You
Wisconsin comes into
the budget season with a
$4.3 billion surplus.
But as expected, the
Republican majority legislature
calls the Evers plan
dead on arrival.
And if you say they will
start from scratch.
We're joined by Jason
Stein of the Wisconsin
Policy Forum for his take.
And thanks for being here, Jason.
My pleasure, thank you.
So it sure seems like a lot of
work and a lot of number
crunching on the part of the
governor and his administration
to end up with a budget that's
DOA.
But is it more like a
potential re-election
and you do feel a little
bit for the analysts and
budget writers who work
painstakingly to put all the
stuff together and then it's
right into the trash heap in
some sense.
But there may be some areas where
they can work together.
I mean the governor had an
increase in tax credits for
buying down local property taxes.
He had tips taking off income
taxes for tips.
So there's some areas where
the governor would have to
increase taxes.
But clearly on many things in
this budget there will not be.
In fact, I was kind of just
ask of all of the spending in
it, could the only agreement
really come with tax cuts?
Well, that's where the real
rub is going to be or the back
and forth with the governor.
I mean the governor's proposal
would decrease some taxes, but
raise a number of others and
that's a $4 billion surplus.
That's a non-starter for
Republicans.
They will be looking at large
income tax cuts which last
time the governor vetoed.
I think the thing that will
probably keep both sides working
with one another is with no
budget passing there would be
upward pressure on property
taxes around the state,
particularly school property
taxes because of provisions
that are in current law.
So, because they don't really
want to see that happen.
With K-12 test scores really
sadly sagging, I trust
pouring more than $3 billion
into that part of the
education budget and freezing
school choice slots is not
the majority's idea of an
answer.
I mean clearly they're very
far apart from one another
on the issue of both
income taxes and education.
You know the one being the
Republican priority the other
being the governor's priority.
I think again where you have
some impetus to get that
increase is in the governor and
his veto last year put for
400 years he stuck in with
his partial veto this steady
increase in the limits,
the state limits that govern
how much school districts can
spend and so they're going to
get like a two and a half or
half spending limit, revenue
limit every year and so if
there's no budget there's no
state aid to kind of
take up the slack there and
keep property taxes from going
up and I think that's something
that Republicans have in the
back of their heads and will
be a reason for them not to
walk away from the
negotiating table.
Where else might the sides
potentially come together?
Do Republicans take
parts of that and kind of
call it their own and rework it?
That's a great question.
I mean I think there's something
fundamentally there that must be
dealt with.
I mean we have two prisons that
go back to the 19th century
Wapon and Green Bay
Correctional the governor wants
to close Green Bay Correctional.
He has a very creative way to
do that I mean it's kind of
a play or two another in the
throwing down field.
It's a touchdown if you get
that and you connect on that
play but it also has a lot of
ways it can break down.
I suspect the Republicans
will probably not take that
plan in its entirety but some
elements of it they may do.
Also Evers proposes what's
described as a historic
investment in the university
$856 million over two years
and layoffs and that kind of
thing at the colleges.
Does that resonate?
It's a great question.
I mean the issue of higher
education has become very
politicized much more than it
was let's say two decades ago
and so you see actually at the
federal level some dispute right
over whether to decrease the
amount of research grant funding
that goes out to universities
like UW Madison or the
U.S.
whether or not there may be
some increase on the possibility
because in many cases the
UW campuses that would be
hurt the most would be in more
Republican areas or at least in
purple areas of the state.
So that one I think is two B.D.
It seemed of note to me that
Evers was using his budget to
try to guard against impacts
from President Trump's actions
out of Washington saving out
in case money.
Right. I mean the governor is
leaving enough reserves to
cover about 10% of state spending.
I mean that's historically
a pretty good number.
At the same time it would not be
enough in the event of a really
severe recession so I think there
will be some back and forth with
the legislature.
Again the governor would pull
down roughly three and a half
billion dollars of the surplus
in the U.S.
and the governor just partially
vetoed it.
So I think part of the question
is do the two sides working at
cross-purposes get us to a
sustainable budget?
Which is what has happened in
recent cycles or an
unsustainable budget which is
more what happened in the
2000s when you and I were
starting at the state capital.
Right indeed.
Well Jason Stein thanks very much.
Thank you.
It was a day one B.
Two three.
Wait what?
What was the amendment you just
found?