State budget deficits have dominated news coverage across the country, but in Wisconsin, the story remains local.
Gov. Scott McCallum announced the Wisconsin budget deficit would be $1.1 billion for the 2001-2003 fiscal period.
Coverage of Wisconsin’s deficit has dominated the front pages of numerous publications, and with McCallum’s address to a joint session of the legislature today, such coverage will only increase.
Largely left out of the flurry of budget coverage is Wisconsin’s status as one of 40 states dealing with budget shortfalls.
Since Sept. 11, the national economy has floundered. The U.S. is officially in a recession, and each state is feeling the effects of the lackluster national economy.
In January 2001, when the current budget was being debated for Wisconsin, no national recession was forecast. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau expected positive economic growth, albeit at a lower level, to continue with a rebound expected in 2002-2003. McCallum said these estimates had to be reanalyzed because of the national fiscal crisis. Wisconsin was not the only state charged with the responsibility of balancing its budget with significant shortfalls. The national economic predicament has snowballed to each state — Wisconsin is not the only state facing difficulties.
Despite the presence of budget deficits nationally, the local importance of Wisconsin’s deficit is obvious; citizens are directly affected by program cuts and budget reductions. But despite the local importance of Wisconsin’s deficit, perspective of how bad the deficit really is when compared to other states is lost in the Wisconsin-centered coverage.
Despite virtually continual coverage of the ongoing budget predicament, Wisconsin citizens remain somewhat unaware of the national economic troubles fueling the state problems. Deficits in states spanning the country continue to grow because of national difficulties; however, even the national news sources neglect to report the problem as a national one. Each state seems to be on its own, solely responsible for the deficit it faces.
New York is dealing with a massive deficit due to the events of Sept. 11. Although this may be obvious, many face similar situations.
Minnesota’s $1.95 billion budget shortfall has prompted Gov. Jesse Ventura to engage in the same fiscal wrangling as McCallum. Alaska has a deficit of $865 million, which is expected to grow to $1.1 billion by next year. New Jersey’s deficit is $2.8 billion, Virginia’s $1.2 billion and Indiana’s $1.3 billion.
Wisconsin’s deficit of $1.1 billion is smaller than a significant number of similarly sized states, most notably Minnesota. Per capita Wisconsin’s deficit is lower than Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey and Alaska. For each person in Wisconsin, the deficit amounts to $203. In Indiana that number rises to $213, New Jersey $332, Minnesota $396 and Alaska $1,361.
In all likelihood, every state will find a different solution for its budget deficit. For McCallum, the solution will come in his address to the legislature today. His proposal will likely cut funding to the university and impose a tuition freeze. The cuts should be taken in perspective: the university may suffer, but UW-Madison students are not alone; state schools across the country will likely feel the effects of state cuts.
