Gov. Jim Doyle announced Wednesday a stimulus package he hopes will decrease the state budget deficit and put Wisconsin residents to work improving infrastructure.
Flanked by state Assembly Speaker Michael Sheridan, D-Janesville, state Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Schofield, and other state lawmakers, Doyle unveiled legislation he said would reduce the current deficit by $700 million through cuts in government spending and through funds from the federal stimulus package.
This bill lays some critical groundwork for getting our state's economy back on track, and it creates a platform for putting federal stimulus dollars to work quickly and efficiently,"" Doyle said.
The package, which Democrats plan to introduce later in the week, would decrease government spending by $125 million and use $300 million of the federal package to create jobs on, as Doyle said, ""shovel-ready transportation projects that will modernize our infrastructure.""
The bill also includes a hospital tax expected to bring in $900 million in federal revenue.
Doyle did not mention specific government programs that would face budget cuts, but said the main effect would be cutbacks in government agencies at the local level.
""All of our agencies in the state government are going to be asked to do more with less,"" he said. ""It will make a real difference.""
Sheridan said he was hopeful for bipartisan support for the package, saying, ""I look forward to working with all members of the Legislature '¦ We all need to dig in and work together more than we ever have in the past.""
However, when asked if they expected support from Senate or Assembly Republicans, both Sheridan and Decker said they were not optimistic and the package would probably rely on the Democratic majority in both houses to pass.
State Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, said he thinks it is ""laughable"" that Doyle calls the package a stimulus because it would not create jobs or cut taxes.
Citing its ""billions of dollars in tax increases,"" state Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, said in a statement he thinks the state stimulus package will result in ""economic doom.""
""While I appreciate the Democrats' rhetoric about boosting businesses and creating jobs, unfortunately I think the consequences of this disastrous plan will be more pink slips and job losses for Wisconsin workers,"" he said in the statement.
