

Republicans seized on the LFB projections to insist the state will have enough money to balance the budget without raising taxes.

"Assembly Republicans are committed to balancing the budget, providing more funding for public education than ever before and taking care of those who can’t take of themselves – all without asking taxpayers for more of their money," said Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem.

Some Republicans have been critical of Gov. Jim Doyle's proposal to raise the cigarette tax by $1.25 a pack and dedicate the almost $500 million it would bring in over the biennium for health care programs.

A Doyle spokesman this afternoon said the governor was still digesting the numbers and had no immediate comment.

LFB's projections for the three-year period ending June 30, 2009, are within $12.8 million of the estimates DOA released in November. LFB projected $51.7 million more in tax collections for 2006-07, $400,000 less in 2007-08 and $64.1 million less for 2008-09.

But those numbers come with one caveat: LFB did not factor in the potential costs of an appeals court decision last week that a custom software program Menasha Corp. purchased was not subject to the state sales tax.

LFB estimates the fiscal impact of that decision could be $277 million in 2007-09 with lost revenue of up to $30 million a year going forward. Lang said it was difficult to project the exact impact because it is not yet known whether the state will appeal the decision and how many companies may apply for a refund on tax revenue they paid in similar cases.

Carrie Lynch, spokeswoman for JFC co-chair Sen. Russ Decker, said "while there's some short-term good news, there's still a lot of work to be done in the future."

*See Huebsch statement:http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=87709
*See Rhoades statement:http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070130RhoadesFiscal.pdf

Gov. Doyle's proposed cigarette tax increase, if implemented, would make Wisconsin's tax the fourth highest in the country.

The current cigarette tax of 77 cents a pack ranks 30th in the country, according to a tally by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Doyle's proposal to increase the tax by $1.25 per pack would put Wisconsin's tax at $2.02, just behind the $2.025 that Washington state charges.

New Jersey has the highest tax at $2.58. The organization found the average state tax was $1 a pack.

The proposed tax would vault Wisconsin over its neighboring states in the national rankings. Michigan currently has the fourth-highest tax at $2.00 per pack, while Minnesota ranks 15th at $1.493 per pack.

Illinois' tax of 98 cents a pack ranks 23rd nationally, although Chicago has the nation's highest combined state-local tax rate at $3.66. Iowa ranks 42nd at 36 cents per pack.

See the rankings:
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0097.pdf