2-9-17 governor delivers proposed state budget

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has put forward a state budget that looks far different than the ones from his first six years in office.  Walker has said the budget will have a huge boost for schools, sizeable tuition cuts for college students groaning under debt and increased tax breaks for the working poor.  In total the budget includes more than $900 million in new spending.   Fond du Lac Republican state representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt says he would be inclined to put some money into a rainy day fund.  “I think its clearly a reflection of the positive numbers that came out in terms of revenue projections,”  Thiesfeldt told WFDL news.  “You do have to have some caution with that.  There’s no guarantee all that money is going to be there.”   Walker says the state’s rainy day fund will sit at $20 million under his budget.    Democratic state representative Gordon Hintz of Oshkosh says the governor is trying to make up for massive cuts made in previous budgets and the budget likely has a lot to do with positioning for a third term in 2018.  “It appears the governor is sort of acknowledging that the last six years his priorities have been a complete failure,”  Hintz said.   Hintz says the governor is playing with money that may not even exist.   Walker says his state budget will keep property taxes lower on the average home in 2018 than they were in 2010. Walker says “our common-sense reforms” have resulted in a “significantly better budget outlook for the state.”