Photo by QuinceCreative on Pixabay.
The state’s budget-writing committee was slated to meet earlier this afternoon. Those plans were stymied, though, by a new expected economic forecast for Wisconsin. While the state’s slated to get billions more than earlier projections, Wisconsin’s politicians are divided on how to spend the money.
The delays come after a state agency announced this morning that Wisconsin is poised to receive billions more than previously expected over the next three years.
Those projections found Wisconsin is likely to get $4.4 billion more than previously estimated in January.
Bob Lang is the director of the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. In the memo released this morning, he called the increase in 2021 tax collections “unprecedented.”
Wisconsin is also slated to receive an additional $2.5 billion through the American Rescue Plan Act, which was not incorporated into January’s estimate.
Top Republican legislators say they want to use the additional money for tax cuts rather than increased spending.
Meanwhile, Governor Evers says he wants to use that money for education and state agencies.
In response to today’s news, Governor Evers rescinded a directive to the UW System and state agencies to cut spending by $300 million last year.
The Joint Finance Committee is slated to finish its work on the state budget this month. After that, the proposed budget will head back to Governor Evers, who can veto specific parts of the proposal.
The budget-writing committee was slated to meet at 1pm, which was later pushed back to 3:30. The committee still had not met as of 5:15 this evening.