Republicans vow budget fight
11:01 PM 6/12/03
Scott Milfred State government reporter

The Republican-run Legislature will pass its version of the state budget next week, daring Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle to veto tight caps on local property taxes, a top lawmaker said.

"The budget fight is about one thing and one thing only - our desire to freeze property taxes, and Jim Doyle's desire to raise property taxes," Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, said Thursday.

But Marc Marotta, Doyle's administration secretary, said the Republican-backed proposal to cap local property taxes would severely harm school children.

"It's really not a freeze," Marotta said. "It's a $400 million cut to public education."

The war of words came on the same day the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau released its analysis of the revised state budget approved last week by the Legislature's budget committee.

The analysis shows that the Joint Finance Committee's budget plan spends $573 million less than the governor's budget: $48.86 billion compared to $49.43 billion over the next two years. Both budget versions spend a similar amount of general state tax dollars.

The committee's budget eliminates 650 fewer state government jobs than Doyle's plan, according to the analysis.

The committee's budget also leaves the state in somewhat worse shape for the next state budget starting in mid-2005, the analysis shows.

But the biggest difference, Gard insisted, is the Legislature's desire to virtually freeze local government property tax levies, tighten caps on school district levies and limit technical college levies to 2.6 percent growth. The Republican plan would not limit the state's relatively small property tax for forestry programs that's projected to increase at 7 percent.

Gard said Doyle should sign the budget with the property tax limits in place if he's serious about his campaign promise not to raise taxes.

Doyle has called the freeze "a gimmick" that would strip local control. Yet Doyle has not said he'll veto the provision.

Marotta said property taxes are "a 100-year-old-problem in this state" that must be addressed, but the Legislature's plan would "handcuff" school districts, hurt kids and force local governments to cut vital services.

"What John Gard is trying to do here is he's trying to make local governments the same kind of fiscal basket case that he made the state government," Marotta said.

The secretary also repeated Doyle's threat to veto the entire state budget if the Senate and Assembly don't make changes next week.

Gard said he doubts Doyle is serious. After all, Doyle has vast line-item veto powers allowing him to cross out individual words, sentences or entire sections of the budget.

"If he thinks we're bluffing, then great," Marotta said.

Gard vowed: "If he vetoes the whole budget, we are going to send them a (property tax) freeze right back again."