Assembly leadership has apparently reached a bargain with the Democrats over a state budget. We are still somewhat in the dark on all the subtleties, but from all reports this falls far short of what we fiscal conservatives were hoping to see.
Taxes and fees will increase over $1 Billion, closer to $1.4 Billion, with questionable new programs being included. The program guaranteeing 'B' students access to further education upon graduation from high school carries an unknown future price tag. It is possible that this could ultimately be voted down in a subsequent session, but that would seem very unlikely.
Cigarette taxes have, of course, increased by $1.00 to $1.77 per pack. I described this some time ago as the killing of the goose laying those golden eggs. As the cigarette tax increases, that forces more and more people to quit smoking...and the tax revenue stream dries up. New Jersey recently increased its tobacco tax only to see revenue decline immediately thereafter; they had crossed the line. Incidentally, this is a classic form of regressive taxation; it affects those typically least able to afford the tax. How is it that the press doesn't seem to see this injustice? Of course, the programs being supported by the cigarette tax will never go away, so we citizens get stung again when some form of taxes or fees will be increased to offset the 'loss' of tax revenue from cigarettes.
There are some 27 members of the Assembly who have signed a 'no tax increase' pledge. Two of those are Democrats, and one of those is Rep. Wasserman who is running against Sen. Alberta Darling, proclaiming himself a 'fiscal conservative'. He has already said that, while he did sign 'the pledge', he also took the Hippocratic Oath. Naturally, he now tells us that the Hippocratic Oath trumps his 'no tax increase' pledge. He knew all along that the cigarette taxes were most likely going up, and he also knew what his position was even as he signed the pledge to draw favorable attention.
We need to watch carefully for the votes on this issue. How many others will renege on their pledge? The Republicans will pay the greatest price for backsliding, since Democrats are thought wise whenever they increase spending.
Finally, the abomination called 'Healthy Wisconsin' is very likely to come back as a free-standing bill after a slight face-lift. That would've added another $1.5 Billion to state spending, so it promises a contentious battle all over again somewhere down the road.
We Wisconsinites have learned that there is only one time when we're relatively safe from our elected representatives...when they're out of session...and even that doesn't prove true on occasion.
