Doyle defends no public hearings on budget fix bill

Talk about it

Gov. Jim Doyle defended the state’s fast action on a bill that raises taxes and uses federal funds to balance the current state budget.

The Democratic governor signed the package Thursday. He said much of it was hashed out for a long time, even though it was shaped into a new bill just last week.

It will use $300 million in federal stimulus aid to cover the current deficit of $600 million. That money will be used for road and bridge projects. There’s also a new tax on hospitals, to try and attract more federal Medicaid money.

Corporations can no longer shelter their Wisconsin income in out-of-state subsidiaries to avoid taxes. Sales taxes will now be applied to custom business software, Internet shoppers, and music downloads and another $125 million in state spending will be cut.

Doyle said these actions needed to be taken, and he criticized minority Republicans who he says, “say no to everything.”

However, Assembly GOP leader Jeff Fitzgerald, Horicon, said it was irresponsible for Democrats to hurt the economy when so many people are losing their jobs.

“There is not an economist in the world that would recommend raising taxes during a recession,” said Fitzgerald said.

“Passing legislation that knowingly hurts the economy during a time when so many people are losing their jobs is irresponsible. The Democrats’ quest for taxpayer cash has no boundaries, regardless of the negative effect on families and businesses in Wisconsin,” he added.

New figures released Thursday said corporate state tax revenues dropped 32 percent in the last seven months, 10 percent more than projected, but a boost in state tax revenues created an overall increase in tax collections of 0.2 percent.

Tags: wisconsin news, budget, fix, bill