While the next two-year budget is still a work in progress, it looks like Wisconsin will make it through the current budget even without the extra revenue many had hoped for.
Earlier this year, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau projected that the state faced a $283 million hole in the current budget — the one that ends June 30. But according to Fiscal Bureau Director Bob Lang, that number is now smaller for a few reasons.
Lang said the Walker administration saved about $98 million by reducing the amount it set aside for state employee compensation. Also, Lang said the Potawatomi paid the state $50 million as part of its gaming compact. That happened after Gov. Scott Walker rejected a proposed Kenosha casino project.
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The Walker administration also delayed the repayment of $108 million in state debt and refinanced another $10 million in borrowing. Lang said that left the state closer to $15 million in the hole this fiscal year, which he said the administration can likely make up on its own if it needs to.
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