Lee Dreyfus once said Wisconsin has “champagne tastes on a beer budget”. His truism certainly applies to 2009 when a governor and legislative majority increased spending significantly, despite a worst recession in 80 years. As a result, by July 1, 2011 the state budget deficit will likely exceed $3 billion. I will continue to support budget reform measures to require state government to live within a budget based on taxpayers’ means.
Restore Trust to Our Trust Funds
More than once I opposed plans to raid moneys from health care providers in a trust fund created to provide awards to medical malpractice victims or their family members. In the end, our state supreme court ordered the state to restore $200 million plus interest that the state used for unrelated budget spending. I support a permanent stop to similar raids of the state’s transportation fund through an amendment to our state constitution. Raiding these and other specific-purpose funds for unrelated state spending is one of the leading bad budgeting practices in need of reform.
We Cannot Borrow Our Way to Prosperity
Borrowing more in order to spend more has grown significantly in recent years, not only in Washington but in Madison. I support reigning in borrowing, especially as a short-term budget fix. As the burden of interest payments for past spending grows, our ability to respond to a crisis – like the worst recession in 80 years – is weakened and we burden our children with a problem not of their making.
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