There are still a whole lot of unknowns right now as Gov. Jim Doyle attempts to craft a state budget that will correct a $5.4 billion deficit and take advantage of some amount of federal stimulus funds.
Doyle is slated to give his budget address on Tuesday, Feb. 17. But were asking area legislators to weigh in on what they want to see in the next biennial budget.
State Sen. Jim Sullivan (D-Wauwatosa) said his biggest metro-Milwaukee budget priorities are getting the Zoo Interchange project off the ground and launching a UW-Milwaukee bioengineering campus on the Milwaukee County grounds. Angel investment tax credits are also high on his list.
Sullivan said the Zoo Interchange projectprovided theres no widening or lane expansion and preserves local assets such as Miller Park, the Story Hill neighborhood and the historic cemetery on the VA grounds--is necessary to modernize a critical transportation hub. Related to that is the UWM campus, which would spur short-term (construction) and long-term (biotech, engineering, academic) job creation.
It would also block the future development of big box retail stores on that land, Sullivan said.
The biggest challenge, though, is generating revenue. Today, Doyle announced $125 million in spending cuts, plus the addition of the hospital assessment fee (which could bring in $900 million of new federal revenue annually) and the closing of the Las Vegas loophole, which allows businesses to avoid paying taxes in Wisconsin.
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Sullivan, prior to Doyles announcement, said nothing is off the table during revenue discussions. He said he hopes to avoid raising taxes in areas where businesses are vulnerablefor example, raising the real estate transfer fee or the gas tax.
But, he said, I havent sworn anything off.