The Department of Administration released its annual fiscal report showing Wisconsin will deposit the largest amount into its Rainy Day Fund in state history, according to a statement from the DOA.
According to 2009 Legislative Fiscal Bureau publication, the rainy day fund was created in 1985 after the early 1980s recession. The purpose of the fund is for the state to have money set aside for times of low economic growth in the future.
This year, the state of Wisconsin will contribute $108.7 million to the Rainy Day Fund, and this is the first time that the state has contributed to the fund in consecutive years, according to the DOA statement.
The statement said at the end of the 2012 fiscal year, Wisconsin had a surplus of $342.1 million.
The surplus is $50.5 million above the projected surplus of $291.6 million, according to the annual fiscal report.
The annual fiscal report said a major percentage of state tax collections are still used for local school districts, municipalities and counties.
“Under Governor Walker’s leadership, Wisconsin will make the largest deposit to our rainy day fund in state history. We continue to manage the state budget to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money to put the state on sound fiscal ground for future generations,” DOA Secretary Mike Huebsch said in the statement.
According to Nathan Conrad, spokesperson for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, the deposit to the fund shows just how well Gov. Scott Walker’s reforms are working in Wisconsin.
This development should go a long way in showing the voters of Wisconsin just how important and what an impact fiscal sanity makes on the state level, Conrad said in an email to The Badger Herald.
“With the November election just 21 days away, reforms like these are needed on the federal level as well,” Conrad added in his email. “We can expect to see fiscal sanity return to Washington if we stand united behind the Romney/Ryan ticket and bring them to the White House on November 6.”
David Canon, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin said he thinks it is a great idea to build up the Rainy Day Fund.
Historically, Wisconsin has not been very good about putting any money in this fund, Canon said.
“The benefit is that it can provide a cushion against future unforeseen downturns in the economy. However, the disadvantage is that such a large amount is being put into the account when Wisconsin has such a weak economy,” Canon said in an email to The Badger Herald. “It might make more sense to put some of that money back into the economy.”
Conrad also said Wisconsin has had one of the slowest rates of job growth in the past two years of any state in the nation.
The DOA did not return calls,nor did the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
One Wisconsin Now and Common Cause Wisconsin declined to comment.
