State Budget Projected To Have Large Imbalance Report Says

Gov. Scott Walker’s most recent budget is projected to have one of the largest spending imbalances of the past decade, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.

The imbalance was one of several trends identified in the report. Alliance director Todd Berry said the state is scheduled to spend $233 million more in 2019 than it generates in tax revenue.

“What that means going forward is that in 2019 when the Legislature and governor begin to budget, they will have an imbalance between what they’re spending and what they’re taking in and they’ll have to correct that in some way, either through spending cuts or tax increases or I’m sure they would prefer growth in the economy that would be good enough to churn out a little extra money,” Berry said.

Part of the reason for the imbalance was increased state spending on schools. Spending on K-12 schools in Walker’s most recent budget is scheduled to grow by 8 percent. That’s more than it’s grown in any budget since former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle’s first term — when it grew by 9 percent in 2005.

Berry said a few other things are driving that growth in education spending, including increasing tax revenue and stabilized demand for state services like Medicaid.

“So sort of a mixing of events makes for sort of a perfect opportunity and of course, you also have an election next year,” he said.