But remember, Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican rubber stamp legislature are fiscally responsible!
Over the next two years, the state’s costs to keep up its current services will outstrip its expected tax collections by more than $1 billion, according to the Legislature’s nonpartisan budget office.
The brief analysis by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau provides the sharpest picture yet of the challenge that Gov. Scott Walker and lawmakers face as they try to keep the state’s main account balanced while weighing competing concerns such as schools, health care and the pocketbooks of taxpayers.
It projects a shortfall of $619 million in the first year of the budget. If addressed right away through permanent spending cuts or tax increases, the problem would be largely solved.
But if not, it would grow to $824 million in the second year for a two-year total of $1.44 billion, or 4.4% of the state’s total spending.
This is so easy… “State’s costs COULD exceed tax collections by $1 billion”. Most important word COULD. Think about that word COULD, COULD. You see, that is why you have a budgeting process. At the end of the day these “PROJECTED” shortfalls will be corrected with responsible budgeting.
As I said before… Remember when you guys though BURKE was going to win!?! What an absolute joke. Wait until the budgeting process is over and once again we WILL have surpluses in two years.
Actually Chris- an $819 million deficit is the BEST-CASE scenario. It gives all the revenue growth (in rosy DOR assumptions) without assuming any inflation of costs. Oh, and add the $450 million in Gen Fund money that is needed to balance the Transportation Fund’s cost to continue.
You righties suck at math. Just admit it and deal with reality like those outside of bubble-world have to.
Jake: could. Could. Could. Not will. That is what budgeting is for. Get it though your liberal head
Chris,
“Could” is the correct term. “Will” is the more reslistic term.
At the beginning of his term, Walker heavily touted the changes he made not only ‘balanced’ the budget but the state now had a surplus. A Suplus! His projected budget also had projected revenues in order for him to make that claim. However the projected revenues did not pan out leaving us again with a deficit.
Many who review budgets, do accounting and crunch numbers predicted that his projected revenue figures were off and that we could expect to see a huge deficit. Jake was one of those who predicted the exploding deficit. Go to his website and take a look for yourself.
On top of that Walker and team continue to borrow putting us deeper and deeper in debt. That said ‘surplus’ ‘feel good’ crappy little tax relief for property owners? Debt.
Meanwhile Walker directs his legislators to segregate and protect DOT funding, while selling off utilities and public lands to foreign entities. Part of his plan is to gut revenues from social programs and education in order to balance the budget pay down ‘the debt’. And there will still be debt.
You can disagree, but I invite you to revisit this conversation at the end of 2015 and see who’s right. Don’t bet a paycheck on it, ok?
Chris- Yes, and I COULD plan on those 6 numbers on my lottery ticket coming up in tonight’s drawing, but I’m not going to go to the car lot and get a Lamborghini today. Apparently you dimwits in right-wing world think you can just create your own reality. Sorry, it doesn’t quite work that way.
You see, here in the adult non-bubble world, we like to use past results as prologue to what will happen in the future. And we use real-life numbers and events to shape that prediction. And I actually have looked at the numbers (unlike you) and reality indicates that the deficit hole will be closer to $2 billion than $824 million. And that’s before any added programs or more one-time gimmicks to reduce income or property taxes (like the $400 million this year that hasn’t been paid for).
This is a concept you might understand one day. Like in 3-5 years when you’ve outgrown adolescence and are in your 20s and actually have to deal with someone outside of your little bubble.
And by the way, the Wisconsin DOR’s tax revenue numbers were supposed to be out yesterday (3rd Friday of the month). They are nowhere to be found. You don’t think that’s related to the budget mess, do ya? If we had a real media in this state, they might ask why, instead of printing James O’Keefe’s BS court filings.