Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle joined forces with Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in Eau Claire Tuesday to announce over 80 projects the states can collaborate on in an effort to save money as they each face growing budget shortfalls.
On Jan. 13, both governors signed executive orders directing their cabinets to work with one another to collaborate on ways to save both states money. According to a statement released by the governors, though hundreds of ideas were discussed, more than 80 topped the list due to their impact, feasibility and need in each state.
The governors estimate the measures will save each state about $10 million.
“This marks the start of an important effort to cut government spending while protecting essential services during a tough economic time for our county,” Doyle said in the statement. “We are committed to taking action now and building on these efforts in the future.”
Overall, the initiative had five categories, including collaborations to save money on jointly purchased goods and services, cross boarder collaboration, sharing and developing information technology systems, improving reciprocity and sharing resources to improve their utilization and costs.
At their joint press conference, the governors provided a variety of examples their agencies identified as effective cost-saving measures, including coordination inspection and outreach on invasive pest control, promoting tourism, the provision of dairy products and the inspection of milk tankers.
All of the measures are designed to save one or both of the states money or generate revenue for one state by assisting the other.
Although both the governors, despite their party differences, were enthuastic about the positive results they expect from the plan, reaction from Wisconsin lawmakers was mixed.
“I’m very encouraged to see that these ideas hold potential for literally millions of dollars in cost savings for Wisconsin taxpayers,” said Assembly Majority Leader Tom Nelson, D-Kaukauna.
Republican leaders, however, were skeptical and critical of the plan.
“From our perspective, anything that can reduce the size of government and reduce spending is a good thing,” said Jim Bender, spokesperson for Assembly Minority Leader Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon. “We’ll have to see how things go. Unfortunately Gov. Doyle has put out proposals before to save money, only they didn’t end up saving money.”
According to Bender, the representatives will remain cautiously optimistic until further details of the plan are finalized.
Currently, Wisconsin is facing a budget shortfall of $5.9 billion while Minnesota faces a budget shortfall of nearly $5 billion.
