Blogging Blue

For as bad as Wisconsin’s 5.4 billion dollar budget deficit is, things could be worse, as evidenced by California’s massive budget deficit:

The state faces a $28 billion budget shortfall over the next two years. If nothing is done, nearly $5 billion in public-works projects could be halted in little more than a week for lack of bond sales – everything from bridge replacements to a new highway tunnel and billions of dollars’ worth of school construction, according to state Treasurer Bill Lockyer.

Now a 28 billion dollar budget shortfall is bad, but the news gets worse:

The picture worsens next spring if legislators don’t pass some plan to increase revenues or cut spending or both. California will run out of operating cash in March, state controller John Chiang told the lawmakers. The recession has severely squeezed state tax revenues.

Lawmakers in California and Wisconsin have blamed the economic downturn for worsening the budget deficits in both states, but I’m just glad I don’t live in California, considering the fact that there’s been no talk of Wisconsin running out of operating cash at any point in the near future.

Here’s some bad news out of Madison:

Madison — Administration Secretary Michael Morgan told state agencies today that the looming state budget deficit means they will have to cut operations spending by more than 10%.

The agencies were under orders in June to submit plans by Monday to cut their administrative operations by 10%. But today Morgan told them the deadline is being extended because they will have to cut further into their budgets since the worsening economy has plunged the state into a $5 billion deficit through mid-2011.

Morgan’s letter does not say how much agencies must cut their budgets or when their plans are due. The proposals will be used by Doyle to shape the budget he will introduce early next year, the letter said.

There’s no denying there’s some room for state agencies to improve efficiency and make cuts without drastically affecting services, but I wonder how an agency like the Department of Corrections will be able to cut over ten percent out of the agency’s budget without affecting the agency’s ability to safely and effectively operate prisons and supervise those individuals on probation and parole. Fewer corrections officers and probation and parole agents wouldn’t be a good thing for our communities, so where does the Department of Corrections make its cuts?

As a result of the bad news about the state budget deficit and the order to make budget cuts of ten percent, the Department of Corrections has instituted a hiring freeze, which might seem like a good idea on the surface, but given the high costs the Department has incurred to pay overtime to corrections officers and probation and parole agents, it seems to me it would make sense to evaluate just how many new positions would need to be filled to reduce or eliminate overtime, and then hire enough new employees to provide equilibrium, so that the Department could save some money.

Then again, what do I know…I’m not paid to make those kinds of decisions.

According to a cost estimate by the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division of Executive Budget and Finance, the cost of health insurance coverage for autistic children whose parents already have insurance is about 10 million dollars.

That’s right, 10 million dollars is all it will take to make sure the therapy for each and every autistic child is ensured of being covered under their parents’ health insurance coverage. Now sure, 10 million dollars is a heck of a lot of money, especially considering our state’s current fiscal situation, but let’s put that 10 million dollars into perspective.

• Seven million dollars could get paper mill reopened in Park Falls, the largest community in the district of Republican Representative Mary Williams of Medford.
• Four million dollars could buy one - just one, no more than that - brand new soybean crusher for the district of Republican Representative Brett Davis of Oregon.

So sure, 10 million dollars is a lot of money, but so is the 11 million dollars in “persuasion” that some Assembly Republicans got in the last state budget. I know I’m biased, but if I had to choose between spending 10 million dollars on providing health insurance coverage to autistic children for the therapy they need or spending 11 million dollars on pet projects to get Republicans to vote for the state budget, I choose health insurance coverage for autistic children.

Shame on him for caving in and allowing mandatory health insurance coverage for autism treatment to be cut from the budget “compromise” reached late yesterday. It’s really a sad day when politicians are so readily willing to make treatment for autistic kids a political issue, and it’s a sad day when Democrats are so quick to give up on the issue just so they can say they got a budget deal done.

In a multi-billion dollar state budget, mandating insurance companies provide coverage for autism treatment would have cost 1.3 million dollars, and I can’t help but wonder if that’s money that couldn’t have been cut from somewhere else.

I’m actually disappointed I had faith in Governor Doyle and all his talk about helping autistic kids.

A few days ago, I wrote a little about the anti-tax rally held in Madison by the conservative fringe group Americans For Prosperity, as well as the counter-rally held by members of AFSCME, Wisconsin’s largest government employees union. I noted then that the number of AFSCME members was almost double the number of folks attending the AFP rally, even despite the AFP’s efforts at busing folks in for the rally.

Shortly after the rally ended, conservative bloggers were quick to denounce the members of AFSCME for their boorish, disruptive, and thuggish behavior, despite my having heard no reports of any arrests or citations for any illegal behavior on the part of the folks from AFSCME. Folks on the conservative end of the spectrum, including Fred Dooley from “Real Debate” Wisconsin, were also quick to assert AFSCME’s interest in organizing a counter-rally had little to do with their members expressing support for getting a budget done, but instead was nothing more than, “getting more money for their members.”

What I found most interesting wasn’t necessarily Fred’s post itself, which is pretty standard anti-union garbage that most conservatives love to spout, but rather his comments section. Mixed in among his comments were a few choice comments by Cathy Stepp, a former State Senator who was mired in ethical issues as the result of her authoring legislation that would benefit her special interest benefactors, since she was firmly in the pocket of special interests in the building, construction and real estate industry who contributed more than $80,000 to her election campaign. Stepp is also notable for her attempts to sell out her constituents during the last round of budget negotiations, when she supported a Republican-proposed budget that would have cut state aid to Racine-area school districts. In her comments, Stepp uses some pretty fuzzy math (to put it mildly) to assert state employees somehow aren’t regular taxpayers like John and Jane Q. Public. Stepp said:

The 42% of us in the private sector (aka “Real World”) pay the salaries of the 58% in government jobs.

Now obviously I was more than a little taken aback at Stepp’s assertion that government employees don’t pay taxes, because it defies logic that someone who spent four years in the Wisconsin State Senate can’t seem to master the most basic principles of mathematics. After all, Cathy Stepp seems to think 42% of folks in Wisconsin who are in the “real world” pay the salaries of the 58% in government jobs, which is curious, because as one of the aforementioned 58% who are government employees, I get taxes - both state and federal - taken out of each and every one of my checks. This is a talking point I’ve seen at more than one conservative blog - the assertion that the salaries of lazy, no-good state employees are being paid by hardworking folks in the private sector - as if state employees don’t pay taxes too. Conservatives are quick to demonize state employees as leeches off taxpayers, but the simple concept that they fail to grasp is that state employees pay taxes too, so in essence, state employees help pay their own wages.

It’s exactly this kind of dishonesty that’s going help the Republican Party lose even more seats in the Senate and the Assembly in 2008, which promises to be a very bleak year for conservatives in the State of Wisconsin.

…but that doesn’t mean the budget debacle is over. The State Senate and Assembly still have to vote in favor of the agreement reached by Governor Jim Doyle and legislative leaders.

The package includes a $1 per pack increase in the cigarette tax and a $200 million transfer from the Patients Compensation Fund to balance the books and pay for new programs like the expansion of BadgerCare.

But it does not include some other revenue uppers that Doyle had originally proposed, including a tax on hospitals designed to generate more federal money for medical assistance or the tax on oil companies to pay for transportation projects.

Though leaders have signed onto the plan, there remains some question if the package will be approved by the Republican-controlled Assembly, where 22 members have signed a “no tax” pledges, or the Dem-controlled Senate, which gave up its universal health care plan Healthy Wisconsin and other priorities.

On the surface, it’s obvious both sides compromised; Doyle gave in on the oil and hospital taxes, and Republicans gave in on the cigarette tax. Without seeing the specific agreement reached, I can’t really say who came out on top, but I’m just glad both sides came to an agreement.

However, I will be very curious to see if the Autism Insurance Mandate was included in the budget deal, because I know the mandate was one of the items Republicans found to be “objectionable” in the budget previously submitted by Governor Doyle. I really hope common sense prevailed on the issue of the AIM, because there’s a good number of autistic individuals in Wisconsin who sure would benefit from the health insurance coverage the AIM would provide.

Edit: So it appears Governor Doyle caved in and dropped mandatory coverage of autism treatment by health insurance providers. Words just can’t adequately express how disappointed I am right now.

So today was the day that the rabidly anti-tax folks at Americans for Prosperity held a rally against hiking Wisconsin’s taxes even higher. What’s most interesting about the rally (at least to me) is the fact that the number of anti-tax folks who were in attendance was far smaller than the number of folks that were in attendance to support the budget proposed by Governor Doyle.

According to the MJS,

Americans for Prosperity drew hundreds of people outside the Capitol to say lawmakers should not raise taxes. They were surrounded by a larger group, made up primarily of state union workers, calling for a budget that includes new taxes on cigarettes, hospitals and oil companies.

Among the anti-tax folks rallying was Boots and Sabers’ own Owen Robinson, who said, “I’m a Wisconsin taxpayer and I can’t afford for my taxes to be any higher.” Robinson, you might recall, is proud of the fact that he got 11 members of the Republican-controlled Assembly to sign a pledge against raising any taxes, and at today’s rally he thanked them for sticking by their word in budget talks so far. What’s really curious is how proud Owen seems to be that lawmakers are perfectly content sticking it to autistic children as they blatantly pander to their wingnut base. I wonder….does Ole’ Owen really think that autistic children don’t deserve the treatment which in many cases could help them be productive, well adjusted members of society?

What was really encouraging about the accounts I’ve read of the rally is how folks really turned out to show their dissatisfaction with the fact that some of our lawmakers just don’t seem to care about getting a budget done. It’s certainly telling that the folks who want a budget and support Governor Doyle’s proposed budget outnumbered the people who are perfectly content with no budget - and the inevitable belt tightening that would accompany no budget. I know some on the right love to label those who support the Governor’s budget as nothing more than “pro-tax-increase folks” (Boots and Sabers) and “teat-sucking squealers” (No Runny Eggs).

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a state employee, and I’d like to not that contrary to the all-too familiar conservative stereotype, most state employees are not lazy and useless. At this moment, I’m sure bunches of wingnuts are railing at this very moment against state employees on their blogs, and while those folks write their entries about how we favor “tax hikes” as if we don’t pay taxes, they need to start using a little bit of logic. I pay taxes just like conservative folks pay taxes, and while I don’t necessarily enjoy paying taxes, I take some pride in knowing that my tax dollars are being spent to provide high quality services to the people of this state - and that’s not something that can be said in many parts of the country. I can’t help but wonder - are these folks who rail against the size of state government and the quality of state employees willing to do their part? Are they willing to man our prisons, supervise offenders in the community, plow our streets, pick up our trash, and fight fires? I’m willing to bet they’re not.

Pundit Nation has more on the rally here.

Apparently so, according to those “compassionate conservatives” in Madison. Assembly Republicans have released a list of things that the Republican leadership sent out that they find objectionable in the Governor’s new budget, and included among the many objectionable items is this:

• Autism Insurance Mandate with $1.3 million in new spending to cover the cost of the new mandate in state health insurance program.

So in our state’s multi-billion dollar budget, Assembly Republicans find it objectionable to spend 1.3 million dollars to make sure the autistic children of folks who have state health insurance are provided with coverage - coverage that they don’t have right now. Now maybe it’s because I’m biased, given that I’m the parent of an autistic child, but I simply cannot comprehend how anyone with children would vote against providing health insurance coverage to children who didn’t choose to be born with a life-altering disorder like autism. As Michael Mathias over at Pundit Nation has pointed out, “now that Republicans in the House of Representatives, including Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, are vowing to block an expansion of the SCHIP program, it seems inescapable that poor, very sick children are simply fair game for the more extremist elements of the GOP.” What kind of world is it we live in when folks are willing to use children as pawns in a partisan game of chicken?

I’m absolutely disgusted at the lengths some lawmakers are willing to go to in order to score cheap political points in an attempt to pander to their base, and I refuse to stand idly by while Republicans attempt to punish autistic children and their families simply to save a few dollars. I’ve emailed Mark Honadel, my State Assemblyman, because he apparently doesn’t care too much about autistic kids, as he voted against Governor Doyle’s proposed budget. Perhaps those lawmakers who want to cut the autism mandate from the state budget should put a face to all those autistic children who’d suffer, but if they can’t, I’ll do it for them. This is my autistic son Nicholas…

It’s day 102 of Wisconsin budget watch, with what seems like no end in sight. Republicans, led by Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, are stalling the passage of a budget to score cheap political points with their rapidly dwindling conservative base, but this debacle is only likely to backfire once elections roll around in 2008.

Now I’ve never been one to believe folks who start talking about doom and gloom when it comes to an overdue budget, but as a state employee I’m more than a little disturbed at the fact that our management is talking about deep program cuts and layoffs due to the fact that we have no budget for the current fiscal year. Mind you, program cuts and layoffs likely won’t affect me, but cuts in staff will no doubt affect an untold number of state employees, and that’s simply unacceptable. Mike Huebsch and his Republican allies ought to be ashamed of themselves for letting things get to this point. I understand Huebsch is trying to look tough against Governor Doyle for his own inevitable run to unseat Doyle, but he’s simply gone too far. Democrats have shown time and time again they’re willing to compromise to get a budget done, a fact that stands in stark contrast to Huebsch’s “all or nothing” approach to getting a budget done. Huebsch wants Democrats to give him everything he wants while he gives nothing in return, and at the risk of sounding juvenile, he’s acting like a jackass of the highest order.

When the jobs of hardworking folks all across Wisconsin are put on the line simply because of some political posturing by lawmakers, it’s time to send those politicians a message that enough is enough.

Last week Friday, Democrats in the State Senate offered to drop their universal health care plan if Republicans accepted higher taxes on hospitals and cigarettes and a 175 million dollar transfer from the Patients Compensation Fund. Senate Democrats have argued the tax increases - which would impose a surtax on hospital revenues and woulod raise the per-pack tax on cigarettes - are needed to pay future Medicaid bills and Gov. Jim Doyle’s plan to make sure every child has access to health insurance. In a big “f*** you” to Democrats - and Wisconsin’s kids - Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch flatly rejected the offer. Huebsch’s rejection of the Democrats’ offer should come as no big surprise, given his behavior during the entire budget process, but what I can’t help but wonder is if Senate Democrats finally gave up on trying to keep Healthy Wisconsin in the budget because of pressure from Governor Doyle, who made no secret of the fact that he didn’t support Healthy Wisconsin.

I’ll be curious to see how this whole mess plays out, because there’s only a few short days left before the state DPI is supposed to tell local school districts how much money they’re supposed to have for the next year, and without a budget, that’s going to be almost impossible to do.