- Thu Feb 19, 2015 4:49 pm
#54347
Scottie's not paying the bills!!!
:o
To help close the state’s $283 million budget shortfall this year, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) plans to skip a $108 million debt payment scheduled for May.
By missing the May payment, Walker will incur about $1.1 million in additional interest fees between 2015 and 2017. The $108 million debt will continue to live on the books; Walker’s budget proposal for 2015-2017 will pay down no more than about $18 million of the principal.
“This latest accounting gimmick kicks the can further down the road and will end up costing taxpayers millions more,” State Sen. Jennifer Shilling (D) said in a press release yesterday.
Democrats have been pressuring Walker to address the estimated $283 million shortfall with an emergency budget bill, but he has resisted so far. Restructuring this kind of debt does not require legislative sign-off. Walker may also be forced to make emergency government spending cuts in the next four months to make ends meet.
In March last year, Walker signed a $541 million tax cut for both families and businesses. At that point, Wisconsin was facing a $1 billion budget surplus through June 2015, the Journal Sentinel reported.
By November last year, the administration was estimating a $132 million shortfall. In January, the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau pegged it at $283 million. The Bureau, which does research for the Wisconsin Legislature, explained that tax collections were $173 million worse than the administration’s own estimates in November
:o
To help close the state’s $283 million budget shortfall this year, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) plans to skip a $108 million debt payment scheduled for May.
By missing the May payment, Walker will incur about $1.1 million in additional interest fees between 2015 and 2017. The $108 million debt will continue to live on the books; Walker’s budget proposal for 2015-2017 will pay down no more than about $18 million of the principal.
“This latest accounting gimmick kicks the can further down the road and will end up costing taxpayers millions more,” State Sen. Jennifer Shilling (D) said in a press release yesterday.
Democrats have been pressuring Walker to address the estimated $283 million shortfall with an emergency budget bill, but he has resisted so far. Restructuring this kind of debt does not require legislative sign-off. Walker may also be forced to make emergency government spending cuts in the next four months to make ends meet.
In March last year, Walker signed a $541 million tax cut for both families and businesses. At that point, Wisconsin was facing a $1 billion budget surplus through June 2015, the Journal Sentinel reported.
By November last year, the administration was estimating a $132 million shortfall. In January, the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau pegged it at $283 million. The Bureau, which does research for the Wisconsin Legislature, explained that tax collections were $173 million worse than the administration’s own estimates in November
