WisPolitics Budget Blog

Though Gov. Jim Doyle did exactly what GOP legislators warned would force them to override his veto, he didn't sound especially concerned by the prospect of being contradicted.

"I'm pretty confident if they try there won't be any success to override efforts," the Dem governor said today after announcing his vetoes of the budget repair bill.

Despite the admnitions of legislators, Doyle reduced spending on transportation by about $100 million with his veto pen. He also vetoed a provision in the legislative bill to push off $125 million in school aid payments into the next biennium.

"You can not repair a budget by refusing to pay your bills," Doyle said, adding that the manueuver would have "led to very, very sharp cuts in education in the next budget."

Even with his cuts, Doyle said spending on road projects will actually increase over what was approved in the biennial budget adopted last fall. The Legislature's plan wold have spent an additional $180 million on transportation in addition the $350 million added to the fund in the biennial budget bill.

"It's difficult to see how you address a budget repair bill ... by spending an additional $180 million" on transportation, he said.

The vetoes will not have an impact on the schedule of road projects approved in the budget last fall, Doyle said.

Doyle said his vetoes will implement $270 million in lapses to state programs. The Legislature's bill included $69 million in lapses.

He said the lapses will "delay programs we all agree are worthwhile," citing reductions to the Energy Independece Fund. The $15 million appropriated for grants will be reduced to $10 million, he said.

"It's easier to start at places receiving increases in the next year and you just sort of shave those increases back," he said.

Doyle said the spending reductions will also be aided by new state contracts. He thanked state employees, who he said "have done their share" by negotiating contracts that delay some pay increases while also increasing the amount they pay for health care coverage.

He said the cuts will not come from shared revenues to local municipalities or school aid payments.

Doyle said the the legislative plan "went too far in taking money from the tobacco settlement fund." Instead of the $209 million in tobacco bonding in the legislative budget, Doyle said he will look to scale that amount back to $150 million when the bonds go back to the market. The legislative plan had the state selling bonds for the rights to tobacco settlement funds over the next dozen years. Doyle said his plan may reduce the number of years that will be bonded, but said the deal will depend on market forces.

The governor also vetoed a provision to take $22 million allocated for the implementation of the federally-mandated Real ID program. Doyle's plan takes $2 million from that pot, leaving $20 million.

Doyle called the Real ID mandate "federal arrogance at its height" because it demanded the states to pay for the program, but he said state residents could suffer "serious consequences" if it is not implemented, such as not being able to get on airplanes.

Also vetoed was the controversial "Columbus Park fix" that would exempted some low income housing from state taxes. Doyle it was a "very difficult and complicated issue" that "shouldn't be in a budget bill much less a budget repair bill." He said the proposal wouuld need a full debate in the Legislature before becoming law.

Doyle reminded reporters that the document is "a budget repair bill, not a budget bill." Soon he will be sending out directions to state agencies for the next biennial budget, and the process can begin again.

Listen to Doyle's address on his vetoes here.

Listen to Doyle's Q&A with reporters here.

Labels: Budget_Repair_Bill, Doyle, Veto

Before announcing his vetoes, Gov. Jim Doyle took time to make it clear that he will pursue the hospital assessment in the next budget.

He said Republican opponents of the plan are "boxed in by their own rhetoric," and that the assessment "would have helped tremendously" to plug the budget deficit.

He chided those who call the plan a "hospital tax," saying that the method is used by many other states to capture more federal dollars for the reimbursement of hospitals who treat medical assistance patients. The federal government sets up the parameters of the program as "economic incentives" that "reward" states with more funding.

"I am committed to getting this plan in the next state budget," he said.

Labels: Doyle, Hospital_Assessment

Gov. Jim Doyle will announce his vetoes to the budget repair bill at 10 a.m. tomorrow in the Governor's Conference Room in the state Capitol.

Doyle has repeatedly expressed his displeasure with two key provisions of the Legislature's budget repair compromise - -- the $209 million in bonding from the tobacco settlement, and the shift of $125 million in aids to local school districts.

Republicans in both legislative houses have warned that any attempt by the governor to access transportation funds to close the projected $525 million budget deficit will lead to an override vote.

"We'll be back if (Doyle) touches transportation," Assembly Majority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald

Doyle had proposed transferring $257 million from the transportation fund and backfilling the borrowing with bonds to help plug the budget hole. That move was rejected by legislators in favor of tobacco securitization and the school funding shift.

An override attempt would have to begin in the Republican-controlled Assembly. An override would need approval from two-thirds of the 99-member house to move to the Senate. Republicans control the chamber 52-47. One Republican member, Rep. Mark Gundrum, is currently deployed overseas.

Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, said Tuesday he's not thinking much about an override until the Assembly takes action.

"I'd be very surprised if the Assembly was able to muster the votes to override anything," he said.

Listen to Doyle's comments today on the budget bill here.

Labels: Budget_Repair_Bill, Doyle, Veto

Gov. Jim Doyle this morning again expressed concerns with some provisions in the budget repair bill passed by the Legislature this week, and said he will work quickly to put his mark on the document.

"You'll see my vetoes very quickly here," the governor promised, though he said he had not formally received the bill.

"I'm working on this really hard right now ... This isn't a big budget bill. This is a correction, and I'm hoping in the next day or two we're going to be able to announce them and move on."

Doyle reiterated his biggest problems with the repair bill - the $209 million in boding from the tobacco settlement, and the shift of $125 million from aids to local school districts.

He also said he's concerned with the provision to move $22 million to implement the Real ID program into the general fund. He had proposed shifting $5 million in his budget plan.

"I think that creates a real problem for us," Doyle said of the Legislature's maneuver.

He said there are legitimate concerns with the federally mandated program, but added, "I can't allow us to get in a situation where Wisconsin citizens can't get on airplane because our drivers licenses aren't new. So I have to live in the real world, and the real world means we're going to have to take some steps forward."

Listen to Doyle's comments here.

Labels: Budget_Repair_Bill, Doyle

Saying he still has "plenty" of veto powers left despite the April 1 voter referendum to curb them, Gov. Jim Doyle said this afternoon that he will have to see what the Legislature gives him before deciding on how he'll alter the budget repair bill.

As he has repeatedly for the past several weeks, Doyle said he has "significant problems" with provisions in the Legislature's proposal to push $125 million in school aids off into the next biennium.

"It will just make our jobs much tougher to do next year," Doyle said to reporters today at the state Capitol.

Doyle was also critical of the use of tobacco settlement cash in the legislative plan, but admitted it may be difficult for him to be ideologically "pure" about it given the dire budgetary straits the state faces.

Doyle proposed pulling $30 million out of securitization in his proposal to fix the shortfall.

Doyle said contracts for summer road projects, which are due to be awarded tomorrow, will go out as scheduled, but said ominously that the state must "hold out the possibility" that the projects may not be able to move forward on their original timetable.

Doyle said one option he will explore is whether to veto the entire bill.

"I hope not. I really do," Doyle said of using his pen to veto the full bill. "I don't think that's what it will come to."

"When the bill is on my desk, I'll make the decision of what I am going to do," he said.

Asked how much the referendum to do away with the so-called "Frankenstein veto" will hamper his powers, Doyle replied, "I think I have plenty of veto power left."

Listen to the press conference here.

Labels: Budget_Repair_Bill, Doyle

Gov. Jim Doyle derided the budget repair bill passed by Assembly Republicans last night as "a sham" and "fiscally irresponsible," but also emphasized the he and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch have "good open lines of communication."

"We are way ahead in understanding what an agreement might be and what a package might look like," Doyle, comparing the repair bill process to last year's full-scale budget battle, said in a press conference today.

Doyle said the Republican proposal, which calls $250 million in additional cuts to state government but does not name what areas to cut, would mean slashing K-12 schools and university funding, and basic health care services offered by the state like SeniorCare, Doyle said.

"Obviously the level of cuts they propose are extremely harmful to state government, and extremely harmful to the services people rely on," he said.

Doyle also blasted the proposal to push off some school aids payments into the next fiscal year. While Doyle was reluctant to say anything is off the bargaining table as negotiations continue, "that's about as close to getting off the table as you can be for me," he said.

Listen to audio of the press conference here.

Labels: Budget_Repair_Bill, Doyle

Checking in from his Chinese trade mission today, Gov. Jim Doyle said during a conference call with reporters that he is appreciates the Assembly Republicans' shift on K-12 education funding, and encouraged lawmakers to keep working to reach a full budget compromise. With hard work, the budget can be completed by the end of the week, he said.

"I think we've seen some significant movement," Doyle said from Beijing. "My view of this is it's long past due to get this done. With a good hard five days of work this week, we can get this budget done, but it does mean people are going to have to compromise. It's time now to make those compromises and get a budget in place. We are starting to see real consequences that are going to happen to the people of Wisconsin if a budget is not enacted."

Doyle reiterated his opposition to doing a piecemeal budget as Assembly Republicans have proposed. The Assembly goes to the floor tomorrow to vote on bills for funding K-12 and shared revenue, and establishing levy limits.

"There is really no way just take out one part of the budget and pass a bill on it because everything fits together," he said.

Labels: Doyle

Gov. Jim Doyle is touting a new report from the DNR that says cuts to the state Stewardship program as proposed in the Assembly Republican budget would "dramatically alter our state's land preservation efforts in the present and for years into the future."

"The Stewardship program represents one of Wisconsin's most basic values: protecting our natural resources even in tight budget times," Doyle said in a press release. "The Assembly's budget is a direct assault on those values, and sets Wisconsin land conservation back two whole decades."

Labels: Doyle, Stewardship_Fund

Gov. Jim Doyle joined more than 150 people from families impacted by autism in Greendale yesterday to call on the Legislature to approve the $83.4 million for autism treatment he included in his budget.

Doyle also included a provision in his budget that would require insurance companies to cover autism treatments. Additionally, Doyle asked the Legislature to approve a $50 million increase in special education funding to address the 20-fold increase in students with autism enrolled in school programs.

The insurance requirement, which Doyle said is in place in 20 states, has been opposed by business and insurance groups because it could increase premiums. Doyle said if insurance companies decided to not insure cancer or diabetes, rates could go way down, "but that's not what you have health insurance for."

"The idea of insurance is we all share that risk recognizing it could happen to any one of us," Doyle said.

Speakers at the press conference told personal tales of how early treatment has been effective, while at the same time a financial hardship as they waited for state assistance.

Doyle also urged lawmakers to finish their work on the budget.

"I gave these people a budget six months ago," Doyle said. "In most states. legislatures deal with budgets in about a 60- or 90-day period of time.

"Here we are six months later, so I'd say it's time for them to get this done."

But Doyle said leaders have talked responsibly.

"I think it means both have to acknowledge they're not going to get everything they want and there has to be a compromise," he said.

Doyle said his office has been meeting with both sides trying to figure out a way to move the budget forward, but said it's up to the Legislature to "really get down to the hard work."

Doyle dismissed a letter sent by 49 Republican legislators asking him not to use his "Frankenstein veto" on the budget.

"It's amazing to me to watch legislators who haven't passed a budget in six months try to tell me how to do my job," Doyle said.

"They should be assured that if they put a lot of excessive spending in the budget I'm going to use my line-item veto and I'm going to protect the taxpayers of this state."

Listen to Doyle discuss the budget, the state's bridges and tuition with reporters here.

-- By David Wise

Labels: Doyle

Gov. Jim Doyle said the Assembly's budget proposal put the UW System and the state at a "tipping point."

"The state is doing better than we were four and six years ago, and we now have an opportunity to make a major public investment into our universities to build the access and make them affordable," Doyle said during a round-table discussion today with chancellors at the Capitol.

University officials described how the Assembly's "shrink agenda," as Green Bay Chancellor Bruce Shepard called it, would mean fewer sections, larger classes and program cuts.

With the state budget is still up in the air, the Board of Regents is expected to decide next Tuesday on the system's annual operating budget and tuition for the upcoming school year.

See the release here.

Listen to Doyle's remarks.

Listen to UW President Kevin Reilly's remarks.

Listen to the rest of press conference, including questions from reporters here.

-- By Claudette Torbey

Labels: Doyle, UW Funding

With Republicans on the conference committee yesterday saying Democrats hold all the cards in the budget process, Gov. Jim Doyle played it close to the vest today when talking to the press about potential vetoes.

Doyle didn't make any assurances that he would refrain from using his veto pen on compromises hammered out in the conference committee. He said he would have to see what the deal is first, but wouldn't push the negotiation in the public realm.

The only assurance he gave was that he would pass the budget items included in his budget.

"And if what people want is my assurance that I'll back that, of course, I'm going to say I back that, it's my proposal," Doyle said of the BadgerCare Plus expansion he has proposed. "And they can be pretty sure I won't veto any thing that I put into my budget. But, we'll sort of see how this moves along."

Doyle made the comments at a press conference touting a new report that supports the $1.25 per pack cigarette tax increase today at the UW Hospital in Madison. Doyle included the tobacco tax increase in his budget, but the Republican-controlled Assembly cut the tax from its version.

Doyle also said he was "heartened" when GOP Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said the BadgerCare Plus proposal was worth considering. Doyle continued to push the proposal, saying he believes Senate Democrats would fully support the program.

Doyle wouldn't commit to signing the Senate Democrats universal health care plan if it came across his desk, called Healthy Wisconsin, instead pledging to pass "something on health care that we all agree on."

Doyle also scolded Republicans for cutting tobacco prevention efforts in their budget, saying "I don't know what other planet they're living on, and I don't understand that particular one."

When asked if Doyle would sign off on a lesser increase, Doyle didn't commit either direction, saying that there has to be sticker shock for the tax increase.

See the full report here.

-- By Matt Dolbey

Labels: Doyle, Veto

Gov. Jim Doyle met with Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch and Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson in his Capitol office today, telling them in no uncertain terms he expects the two houses to deliver a budget to his desk "on time," said Doyle spokesman Matt Canter.

"The governor's last two budgets got done at the end of July or beginning of August, and he believes it is so critical to pass a budget before local school districts and municipalities have to do their budgeting," said Canter. "He knows that Democrats and Republicans will have disagreements, so let's deal with them now, let's not stare at each other for three months and then deal with this."

Huebsch told reporters yesterday that he and Assembly Republicans will be prepared to go to the floor with a budget a week or two after the Senate, which is expected to have a budget passed by the end of this month. But Huebsch added, "I will not be as concerned about the date as I will about the product."

"I have no deadline on myself for when a budget needs to be in place," Huebsch said. "Wisconsin does not shut down if a budget isn't passed."

Listen to audio of Huebsch's press conference here.

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser said he was "disappointed" that there would be talk of an impasse.

"I think we have a lot of things we need to be working together on and talking through, and the people out in the general public want us to get a budget done," Kreuser said.

"I'm not going to talk about impasse. We have a long way to go in this process," said the Kenosha Democrat.

Canter said Doyle's budget and the one passed by the Joint Finance Committee provides tax relief to middle class families in health care, child care, and higher education.

"The governor has a hard time believing that Republicans or Democrats are going to protect big oil companies and big tobacco companies and cut funding for our schools and tax relief for the middle class families," Canter said. "Holding up the budget process would do just that."

-- Senate Democrats caucused today on the budget, with the Legislative Fiscal Bureau briefing the lawmakers on the Joint Finance Committee budget during open session.

The Dems held a closed caucus to discuss the budget prior to the LFB briefing. The Senate is expected to caucus again next week, but a date has not been set.

The Senate Dems are expected to take the budget to the floor late next week or early in the last week of June.

See the LFB briefing documents:
Condition statements (governor and JFC)

General Fund Taxes; Workforce Development

Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection; Commerce; Natural Resources

Shared Revenue and Tax Relief; Transportation

Administration; Corrections; Tribal Gaming; Veterans Affairs; Legislature

Health and Family Services

Public Instruction; Wisconsin Technical College System; UW System; Higher Educational Aids Board; Building Program

Labels: Doyle, Huebsch, Kreuser, Robson

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

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

With Gov. Doyle recuperating from hip surgery, Lt. Gov. Barb Lawton steps to the plate tomorrow to promote his "opportunity budget."

Lawton will visit Flambeau River Papers in Park Falls to tell workers about the proposal, and she will also discuss the budget with Price County officials in Phillips.

Doyle is undergiong a hip resurfacing procedure today. He is expected to be on crutches for six to eight weeks following the surgery.

Labels: Doyle, Lawton