In correspondence with Wisconsin’s $1.1 billion deficit, Gov. Scott McCallum is looking for ways to downsize state government.
According to the Department of Revenue, the state will not see any across-the-board tax increases in alleviating the deficit. McCallum, however, is reducing the size of government and rethinking state and local financing.
“We send over $1 billion to local governments. Wisconsin has more government than all but 10 states,” said David Blaska, a spokesman for the Department of Revenue. “There needs to be more intergovernmental cooperation, maybe mergers and consolidation as well.”
The governor’s original budget had the smallest state government spending increase in 30 years. However, the onset of recession created a need for the current shaping of a budget repair bill. Now, officials are saying in order to restore financial health to Wisconsin, state government must face economic realities.
An 11 percent spending decrease is in effect for most state governmental agencies.
“In general, because of the deficit, there have been across-the-board cuts,” said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison. “However, in corrections, we’ve added 1500 new positions. This phenomenal growth defies the rest of the state government.”
Some say Wisconsin’s $1.1 billion deficit is the result of state government’s poor fiscal management. Critics, like Paul Soglin, former Madison mayor and lecturer for UW-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs, maintain Wisconsin has been one of the weakest states in maintaining a stabilization, or rainy day, fund.
“The problem is that the state government has a practice of using one-time revenue to balance the budget,” Soglin said. “Sometimes it’s in the form of tobacco settlement money, or strong income. The government makes commitments to programs when it is unreasonable to expect to be able to finance the programs in subsequent years.”
State government provides a number of services to Wisconsin residents. These programs have resulted in increased government spending throughout recent years.
“We need to decide what programs are the responsibilities of individuals,” said Rep. Michael Lehman, R-Hartford. “We need to look at how we use available technology to serve the people of Wisconsin. The cost of services is significant. Our first concern is to keep Wisconsin financially stable.”
Supposed downsizing of state government is a result of the outstanding budget deficit Wisconsin has incurred under the new plan. But Soglin says the current budget should not be equated with “downsizing.”
“Wisconsin government has grown considerably in the last decade both in terms of expenditures and staffing levels,” Soglin said. “To refer to present plans as ‘downsizing’ is not correct. There is a hiring freeze. That means as people leave their jobs for retirement or other reasons, the positions are not filled. The effect of this practice on the size of state government is minimal.”
Senate Democrats proposed a controversial early retirement plan to reduce the number of state government employees.
“We’re looking to eliminate some government workers,” said Sen. Russell Decker, D-Weston. “We’re trying to do it in the most humane way possible, and that’s through the Senate’s early retirement window.”
But many doubt the effectiveness of the plan as a long-term measure to minimize government expenditures.
With the early retirement option, state government would still be obligated to pay retired employee costs, such as health insurance.
“Assembly Republicans have been against the early retirement proposal because it does not have a price tag on savings,” said Jeff Schoenfeldt, spokesman for Rep. John Gard, R-Peshtigo. He said the early retirement proposal bears a $421 million price tag for taxpayers.
“It doesn’t make sense,” he said.
