Walker’s first bills do little to help budget

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By ?SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker ran on the promise of balancing the state’s $3 billion budget shortfall and putting people back to work, but his first proposals will only deepen the state’s fiscal woes.

In his first week in office Walker released eight bills he wants the Legislature to pass by March. Hearings on the bills start Tuesday and the Assembly could start voting on them by the end of the month.

Instead of chipping away at the two-year budget problem, they include tax cuts that would increase the deficit by at least $80 million a year, based on figures released to The Associated Press by Walker’s office. Exact cost estimates to be given to legislators from the nonpartisan Fiscal Bureau were not available as of Friday.

Other measures, like revamping the Commerce Department, will likely have only a marginal cost or none at all. Walker hopes that the new public-private hybrid agency he wants to create focused solely on job creation will help him meet his goal to increase jobs by 250,000 over the next four years.

Walker and Republicans argue that he is setting the stage for greater growth later by making Wisconsin a more attractive place for businesses to locate and grow. Two of his bills are aimed at attracting companies to the state through tax breaks and cutting taxes for very small companies already here, hoping it will cause them to add jobs. He’s also proposed a business-friendly measure to make it much tougher to successfully sue manufacturers and other companies, a move long pushed for by Republicans and chambers of commerce groups.

“The economic growth experienced from these bills coupled with the spending restraint, which will be contained in Gov. Walker’s proposed budget, will put our state in a much better fiscal situation than it is has been in for quite some time,” said Walker’s spokesman Cullen Werwie.

But it could take years before the full impact of the changes proposed by Walker are known while in the short run the state’s coffers will take a hit in order to pay for the tax breaks.

That’s a fact not missed by Democrats, who are attacking Walker for not living up to his campaign promise to focus exclusively on creating jobs and solving the budget problem.

Democrats have proposed a series of bills they say will have a more immediate impact and are already proven to work. They include tax credits targeting start-up companies and increasing enterprise zones where businesses receive economic advantages to locate.

Given that there’s a Republican governor, and the GOP controls both the Senate and Assembly, Democrats are largely resigned to complaining from the sidelines. There’s little they can do to stop the Republican agenda.

Walker’s moves were anticipated and are part of a nationwide focus by newly elected Republicans to be more business-friendly, curb union power and cut the size of government. Walker has had several run-ins with state employee unions already as he seeks deeper concessions from them.

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business group, has praised Walker every step of the way, saying the changes will go a long way to making Wisconsin a friendlier place for companies looking to grow and expand.

“There’s some pretty pointed items that ultimately will create a better business climate,” said Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. “I think that’s what our goal is here.”

Walker and Republicans have made clear that the first bills are just a start. Walker won’t release his budget until late February.

“They’re big picture things,” Fitzgerald said of Walker’s first measures. “If you create a climate where a businessperson isn’t worried about the next lawsuit that’s going to come down, then they look at Wisconsin differently than they do the state of Illinois.”