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Kreitlow: Doyle Budget Proposals Offer Some Good News for Chippewa Valley

Friday, February 20, 2009

A Column from Senator Pat Kreitlow

Doyle Budget Proposals Offer Some Good News for Chippewa Valley

Long before Governor Doyle’s budget address, everyone realized that this
year’s budget was going to be one of the most difficult in our state’s
history. Facing a record $5.7 billion deficit and struggling to reverse
the economic recession that caused that shortfall has kept the focus on
recovery and balance instead of investment and expansion. The Governor’s
budget proposal, however, manages to find balance while making key
investments, many of which will have a big impact here in the Chippewa
Valley.

The Governor balances the budget, in part, by making over $2.2 billion in
spending cuts - the largest spending cuts in our state’s history. These
cuts are necessary not only to solve our short term deficit but also to
restore our state’s long term fiscal health. We’ll feel these cuts in the
Chippewa Valley, where services that were only 5 miles away may now be a 30
mile drive away. The fact is we in state government need to work harder
and do more with less, just like working families do everyday.

This proposal also brings some long overdue fairness to our tax code. For
years now, corporations have been able to avoid paying taxes on profits
earned here in Wisconsin by using tax loopholes. Governor Doyle’s plan
closes these loopholes, which not only captures over $700 million in new
revenue, but it also balances the playing field for the working families
and small businesses who have been paying more than their fair share for
too long.

As for investing in our economic recovery, the Governor has proposed a plan
to make job creating business tax credits more accessible and he has laid
out a plan to spend the first $300 million in federal stimulus funding,
creating thousands of jobs around the state. The Chippewa Valley will see
over $7 million of stimulus funding for projects in Dunn, Eau Claire and
Wood counties during this first wave of stimulus funding. These projects
will put people to work right away, creating the good paying family
supporting jobs our economy needs. The plan also includes an expansion of
the angel tax credit program; with an additional $500,000 set aside
specifically for businesses in nanotechnology related industries. In the
Chippewa Valley, the Nano-Rite Center continues to see steady growth with
new business interested in the micro-manufacturing of the future moving
into the center all the time. These new tax credits will help us continue
to bring high-tech jobs like those at the Nano-Rite Center to western
Wisconsin.

This budget proposal also includes a $4.40 increase in the state’s trash
tipping fee, a provision that the State Senate passed last year, only to
see it get scaled back by the then Republican controlled Assembly. By
raising this fee we accomplish two things – discouraging out of state trash
haulers from bringing truckloads of Minnesota garbage into Wisconsin and
creating new revenue to fund the University of Wisconsin Bioenergy Center.
This new research center will lead the way in the development of new types
of renewable, Wisconsin made energy that will bring jobs and economic
growth to rural Wisconsin.

While the Governor’s budget proposal is the starting point for the budget
discussion, there is still a long way to go. We’ll spend the next few
months gathering input at public hearings and listening sessions around the
state. After that, we in the legislature will make our own budget
proposals and from there we’ll craft the final product that will move on to
Governor’s desk. While the economy and the deficit continue to make this
process more difficult than ever, Governor Doyle’s solid, responsible
budget proposal has us moving in the right direction.

Last Updated (2009-03-06 16:23:14)