STATE NEWS: Agencies say they can't cut budgets

By Scott Bauer
Associated Press

Thursday, November 20, 2008 6:33 AM CST

MADISON — At least three Wisconsin state agencies say they can't meet Gov. Jim Doyle's orders to come up with plans to cut spending by 10 percent, an ominous sign of the tough budget-balancing task ahead.

Secretary of State Doug La Follette said a 10 percent cut is "simply impossible," in a letter sent to Doyle's budget director. Railroad Commission Secretary Roger Breske said such a cut would reduce his office to a "dog-and-pony show." And the state Board on Aging and Long Term Care said meeting the governor's order to cut "makes no sense."

Doyle's administration issued the order in light of a projected $5 billion budget shortfall by July 2011. All agencies were originally asked to submit a plan by Monday, but Doyle waived the deadline saying deeper cuts may be needed.

It's not uncommon for smaller agencies to bristle when asked to come up with 10 percent cuts, said Doyle's budget director Dave Schmiedicke. His office will work with all agencies in the upcoming weeks on their budgets, including those that said they can't come up with cuts.

"It's going to be a difficult budget, there's no question about that," Schmiedicke said Wednesday. "We're going to have to look at all programs and there will have to be reductions."

Doyle warned last week that solving the budget problem will require job reductions, cuts in state government and possibly tax increases, although he said he would do "everything humanly possible" to avoid raising general sales or income taxes.

Not everyone within state government seems prepared to give up anything to help solve the problem.

Breske, the railroad commissioner who was appointed from the state Senate by Doyle earlier this year, said he had serious concerns with the order to come up with 10 percent cuts. He said that would amount to a $48,700 cut that would require laying off one of two full-time safety analysts.

The analysts are responsible for investigating rail crossing sites, drainage, bridge, clearance and other safety compliance issues across the state. Laying off one of them, in order to meet the budget cut, would put public safety at risk and "reduce this office to a dog-and-pony show and undermine Wisconsin's strong railroad tradition," Breske wrote.

Breske was at a meeting Wednesday and did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

La Follette, in his 30th year as secretary of state, was even more blunt in a Nov. 14 response to Schmiedicke.

"This office is operating on the absolute minimum in terms of staffing and funding, and it is simply impossible to offer a functional plan at a 10 percent reduction," he said.

La Follette was out of the office Wednesday and did not immediately return an e-mail message seeking comment.

Heather Bruemmer, executive director of the Board on Aging and Long Term Care, said the cut would have to come from its ombudsman program, which is state-funded and charged with looking after the rights and welfare of people utilizing long-term care.

"In light of the importance of the agency's programs to the public health, welfare and safety, it makes no sense to follow through with the plan to reduce this agency's operating expenses by 10 percent," Bruemmer said. She asked that the agency be exempted.

Agencies this week also submitted their plans showing where they would cut roughly $500 million in the current fiscal year. No agencies said they would not comply with that cut, Schmiedicke said. That cut was required under the budget passed into law by the Legislature earlier this year.

Doyle's next budget, covering July 2009 through June 2011, will be released in February.

Special Offer: Get 5 Weeks of the Journal Times for $7!