Latest Wisconsin budget numbers dispel left’s ‘deficit’ narrative

By M.D. Kittle / here @ Wisconsin Reporter, March 10, 2015 / 22 Comments

 MADISON, Wis. — It’s the “deficit crisis” that never was.  The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau on Monday set the record straight on Wisconsin’s biennial budget position, as it would stand under Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal.

In a memo to Joint Finance Committee co-chairman state Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, fiscal bureau director Bob Lang notes that under Walker’s 2015-17 budget bill, the state’s gross general fund balance would be $123 million and, the net balance would be $58 million.

BALANCED DEBATE? The running narrative from the left that Wisconsin faces a $2.2 billion budget deficit isn’t true, according to the latest analysis of Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal.

That’s a long shot better than the $2.2 billion “deficit” narrative Democrats keep repeating ad nauseam.

“The Joint Finance Committee met again today to ask questions of agency leaders regarding Governor Walker’s $2.2 billion deficit crisis budget,” state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, declared in a press release last week.

A Bloomberg story in late December offered this provocative headline: “Will Wisconsin’s Finances Crush Walker’s Presidential Dreams,” repeating the same $2.2 billion budget deficit line.

The charge came up again and again during the recent legislative debate over a right-to-work bill, which Walker signed on Monday.

Except, it’s not true.

It wasn’t even true in November when Democrats dragged out the line.

On Nov. 20, the state Department of Administration submitted the statutorily required report to the governor and Legislature on the 2015–17 condition of the general fund based on the administration’s revenue estimates and state agency budget request.

That report showed a net balance shortfall — after the consideration of the $65 million reserve the state budget must maintain by law — of $2.214 billion, according to Lang’s letter.

“Shortfall” is the operative term here, not “deficit.”

As they do every two years, the state’s agencies submit budget requests.

While Walker asked for fiscally conservative budget requests, the agencies came in with higher budget requests than existing spending plans — some much higher.

And that’s what created much of the shortfall — the number between the revenue projected to be coming in and the combined money the state departments would like to spend.

As one legislative aide put it Monday, departments always ask for more than they are going to get, like Chicago Bears legendary running back Walter Payton used to extend the football as far as he could when tackled. Payton knew officiating crew wasn’t going to give him another yard, but sometimes he’d get enough for a first down.

But the governor has had a budget plan in place since February. It’s a plan that isn’t particularly popular with the grow-the-government set, but it’s a proposal nonetheless. And that plan, as the fiscal bureau notes, takes into account the department budget requests and trims them down to a balanced budget, with $58 million to spare.

Of course, much depends on where state revenue projections end over the next couple of years. But as it stands, Walker’s plan is a balanced budget. Not a deficit.

“Governor Walker’s proposed budget keeps our finances in the black, end of story,” said state Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, in a statement with Nygren. “This is a far cry from the supposed $2 billion deficit Wisconsin Democrats have repeated many times.”

The lawmakers say they look forward to “using the governor’s budget as a base to continue our common sense reforms.”