Assembly Republicans Pass Budget, Live Up to Rhetoric

The Assembly Republicans passed their budget last night. 

The $56.3 billion Assembly budget, passed on a 51-44 vote, diverges from the version passed June 26 by the Democrat-led Senate in almost every area of spending.

Next, eight legislative leaders - four Republicans and four Democrats - will meet as a conference committee to negotiate a compromise two-year budget. Those talks could stretch into the fall or beyond, since Senate Democrats voted to spend $9.8 billion more than Assembly Republicans.

Those negotiations could start next week, but leaders of both parties promised to fight for their priorities.

All but one of 52 Republicans voted for the budget. Rep. Jeff Wood (R-Chippewa Falls) joined 43 Democrats in voting against the budget. Four Democrats were absent.

Republicans said their budget would drop Wisconsin out of the top 10 states for taxation and cut borrowing to pay for future spending.

“It is time for government to feel the pain that taxpayers have felt for too long,” said Rep. Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater).

Although not perfect (nothing ever is), the Assembly Republicans have done a very good job of crafting a far more responsible budget than either the Senate Democrats or Governor Doyle.  As one insider told me, “If McCallum had done this, he’d still be Governor today.” And he’s right. 

The Assembly Republicans have gone a long way toward reclaiming the brand of the Republican Party of being the party of smaller government.  Kudos to them.  You should all call your representatives and thank them for remembering that every dollar spent on a government program is a dollar taken out of the pocket of a Wisconsin citizen - a dollar that that Wisconsinite can no longer use to better their lives and those of their children and community.  I’ve been very hard on the Assembly leadership and the caucus (justifiably so, I think), but they deserve a great deal of respect for drafting a good budget.  If Wisconsin actually passed budgets like this for a decade or so, this state would be a much better place for families and businesses to afford. 

But the fight’s not over.  The conference committee looms.  I encourage the Republicans to stand firm.  There seems to be a number of things in this budget that can justifiably be left on the conference table, but the Republicans must exact heavy concessions for every one of them.  And, of course, never forget that any deal should be crafted in a way to limit what Doyle can do with his powerful veto power. 

In any case… there is nearly a $10 billion difference between the Republicans’ budget and the Democrats’ budget.  Yes, there is a difference between the parties. 

1. I am not sure I understand something, Owen.  If there is a 10 billion dollar difference, and the 15.2 billion dollar health plan is cut, then does that mean the Republicans offered a budget that added 5 billion in other areas ON TOP of the 3.something billion the Democrats added in fees, etc?  Wasn’t the Democratic budget going to increase the budget by something like 18.9 billion?  That means the Republicans are still incrasing the budget almost 9 billion.  What am I missing?

   Posted by on July 11, 2007 at 0914 hrs




2. What the heck is Rep. Jeff Wood’s deal? Does he need a billboard remember too?

   Posted by on July 11, 2007 at 0952 hrs




3. "reminder” (not remember) DUH!

   Posted by on July 11, 2007 at 0953 hrs




4. One report has the Assembly GOP cutting loose the UW Law School—cutting off all of its state funding in three years, as of fall 2010. 

   That would seem to mean a school seceding from its campus, going on its own—much as the Marquette Medical School became the Medical College of Wisconsin.

   But is this a first in the UW?  If so, why?  Was this a proposal from the UW Law School?  Because state funding has dropped to so little of its budget?  Is this the start of something?  If so, is this something residents ought to know for their plans, if other UW schools, colleges, etc., are going to go private?

   And as Tueroas asks, where did this part of the budget—apparently 4 million—go?  What got increased, instead?

   Posted by on July 11, 2007 at 1000 hrs




5. Owen? Tuerqas has a very good point. Going to address it?

   Posted by on July 11, 2007 at 1002 hrs




6. The McCallum quote was humorous .. but really, you could extend that so much farther.  Had the Republican controlled WI legislature passed this kind of budget the past two cycles, they wouldn’t have lost the assembly last November.

   Why it took a Democratically controlled Senate for the Republicans to finally pull their heads out of their arses is beyond me.

   Posted by on July 11, 2007 at 1014 hrs




7. Hey man, I am not being a smart ass, they may have been comparing with Doyle’s proposal, which did not have the health plan in it, which means it may have cut a lot.  I just want clarification, because it SOUNDS weird.

   Posted by on July 11, 2007 at 1020 hrs




8. The UW Law School cut was, from what I’ve heard, just the Republicans being petty behind closed doors.  Apparently they forgot about when UW emeritus law prof Gordon Baldwin represented the Legislature in its lawsuit regarding Doyle’s original gaming compacts with the Potawatomi.

   At least one member of that caucus tried to get into law school there and couldn’t, and has harbored a grudge ever since.  By the end, they were just looking for anything to cut to get them close to their magic number.

   I’ll certainly give them credit for their final product, but when you start to look at the actual cuts, you realize quickly that there was absolutely no real plan or approach to what they were cutting or how.  All they cared about was the final number, and that fact burns brightly when one looks at the details.

   From those people I’ve spoken to, however, I would be genuinely surprised if they still would’ve gotten 51 votes had the caucus been told that this budget would be the final product.  There are a lot of members who voted for this knowing full well that it was just a working document and a starting point for the negotiation.

   Regarding Jeff Wood, my understanding is that he had some process issues and may have felt that some of the cuts were inequitable in their distribution.  The proposed changes to the Homestead credit, for instance, hits a lot of lower-income, unmarried individuals.  And when you consider that much of what the GOP “saved” there just got paid back out in the form of more corporate tax giveaways, I could see reason enough there for a member of the caucus to raise serious objections.  I mean, should low-income unmarried individuals be paying for the property tax breaks the GOP wants to hand out to their campaign contributors?  Apparently the AssGOP thinks so.

   Jeff’s no big government guy like Roessler, but at the end of the day everyone has to consider the needs of his/her own district and decide if the product is a good product for their constituents.  Jeff apparently felt that it wasn’t.

   Jeff is certainly his own person in that caucus, and conservatives would be wise to remember the number of times that he has fought aggressively on their behalf, especially on TABOR.  One vote does not a record make.  Tar Roessler all you want, but remember that more often than not, Jeff Wood is fighting with you.

   Posted by Recess Supervisor on July 11, 2007 at 1505 hrs




9. If the GOP sits down and negotiates this out they will lose their shirt.  First the dems will want to split everything, then Doyle will screw them over some more.  They will end up worse than the disaster they had last time under Schultz, Fitzgerald, Kaufert and company The state conservatives looked at the last budget like they looked at congress last time.  If you screw your base enough you will never win.
   Sit at the table, hold your gound, pass a few bills on prisons, schools, transportation etc. and let the rest of the state spending stay the same.
   Then we can see our credit rating go up, our positon in regards to other states in taxing go down.
   Let’s do this for a few years and rectify our problem with lack of growth, then grow out of the fiscal disaster that we have had for the last tenyears.
   Cowles and Ellis are the only ones that have been right.

   Posted by on July 11, 2007 at 1638 hrs




10. Ah, well, RS, it seems that not only UW degrees but even college degrees are in short supply in Assembly GOP leadership.  They could have benefited from more American history courses, which would have shown them what happens when you tick off lawyers . . . a talkative and litigious sort. 

    Why not just go right ahead and slap a special sales tax on ‘em, too?  Have they heard of the Stamp Act—and how unwise it was to tick off the main targets, lawyers and editors?  These days, of course, it might be more current to slap a tax on online communication . . . but that would kill this blog, so that would just be ticking off another group in their corner. 

    Petty is one thing—but stupid in picking their fights, too?  And if seen as a first step for other UW schools, it could just grow more groups coming at them from every corner of the state.

    Posted by on July 11, 2007 at 1737 hrs




11. What Bob fails to mention is that many of our biggest cash cows, like MA, are sum sufficient programs.  We legally cannot just let that spending “stay the same.” We have to spend whatever is required to fully fund the program and services that are defined by law.  So then the question becomes “what else do you want to cut?”

    If we plan ahead and appropriate adequate state dollars, then we’ll get our federal match and things will be fine.  If we don’t allocate adequate state dollars, legislators have to figure out what else they want to sacrifice - and the fact is, to keep up with MA costs, there are only a few viable options to cut: Corrections (which goodness knows is easily the most bloated department in state government), K-12, or UW or shared revenue.  The AssGOP would never cut corrections, and shared revenue cuts are just passing the buck.  That’d leave K-12 or UW, and either way you’re screwed there because you’re cutting economic infrastructure to pay for what amounts to nothing more than an enormous quality of life program.  You’re killing the goose and selling it to buy the golden eggs at the store.

    The AssGOP could cut out some or all of the optional services currently provided under MA, but that’s probably not salvageable politically.

    I’m not advocating one thing or another.  I get what Bob is saying and at least in some part, agree with his thoughts.  I think we would probably both agree that the GOP has done a terrible job of prioritizing when it comes to its approach to government funding - not just now, but for years.

    I’m just pointing out as a realist that the picture that Bob paints isn’t nearly as simple as he portrays it.  A continuation budget will never really be a continuation budget.  Sum sufficient appropriations will slowly cannibalize sum certain appropriations.  And considering the terrible job that the AssGOP did of prioritizing when they *weren’t* under the gun, imagine how terrible it’d be if they actually *were* on a short leash timewise.

    You can’t just keep cutting things across the board without state government becoming completely dysfunctional.  At some point you have to prioritize.  You have to say “this program is worth keeping and this one is not, and here’s why.” And that’s something the AssGOP - conservatives, moderates, or otherwise - have never been very willing to do.

    Right now, the AssGOP approach to being short on a mortgage payment is cutting utility, property tax, entertainment, and clothing budgets by the same percentage.  That strategy simply will not work in the long run.

    The goal is admirable.  The method is lazy and not sustainable.

    Posted by Recess Supervisor on July 11, 2007 at 1744 hrs




12. You can’t just keep cutting things across the board without state government becoming completely dysfunctional.

    But on the other hand you also cannot keep adding to the bureaucracy, because at some point it too will become dysfunctional.

    Posted by on July 11, 2007 at 1829 hrs




13. Before you all start doing cartwheels over the Assembly Republican budget, remember this was the “show me how to do it” budget.  It’s an exercise.  It’s meaningless.  It’s still loaded with pork, and I don’t blame Rep. Wood for pouting since he didn’t get his ethanol subsidizing agenda included in the porked up document.  Are you all really happy the Transportation interests won again when the Assembly gave them as much as the Senate Dems, or when they agreed to a 20 dollar vehicle registration fee increase ( this one will cause people to go thru the roof, just watch ) when it went up 15 dollars the previous twenty years combined??  All this budget did was count on overly optimistic revenue projections and slow some INCREASES in state spending. The big losers in this budget are Assembly Republicans who needed to look moderate in those 15 seats that Doyle won in 06.  Bye bye Dean Kaufert.

    Posted by on July 11, 2007 at 1946 hrs




14. Before you get too excited about winning seats, in an off year election with some special factors, cause Doyle won them remember the big massacres by Tommy, Nixon and Reagan, winning all kinds of seats that never went Repbulican.  Tommy won many areas in Milwaukee county that never turned.  That is not a good guidleine.
    Nothing is simple, with 60 billion dollars of expenditures, except death and taxes.
    I look at what other states have done in prioritizing, putting together a wealth plan instead of a welfare plan and say that you can accomplish these things.  Look at New Mexico, Washington and Ireland.
    Growth and jobs are our best way out of this dilemna and the only thing that the democratic budget will do is depress growth even more.
    In fact I never even hear the democrats talk about a growth economy, they would rather “make corporations pay their fair share”.  Pass more laws that essentially produce a new corporate tax like the oil compnay tax.  these are shortsighted and anti-growth.
    The best cure for poverty and lack of healthcare is good jobs.  Get those, we have a victory for mankind.

    Posted by on July 11, 2007 at 2106 hrs




15. The GOP Assembly is pulling a ‘scorched earth’ stunt.
    This will get vetoed.

    That’s working for Wisconsin! Take a budget, approved and already compromised in the Senate and then gut it, make such drastic and careless cuts...only to make a spin point.
    The GOP budget does not help the state at all.

    Only to have to it go back to committee to be completely revised and all these cuts removed. That is bad governance on the GOP’s part.

    Posted by on July 12, 2007 at 1011 hrs




16. Goof…

    So the Assembly should just rubber stamp whatever the Senate does?  Did they “compromise” on it?  Seems to me that the Dems just built their own budget and passed it just like the Republicans did in the Assembly.  Neither minority party was involved or got any amendments passed.  And how is the Senate’s version not a “scorched earth” stunt?  They are proposing massive change in our health care system and a doubling of out GPR spending. 

    And how is a 5% INCREASE a CUT? 

    Your lack of linear thought is what keeps the Dems in power.

    Posted by Owen on July 12, 2007 at 1131 hrs




17. I just love to hear these people cry.  I keep asking; “why do the public employees like goof and recess supervisor believe that they deserve better salaries, pensions, benefits and vacations then the rest of us”?  Never an answer.  When I see the quality of their debate I wonder how they would ever get a real job.

    Posted by on July 12, 2007 at 1143 hrs




18. Dohnal, I have not seen you “debate”. You don’t answer direct questions and often when you do, you don’t answer the question I actually asked. In another thread I asked if it was a good thing that the Assembly didn’t set any spending priorities in its budget and you answered (after being asked a second time) about your own priorities. If we were in a debate over whether the Brewers are going to win the NL Central and I asked you about the Cubs, would you respond by talking about the Minnesota Vikings?

    As hacks like you and those on the left stream your platitudes past one another, you fail to comprehend that government spending is not just about salaries and benefits for public employees. A lot of government spending is on contracts for services provided by private companies or non-profit charitable organizations that, as I think we’d agree, accomplish more per dollar than do government employees. That is part of my argument – that the Assembly simply took a knife to everything instead of setting priorities (please no need to repeat your one profound priority) and finding the most efficient ways to meet those goals.

    Given the sophomoric simplicity of your “arguments” and your lack of understanding of basic budgeting and public policy, I question why you even bother commenting on policy matters. I mean I don’t know anything about computer programming, and so you won’t find me on any computer geek forums trying to argue which operating system is superior.

    Do you understand that, or did I reach your maximum-words-per-reading three paragraphs ago?

    Posted by on July 12, 2007 at 1847 hrs




19. The Republicans are still incrasing the budget almost 9 billion, but still something it’s not good and I don’t know what…

    Posted by fire damage restoration on April 07, 2008 at 1544 hrs