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36 other states ‘pessimistic’ about budget outlook for upcoming fiscal year
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Wisconsin is not alone in its budget repair woes — 37 states, Wisconsin included, are either “concerned” or “pessimistic” about their budget outlook for the upcoming fiscal year, according to a report released Friday.
The report, which was released by the nonprofit National Conference of State Legislatures, comes as the state’s budget repair crisis nears its third month — even though Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle demanded “prompt, responsible action” when he released his plan March 10.
Nationwide, NCSL’s study paints a gloomy picture for most state governments in the coming 18 months. Only Alaska, Wyoming and North Dakota seem optimistic about the 2009 fiscal year, and each of those states has strong revenue growth due to oil reserves.
“Whether or not the national economy is in recession is almost beside the point for some states,” said William Pound, executive director of NCSL, in a statement. “The fiscal situations have declined so much in some states that they appear to be in a recession.”
The report specifies half a dozen states that are considering using all or part of their rainy day funds. Wisconsin is one of them, though plans to do so differ by party.
Doyle has said from the start that the rainy day fund must be maintained. His original plan set aside $100 million to be added to the fund in fear of a worsening national economy.
“The purpose of a rainy day fund is for cushioning the state against economic downturn,” Doyle spokesperson Lee Sensenbrenner said. “The economy might be getting worse, so it’s critical at times like this to have a rainy day fund in place.”
But Republicans, like Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, say use of at least some of the fund should still be “on the table” in lieu of raising taxes.
“You’d rather not use the entire thing, but if it has to be a part of the final deal, that would be all right,” Fitzgerald spokesperson Ryan Murray said.
NCSL’s report released statements from 43 states and Puerto Rico about their current fiscal status. Border states Iowa and Michigan are currently reporting no problems with estimates, while Illinois says its fiscal status is “unclear.”
Minnesota is projecting a shortfall of $935 million, which could be resolved in a conference committee and partially paid for by its $1 billion in reserves.
Sensenbrenner said Doyle is looking at May 13 as the deadline to repair the budget, which is the date millions of state dollars must be spent on summer road construction.
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Hmmmmm… a very long cold winter of record snowfalls and we are still getting snow and freezing weather at the end of April. What happened to that Global Warming thing? What happened to ‘spring coming earlier every year’? Is that ‘Global Warming’ falling across Wisconsin today? Think about this each time you again scrape frost from your windshield.. at the end of April. Think….
You wonder why the State Government is running a deficit after a record period of prosperity? Your Democrat controlled state government is demonstrating yet again why they should not be returned to office et.al. They distract a gullable citizenry and waste precious tax dollars on false ‘crises’ like Global Warming while failing to deliver the basic services, such as keeping the roads plowed, that they were elected and tax funded to assure.
Come on Wisconsin! Stop acting like dumb sheep!
Global warming isn’t just about spring coming sooner. Global warming causes drastic climate changes which can result in unruly winters.