Candidates for governor spar over budget deficit
11:49 PM 10/29/02
Tom Sheehan State government reporter

Ed Thompson offered to get the boxing gloves to settle an early skirmish between Republican Scott McCallum and Democrat Jim Doyle in Tuesday night's gubernatorial debate, which also featured Green Party candidate Jim Young.

But all candidates remained seated as they traded jabs about the state's deficit, which is expected to reach $1.3 billion by July 2003.

Thompson, an independent candidate and former amateur boxer, made his offer as Doyle pressed McCallum for specific budget-cutting proposals. Doyle accused McCallum, the incumbent, of delaying announcement of his plans for specific departments until after the Nov. 5 election.

"Because I wanted to save you the embarrassment," McCallum snapped back at Doyle, who as state attorney general, must prepare his Department of Justice budget under McCallum's directive.

Moments before, Doyle worked under McCallum's skin by proposing elimination of the state Department of Electronic Government. McCallum created the department in the 2001-03 state budget and vetoed a proposal in the state budget repair bill that would have eliminated it.

Cutting the department, which adds to the bureaucracy and uses outside contractors, could save the state between $40 million and $50 million, Doyle said.

The department already has saved the state $18 million by consolidating information technology services from many state departments into one with experts in the field, McCallum said.

McCallum said his 2001-03 state budget proposal to eliminate shared revenue, which has been criticized by many local government officials, has been "tough" on him personally. But he took credit for shifting budget debate from government spending to government efficiency. He doesn't expect to propose eliminating shared revenue again, McCallum said, when pressed again by Doyle.

"I want to reform the system itself so it responds to workers and taxpayers," McCallum said.

Thompson said he would save the state about $500 million by cutting the state Department of Corrections budget in half. Most of the savings would come from the release of non-violent offenders, who could be put on other programs, he said.

The only cuts that are "off the table" in Thompson's mind are proposals that would hurt the ability of people to pay for needed health care and nursing home care, he said.

Thompson also said he would stop two-thirds state funding of school building projects, a proposal that has been approved but is being phased in. Doyle said he would create a state building authority to create a priority list for school capital improvement projects.

Young proposed eliminating corporate tax breaks and shifting the savings to education to provide more options for teachers to help mold curriculum around student needs.

Sun Prairie City Council President Larry Olness, who was in the television audience, said he would vote for Thompson if the election were held today, "but we still have a week to go."

Thompson and Young added a badly needed dynamic at the debate, Olness said. Olness considers himself an independent but has contributed at times to Republicans and Democrats, he said.

Discussion at the hour-long We the People/Wisconsin debate in Madison remained focused on the budget, even if in-depth plans and specifics were sometimes hard to find. That may have been in part the result of the efforts of Wisconsin Public Television's Andy Moore, who said he had a "pep talk" with candidates before the debate.

"I told them I wanted them to keep it in the first person. It's just too late to talk about plane rides," said Moore, referring to an ongoing exchange of accusations between McCallum and Doyle.

We the People/Wisconsin is a civic journalism project that includes the Wisconsin State Journal.