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Legislators React To LFB Projections
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 19, 2017
From WisPolitics.com …
JFC Co-chair John Nygren is pumping the brakes on any rush to commit the extra $713.6 million after the latest projections from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
The Marinette Republican noted it’s unclear how the incoming Trump administration will approach programs such as Medicaid and if there will be additional federal aid for transportation. He also noted the projection is based off an expectation the Trump administration will set policies that boost the economy.
“Just like economists can paint a more pessimistic picture a couple of months back, painting a more rosy one now doesn’t give me reason to go out and spend a lot of money,” Nygren said.
LFB expects the state to collect $454.6 million more in taxes through mid-2019 than what the Walker administration had projected in November.
LFB also is now projecting a gross balance on June 30 of $427.2 million, $322.4 million more than the Walker administration projected in November. That includes $63.4 million in additional tax collections that are part of the overall bump of $454.6 million.
The bottom line is $713.6 million more than the state was expecting through mid-2019. When the administration announced its revenue projections in November, agencies had requested $693 million more than what the state was expecting to take in. The additional money means the administration could cover all of that and still have money left over, though it’s expected Gov. Scott Walker will pare back at least some of the agency requests as he has highlighted aid for public K-12 schools, the UW System and cutting college tuition among his top priorities.
Others have already suggested the money should go toward tax cuts or other priorities, while Dems have raised the caution flag about the numbers.
Rep. Dale Kooyenga, the Assembly vice-chair of Joint Finance, said he wants to work with lawmakers to direct the additional revenue to “lowering Wisconsin’s tax burden, improving education and transportation needs.”
The Brookfield Republican said the state continues to “prove that smart budgeting works.”
“We froze property taxes and cut income taxes and our state revenue has continued to increase,” he said. “We refused to grow government and instead demanded efficiencies that help our seniors, families and young professionals.”
Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh and a Joint Finance member, pointed to the revenue growth for 2016-17 being lower than the LFB had projected at this point last year. The LFB report last year had projected the state would grow its general tax fund collections by $480.1 million, or 3.2 percent. In yesterday’s report, the LFB projected an increase of $406.1 million, or 2.7 percent. That includes a roughly $100 million dip in corporate tax collections.
The state budget, he said, got “bailed out by savings” from agencies, including the Medicaid savings.
“It’s hard to look at (the) report and say, ‘Oh, this is great,'” he said. “From a long-term standpoint, you would prefer to have better economic growth producing new revenue.”
Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, meanwhile, called for Walker to stop “handing out taxpayer subsidies to companies that outsource jobs” and instead focus on helping the middle class.
“The updated numbers prove what Democrats have been saying all along,” the La Crosse Dem said. “Working families are paying millions more in taxes while corporations and the well-connected are benefiting from massive Republican giveaways.”
See the LFB memo here.
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