WisPolitics Budget Blog

Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greendale, wasn't buying the projection that the Capitol Budget will result in 30,000 construction jobs.

Rob Cramer, secretary for the Building Commission, had explained earlier that the building plan creates 30 jobs per $1 million in spending.

Admitting he's "no mathmetician," Stone said, but his calculations show that amounts to about $33,000 per worker. Knowing what construction workers make, Stone said under Cramer's estimate "there wouldn't be anything left to build the building."

Cramer said the estimate includes a multiplier over the entire Capital Budget, and suggested all the jobs would not be full-time jobs.

Labels: Capital_Budget, Stone

Responding to Rep. Robin Vos' argument that the Capital Budget loads debt on future generation through borrowing, Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, said waiting will cost more in the long run.

Jauch used as an example the state Capitol renovation project. With Building Commission secretary Rob Cramer's help, he was able to estimate that the cost of restoring the Capitol building would have ballooned by a third if started today, from the estimated $160 million that was spent to an estimated $240 million if the project was undertaken now.

Jauch also argued that the building program could generate as many as 30,000 construction jobs.

Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbottsford, said he agreed with Jauch that the Capitol renovation was a good investment.

"You may want to frame that," Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson, quipped.

"Someone call a doctor I think I'm having a heart attack," Jauch said.

However, Suder added, while the projects are worthy, taxpayers cannot afford them, and the list must be prioritized.

Labels: Capital_Budget, Jauch, Suder

Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, said he was "shocked" by the amount of borrowing proposed in the Capital Budget.

While many of the projects seem worthwhile, he said, the question is "how much we can afford and how much is in the best interest of the state."

The budget includes funds for both building new structures and repair and maintenance of older state buildings, Vos said. He wondered why the state doesn't prioritize the repair and maintenance of existing buildings, and put off new structures until more funding is available.

Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, a member of the Building Commission, said there has to be a balance of the two concerns. For example, he cited the Dept. of Transportation facility at Hill Farms in Madison, where he said it has been determined that repairing the building would be more expensive than tearing it down and constructing a new one.

Labels: Capital_Budget, Hill Farms, Risser, Vos

The Joint Finance Committee's informational hearing on the 2007-09 state building program is underway. Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, is on hand to represent the committee.

He tells the committee that the plan before them was unanimously recommended by the state Building Commission, which consists of a bipartisan group of legislators, a citizen appointee and the governor.

See the LFB analysis of the Capital Budget: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lfb/2007-09budget/Governor/Building%20Commission%20Recommendations.pdf

Labels: Capital_Budget

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has finished its analysis of the $1.3 billion building budget. The report includes more details on the $50 million proposal for state agency conservation construction projects.

See the report:
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lfb/2007-09budget/Governor/Building%20Commission%20Recommendations.pdf

Read Assembly Speaker Huebsch's response:
http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=93313

Labels: Capital_Budget, Legislative Fiscal Bureau

UW System schools are some of the big winners in Gov. Jim Doyle's capital budget. Last week, the Doyle-run Building Commission approved a $1.2 billion capital budget for 2007-2009, including $460 million in general fund supported borrowing.

Two years ago, the Building Commission approved a $1 billion capital budget with borrowing of $430 million. The Joint Finance Committee later cut the borrowing down to $400 million.

GOP members of the commission balked at the amount of borrowing in the budget, perhaps signaling problems in the Republican-run Assembly.

Gov. Jim Doyle addressed Republican criticism after the meeting, saying overall the level of borrowing in the budget is down, particularly in transportation due to the completion of the Marquette Interchange project, which according to the DOT will wrap up in 2008.

"We're right in the range of where you should be," Doyle told reporters. "The consequences of doing some of the things that were talked about today like just drastically cutting maintenance ... talk about pushing it off on future generations."

The capital budget now moves to the Joint Finance Committee, where it will likely face more criticism about borrowing levels, and will be rolled into the full budget bill upon approval from the Legislature.

Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, a member of the JFC, said there are concerns over bonding and borrowing levels, and suggested some projects could be eliminated in committee.

"There are a number of important projects in the capital budget, however," he said. "What I think we're going to look at on the Joint Finance Committee is the ability to pay for those projects. It's a very aggressive capital budget, but there may be some projects we just are unable to afford."

Initial GPR debt service to revenues estimates put the load at 4.14 percent for fiscal year 2008, but Building Commission Secretary Rob Cramer provided a revised debt ratio schedule at the meeting that seemed to quiet the criticism for now. According to the revised estimates, the debt ratio will increase from 3.78 percent this fiscal year to 3.92 percent in FY08 and 3.93 percent in FY09, before falling back to 3.91 percent in FY10 and 3.85 percent in FY11.

See the memo:http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070319DebtRatio.pdf

Adjusted for inflation, all fund spending on the state building program has dropped 4.5 percent over the last two budgets, according to figures supplied by the Department of Administration. The DOA figures also show a 5 percent decline in general funds supported borrowing over the last two bienniums when the dollars are adjusted for inflation.

See charts on the capital budget spending trend:http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070323PurchasingPower.pdf

Click here to see the complete capital budget.

Labels: Capital_Budget, Doyle, Suder

The Building Commission approved a $1.2 billion capital budget for 2007-2009, including $460 million in general fund supported borrowing. Two years ago, the Building Commission approved a $1 billion capital budget with borrowing of $430 million. The Joint Finance Committee later cut the borrowing down to $400 million.

Click here to see the 2007-09 Capital Budget.

As was the case last week in the JFC, GOP members of the committee expressed concern about the level of borrowing in Gov. Jim Doyle's budget.

"I'm concerned about the debt load for the future," said Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah.

Sen. Ted Kanavas, R-Brookfield, said transfers from the Transportation Fund last budget are the culprit. He said constituents ask him "how much more they will be asked to do, and my answer is they truly can't do anymore."

Doyle countered that cuts to the capital budget delay necessary maintenance, and the delays end up costing more in the long run. He challenged the Republican legislators to list their cuts.

"I hope you're ready to vote on what projects you're going to cut in order to get that done," he said.

Rep. Phil Montgomery, R-Ashwaubenon, said the governor's veto pen could erase whatever changes the committee would make. "What assurances do we have that they won't be vetoed out of the budget?"

Doyle's response drew a laugh from those assembled. "Well, I'm not telling you what I'm going to veto and not veto, if that's what you're talking about," he said.

Speaking with reporters after the meeting, Doyle said the level of borrowing in the budget is down, particularly in transportation due to the completion of the Marquette Interchange project.

"We're right in the range of where you should be," Doyle said to reporters after the meeting. "The consequences of doing some of the things that were talked about today like just drastically cutting maintenance ... talk about pushing it off on future generations."

Click here to listen to Doyle's Q&A with reporters.

In Milwaukee yesterday, Doyle today touted $800,000 in state aid to revitalize the Pabst Brewery complex as the catalyst to help spur some $250 million in investment as he touted four grants for the Milwaukee area.

Doyle announced three other grants that will be in his capital budget: $3 million to move forward with a new engineering campus for UW-Milwaukee, $10 million for the Medical College of Wisconsin to go toward its translational research facility to purchase and house a new imaging scanner and $300,000 for the School of Public Health in Milwaukee. Doyle presented the $800,000 grant for brownfield cleanup at the Pabst site to the project's director, John Kersey, in the site's historic Blue Ribbon Hall.

Labels: Capital_Budget, Doyle