Solution to the state's budget problems
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By Ed Thompson. March 29, 2002. Dear Friend, Since I will be discussing my solution to the budget mess tonight on Wisconsin Public Television at 7pm, I thought you would be interested in a press relesase I put out on my budget solution. In the future I will inform you of all my press releases. You can also read my past press releases by going to my website, clicking on the campaign link, and scolling down to "press releases." Thank you all and keep up the good work! Your friend, Ed STATEMENT: THE 'STATE OF THE STATE' AND SPENDING CUTS PROPOSAL EAGLE RIVER, WI -- Campaigning today in Eagle River, Antigo, and Stevens Point, Ed Thompson, City of Tomah Mayor and Libertarian governor candidate, made the following statement: Tomorrow Governor Scott McCallum will give his "State of the State" address. What you probably won't hear is the full story about Wisconsin's state budget crisis, how we got into this crisis, and the most fair and effective ways to get us out. We are well over a billion dollars in debt. Eliminating shared revenue and using the rest of the tobacco settlement will only cover the shortfall in the current budget. Wisconsin has structural deficits that can only be fixed by changing the role of state government in our lives. Wisconsin has structural corruption in our political process that can only be fixed by exchanging career politicians for ordinary citizens who special interests cannot control. The truth about our budget crisis is that it can be fixed using common sense, fairness, and the guts to stand up to powerful special interests. Here are some proposals for dealing with the crisis: * Lead by example: I will take a 10% salary cut as governor, and require my appointed cabinet members to do the same. I will make across the board cuts in the executive department before demanding that other parts of state government do the same. This will provide savings of $30 million. * Accountability budgeting: Instead of funding state agencies based on their prior budget funding level, I advocate requiring state agencies to justify every tax dollar they spend. This structural change would hold everybody in state government accountable for spending tax dollars and uncover cost saving opportunities throughout state government. The last budget saw appropriations rise 10.4%. Using accountability budgeting, the governor and legislature would have prevented at the least any increase in appropriations over the prior budget's level, resulting in an over $2.2 billion savings each year during the two year budget. Instead, they passed the worst budget in the nation. Here are a few examples of spending I would have cut under accountability budgeting: · Reduce the budget of the newly formed Department of Information Technology by 20% for a savings of $56 million. · Immediately freeze all spending of tax dollars on land purchases by the DNR and other state agencies to save millions, $60 million from the DNR alone. · Immediately freeze state hiring at a savings of approximately $10 million. · Sell all 6 planes assigned to the Department of Administration valued at $14.1 million. Require the DNR to justify it's 16 planes valued at $441,000 and the DOT to justify its 8 planes valued at $802,000. Sell what can't be justified. · Sell 90% of the 2,381 cars in the state fleet, cancel plans to buy 96 more, and reimburse state employees for necessary travel for a savings of approximately $4.5 million. · Wean the recycling industry off state subsidies, which currently amount to $9.5 million per year. · Sell hundreds of surplus state buildings. The state owns 8,182 buildings. A Department of Administration report indicates the state is not even sure how some of these buildings are used. I will find out, sell-off all unnecessary properties, and return those properties to the tax rolls. · Explore privatization and out-sourcing contracts as a means of additional savings. * Prisons: In 1989 the Department of Corrections budget was $224 million. Today, it is $1 billion. According to the DOC, Wisconsin's inmate population is over 20,000. Two years ago the DOC reported it costs taxpayers $22,629.12 to house one inmate. Dramatic DOC savings begin with placing non-violent prisoners in alternatives to incarceration. This would create direct savings of over $120 million plus indirect savings including from selling prisons and stopping our prison building binge. * Education: Vouchers and charter schools expand parents' ability to provide the best education for their children. They also save tax money. Voucher and charter students in Milwaukee helped taxpayers save $53.5 million. I want to expand these programs state-wide. There are over 875,000 children in public schools across Wisconsin. If just 10% of public students statewide attend voucher and charter schools, we will save as much as $380 million additional tax dollars per year. I would also suspend the SAGE program at a savings of $100 million. There is little evidence that SAGE will be effective, and we do not have the money for it now. I don't have the staff that the governor and the Democrats do to research the budget, but these are a few obvious places to cut state spending. This is only the tip of the iceberg. As governor, I will put everything on the table. Even when we reach a balanced budget, I will not stop looking for ways to cut spending. We are the third highest taxed state in the nation. I will change that by changing the way the state does business. Only a governor who is not indebted to special interests can lead us out of our budget crisis. I am that person. (For more information you can contact the Ed Thompson campaign headquarters in Tomah at (608) 374-2675 or visit the campaign website at www.EdThompson.com.) -30- |
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