The non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) reported today that Wisconsin's structural budget deficit increased by $277 million over the last six months. This is bad, bad news for the state but it isn't really all that surprising.
Garthwaite and the Democrat majority in the State Assembly voted to increase taxes by nearly $5 billion last year alone. When a government increases taxes on employers in the middle of a recession it hurts them. They stop hiring and sometimes lay people off. They put off expansions. Sometimes they even go out of business. The end result is lower than anticipated tax revenues.
Add to that the fact that Garthwaite voted to increase state spending by 10% and our state ends up with a huge budget deficit. According to this press release, Wisconsin's deficit is more than $2.3 billion. As Rep. Fitzgerald puts it, every man, woman, and child in Wisconsin would have to pay an additional $413 in taxes next year just so the state could break even. Please remind Rep. Garthwaite of this next fall when he brags about voting for a "balanced" budget.
For more information, see this release from Senator Mike Ellis.
In other news, even the neo-socialist Daily Kos is weighing in on the problems facing Assembly Democrat leadership in Wisconsin.
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