Wisconsin Has a Healthy Fiscal Balance

Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 -- 10:00 AM

(Terry Bell, WRN) The state of Wisconsin has a healthy fiscal balance.

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau projects the state budget will end the fiscal year with a balance of three-point-eight billion dollars. That's nearly two-point-nine billion more than the Fiscal Bureau predicted just a few months ago.

Republican leaders in the state legislature appear ready to use some of that money for more tax cuts in the next state budget. Joint Finance Committee co-chair, Representative Mark Born, largely credits Republican policies. “This is of course due to quality conservative budgeting for the last ten years, good policy like the tax cuts we’ve seen for the last ten years from this legislature, as well as the influx of massive amounts of federal money into our state in the last two years.”

Born continued, “The general fund balance will be at 3-point-8 billion dollars at the end of this two year budget. That’s a 2-point-9 billion dollar increase from what was projected just a few months ago. That does not include of course our 1-point-7 billion in . . . our rainy day fund as we like to call it. So (we) continue to be in really fiscal shape as a state.”   

Republican legislative leader say they’re ready to put some of the money into additional tax cuts in the next budget. In a statement, Democratic Governor Tony Evers appeared to suggest spending some of the money immediately, saying families and businesses “need relief now.”    

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