Notes from the West Wing
By
State Representative Garey Bies
Budget Process as it Stands
For this edition of Notes from the West Wing, I thought I would provide a bit of an explanation of where we stand concerning the current budget situation. I like to call it a “view from the sidelines.”
If you have been following my updates this session you know that the Assembly and Senate passed vastly different versions of the state budget. The Assembly passed a zero-tax increase budget that relied upon $1.2 billion in economic expansion for increased funding. The Senate’s version of the budget increased state taxes by a total $18 billion, $15 billion of which was earmarked for establishing the Healthy Wisconsin program. Obviously, with two budgets so far apart, compromise would prove difficult.
I should also say that without a doubt, I know that all 131 of my colleagues desire to complete the budget process. Each side may point to the other blaming them for the hold up to getting a budget done, but the bottom line is the two sides are very, very far apart in the direction they believe Wisconsin should go. I and my Republican colleagues were elected to hold the line on taxes. To agree to billions and billions of new taxes would see us fail to live up to our commitments. At the same time, with a split legislature, neither house is going to get all that they want. But we are not without our limits. The Senate Democrats offering to drop Healthy Wisconsin in return for over one billion in additional tax increases isn’t really a compromise is it?
What I want to briefly explain today is who is involved currently with developing the state budget. As you likely know, the state budget is currently in the hands of the Conference Committee. The Committee is made up of members of both the Assembly and Senate, four from each house. These eight legislators are charged with hammering out a budget. For those of us not on the Conference Committee, we watch from the sidelines. We of course let the Conference members know of our positions, but beyond that, we lack the ability to get involved in hammering out the details.
Once the Conference Committee finally reaches a full compromise on the budget, the document must go before both houses for approval. At this point, legislators will get a final yes/no vote on the budget. There will not be an opportunity to amend the proposal. Legislators will be forced to make a difficult decision as to whether they approve a budget that may contain one or two items with which they stridently oppose. But in order to get a budget, this is going to be a decision legislators are going to have to make.
If the budget proposed by the Democrats is nothing more than an effort to try and make the Republicans support increasing taxes, it is not going to work. It is something that we were specifically elected to oppose. Wisconsin residents already pay more than they should in taxes and while the Democrats are more than willing to levy billions in new taxes, their effort to make Republicans do the same is not going to work. In the meantime, those of us not on the Conference Committee will continue to make our concerns known while we wait for what the Committee produces.
Well, that is all for now but I will continue to update you as the budget process goes forward. As always, I can be reached by e-mail at Rep.Bies@legis.wisconsin.gov or by telephone, toll-free at 1-888-482-0001. You can also visit my website at http://www.legis.state.wi.us/assembly/asm01/news/.