Walker’s Legislative Finance Team Called for More Spending than Governor

MADISON, Wis. — Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker’s self-appointed tax and spend team in the state legislature, Republicans Robin Vos and Alberta Darling, both called for more General Purpose Revenue funding than requested by Gov. Jim Doyle in state budgets in the past several years.

Over the weekend Walker claimed Vos and Darling, who have both led GOP

Madison efforts on the budget writing Joint Finance Committee, are patching together a host of drastic spending cuts to finance the reckless $2 billion in George W. Bush-style tax cuts for the rich and big business that Walker made the central component of his campaign for governor. With the state facing a $2 billion deficit, Walker will be forced to slash education, health care and police and fire protection in order to finance his tax cut for the rich and big business.

“Scott Walker’s legislative budget team is as guilty of rigging the numbers as Walker,” said Scott Ross, One Wisconsin Now Executive Director. “Look at their records and you’ll see Vos and Darling have both called for higher spending than Gov. Doyle proposed.”

Darling was the Senate co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee for the state’s 2003-05 budget deliberations. According to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the budget she helped pass in the committee proposed nearly $150 million more in GPR funding than the budget proposed by Gov. Doyle. [Legislative Fiscal Bureau, 2003-05 Comparative Summary of Appropriations and Authorizations, http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/2003-05budget/Act33/table2.pdf]

Likewise, current GOP

Madison ranking JFC member Vos said in May 2009 on the Mike Gousha “Upfront” television show that the 2009-11 state budget should have frozen spending at the previous year’s level. According to the LFB, Vos’s scheme would have actually caused an increase of $322 million in GPR spending over what Gov. Doyle proposed. [Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Summary of General Fund Appropriations by Agency, http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/2009-11Budget/Act%2028/table9.pdf; “Upfront,” 5/11/09, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbYQOqFFYlQ]

“This is a classic spending ruse from Scott Walker, whose spending increases have been higher than either Gov. Doyle or Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett,” said Ross. “Walker thinks we need more unpaid Bush-style tax cuts for the rich and big business that collapsed the economy, and that we should reduce spending by relying on big spenders.”

As county executive, Walker proposed spending increases of 35 percent since assuming office, while Gov. Doyle’s increases have been just 21 percent. As a member of the State Legislature, Walker voted for all five state budgets during his time in the state capitol – an 84 percent increase in spending and a total of more than $22 billion in increased spending. [Legislative Fiscal Bureau; Milwaukee County Division of Fiscal and Budget Affairs]