Adding to Wisconsin’s already considerable budget woes, several programs face potential shortfalls this fiscal year totaling $100 million.

The shortfall estimates are separate from the projected deficit itself,
since the shortfall is part of yearly expenditures while the budget
deficit encompasses two full years. A budget report released by the Department of Administration Nov. 19 projected the deficit for the 2011-13 biennial budget at $3.3 million.

By the end of the fiscal year in June, however, financial documents show the state faces a potential shortfall of $100 million for certain state programs including Medicaid, according to the Associated Press.

Gov.-elect Scott Walker has been briefed on the potential shortfall by the Doyle administration, spokesperson Cullen Werwie told the AP.

If the projected shortfall comes to pass this summer, it will trigger a state requirement that the Legislature consider a budget repair bill.

When a budget shortfall exceeds 0.5 percent, the secretary of the DOA is required to alert the governor, the presiding officers of both houses of the Legislature and the Joint Committee on Finance, according to the state Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

The governor is then required to submit a bill with recommendations to correct the disparity between projected revenues and authorized expenditures, according to the LFB.

The state will only have a budget surplus of $10 million at the end of the fiscal year to combat any shortfalls, according to the DOA.

Walker transition director John Hiller said in a statement the revenue projections from the DOA confirmed what Walker has been saying for months about Wisconsin’s budget problems.

“Further, we believe that the true budget shortfall is much higher than indicated by the projections released (Nov. 19),” Hiller said in the statement.

Other Republican legislators also characterized the Doyle budget numbers as overly-optimistic.

Assembly Speaker-elect Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said in a statement Doyle was using “Madison math” to estimate the budget deficit.

Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, also questioned the DOA estimates.

“On his way out of town, Jim Doyle is trying to paint a much rosier budget picture that is not nearly representative of the fiscal challenges this state now faces,” Vos said in a statement.