Paper finds Doyle nowhere near meeting campaign promise

Talk about it

Gov. Jim Doyle has not even come close to meeting his goal to cut 10,000 state government jobs in his first two terms.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel puts the number of job reductions at 2,730 in Doyle’s first three state budgets, leaving him only one more budget to achieve the goal he set in his 2002 election campaign.

Doyle he said he still reversed the trend of an expanding government – a state government he said was bloated by the addition of 15,000 jobs in the Tommy Thompson years.

Doyle points to other ways the state is saving money, like using more technology.

But Senate Rep. Ted Kanavas, R-Brookfield, said Doyle has failed to reduce the taxpayers’ burden of supporting state government – and he missed a golden opportunity to restructure it.

Actually, the governor did start a major effort three years ago to consolidate contracts and streamline operations.

But they didn’t save as much as expected so they were later changed or cut.

Doyle also tried consolidating internal state functions, like putting agency attorneys under one umbrella in the administration department.

But some lawmakers called that a “power grab,” and they refused to go along with it.

Tags: wisconsin news, doyle, campaign, promises