Rep. Garey Bies’ Latest Notes from the West Wing… “The State Budget”

Posted on 02. Jun, 2009 by in News, Visual Arts

State Representative Garey Bies

Greetings once again from the State Capitol.  For today’s edition of Notes from the West Wing I am going to talk about the State Budget recently passed out of the Joint Finance Committee by the Senate and Assembly Democrats.

First a quick legislative lesson for those of you who may not be aware how the state budget is crafted.  The legislative process begins with the introduction of the budget by the Governor.  Once the budget bill is introduced, it is sent to the Joint Committee on Finance where most of the work on the budget by the legislature is carried out.  After the Finance Committee completes its work, the budget goes to the full Assembly and Senate for a vote.

The Joint Finance Committee consists of 16 members, 8 each from the Assembly and Senate.  Whichever party has the majority controls the Finance Committee.  Because the Democrats control both the Assembly and Senate, they control the powerful Finance Committee.

The membership of the Finance Committee heavily favors the majority party, despite the slim majority held by the Democrats in the Senate and Assembly.  On the Finance Committee, the Democrats have a lop-sided 12-4 member majority.  Because of this overwhelming majority on the Committee, the Democrats have total control of how the budget is written.  Unfortunately, the Democrat’s budget is as bad as I have ever seen it.

For this update I will hit just some of the low-lights of the Democrats’ budget.  If you would like to learn more, please feel free to contact me, I’d be happy to talk to you about the budget and answer any questions you might have.

First, on Friday May 29th at 5:45 am, the Finance Committee concluded work on the budget.  The Democrats put the finishing touches on their budget on the last day after a 12-hour, middle-of-the-night session in which all proposals brought to the full 16-member committee had been crafted behind closed-doors with no regard for openness or transparency.
See this Appleton Post-Crescent Editorial: Budget dealings are insult to public.

Despite the unprecedented deficit facing Wisconsin, this budget increases spending by 7%, raises taxes by billions and contains millions of dollars in earmarks.  No earmark is too big or too small – whether its $5 million for the Bradley Center or $43,000 for recycling bins in Wrightstown.  And there are plenty of earmarks.  How about $500,000 for an environmental center to be located in an area represented by the Assembly and Senate Co-Chairs of the Finance Committee?   Or the $100,000 for a stone barn in Oconto County.  Or how about $500,000 for remodeling the Opera House in Oshkosh?  $125,000 for a library remodel job in Eau Claire?  How about $6.6 million for the Yahara River in Dane County, again the area represented by the two Co-Chairs of the Finance Committee.  For more, visit the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article: Budget includes millions in earmarks.

Again, this is only a sample of the earmarks approved by the Democrats.  Earmarks are always dubious, but when Wisconsin is facing such a severe budget deficit, the Democrats’ earmarks are irresponsible.

So to pay for these earmarks and address the deficit, the Democrats have proposed a number of tax increases.  Yes, the Democrats claim that they have made some tough decisions for cutting spending, and they have cut spending on things like shared revenue for local governments – The very money that enables your community to provide you with essential services.  They have cut by gutting truth-in-sentencing which will allow violent and nonviolent felons to be released from prison much earlier.  They have also cut spending on electronic monitoring of released prisoners (but not cutting spending on the electronic monitoring of wildlife, like golden eagles).

As for the tax increases, here are but a few examples:

Property taxes will increase on the average $160,000 home by $316.  Homes worth more than that will see an increase closer to $500.

For seniors – the nursing home bed assessment will double from $75 per month to $150 per month and then increasing the rate to $170 per month in 2010.  The Retirement Tax is increased by doubling the fees on mutual funds and investment advisors.  For those seniors who invest in real estate or stocks, they will have to pay taxes on 20% more of their earnings due to changes in the capital gains tax.

For Taxpayers – we will see a gas tax increase of at least 6 cents per gallon.  Phone taxes will increase 75 cents for both cell phones and landlines.  Electricity taxes are going to increase 10%, the garbage tax doubles, and the cigarette tax is increased another 75 cents.

In a particularly tough move for working families, the Democrats have removed the tax deduction for daycare expenses.

Also, in a move that will devastate everyone, the Democrats have removed the tax deduction for health care premiums.  The last thing we need right now is more expensive health care.  Didn’t the Democrats campaign last fall on reducing the cost of health care?  Instead they have done just the opposite.

I could go on and on, but there is only so much space in this column.  I have not even touched on education, including the cuts to K-12, cuts to the UW System coupled with UW tuition increases and decreases to financial aid at the same time.  But as I mentioned before, if you want to learn more, my door is always open and I’d be happy to talk to you.

As always, I can be reached by e-mail at Rep.Bies@legis.wisconsin.gov or by telephone, toll-free at 1-888-482-0001.  You can also visit my website at http://www.legis.state.wi.us/assembly/asm01/news/.

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