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Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Sunday, March 25, 2007

Budget is the real ‘March Madness’

By Stever Gores | Community columnist

It’s March Madness time in Madison as basketball tournaments and heated discussions about Gov. Doyle’s sharp elbows with the state budget are throwing off the capital’s equilibrium.

Many people enjoy bashing politicians, and sometimes their fiscal and ethical behavior make them easy targets, especially at budget time.

However, many constituents don’t make their job any easier when they and special interest groups lobby for enhanced or at least the same level of government services (for example, affordable health care coverage or school programs) while simultaneously demanding lower taxes, spending and a balanced budget. What’s a politician to do when presented with this classic tax-service paradox?

In my view, a wise politician (and no, that’s not an oxymoron) should always search for a reasonable and prudent balance between taxes and spending on desired services.

With that in mind, here’s my halftime analysis of Gov. Doyle’s proposed state budget, which has some fiscally conservative legislators like Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch crying foul. Let’s check the highlights:

A new tax on big oil to help with transportation costs. Doyle insists he can collect this tax from huge, multinational oil companies while prohibiting them from passing the extra costs on to the gasoline consumer. Some business analysts are skeptical that such restrictions would even be legally enforceable much less practically accomplished. A real “air ball” of an idea.

Doubling the real estate transfer fee — how this makes buying and selling a home in Wisconsin more affordable and attractive is something you’ll have to ask Coach Doyle.

A new 1 percent tax on Wisconsin hospitals’ gross revenues. The theory here is that up to two-thirds of the cost could go back to hospitals in the form of increased federal Medicaid reimbursement rates while helping to expand health care coverage for the uninsured.

The problem is the hospitals aren’t buying this theory and oppose the tax, predicting that eventually it will only increase health care costs for individual consumers and businesses.

A $1.25 bump in the cigarette tax. Doyle scores here if he can assure us that some of this extra revenue will actually go to tobacco-related health care costs and anti-smoking programs. Last time we soaked tobacco, the state merely used it to plug big deficit holes in the general revenue budget.

A plan to increase spending limits on municipalities and counties from

2 percent to 4 percent. While this idea is a big hit with local officials feeling the pinch of tight budgets, what’s in it for the already overburdened local property taxpayer? One thing is an almost certain increase in your next local property tax bill. Doyle’s team should be called for charging here.

Bottom line: Already squeezed middle class taxpayers are looking at the governor’s budget proposal, see lots of new taxes and spending, but wonder where the extra service benefits are for them. Let’s hope the Legislature will step up the defensive pressure for the taxpayer in the second half.

Steve Gores is an educator, political activist and communications director of Citizens for Responsible Government: La Crosse County, a local taxpayers’ watchdog group.