3/16/2011

March 15, 2011 For Immediate Release Contact: Cullen Werwie, (608) 267-7303

Madison–Today the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) released numbers confirming what Governor Walker has been saying all along regarding the amount of savings realized from the budget repair bill.

According to LFB the savings realized from the pension reforms alone in the budget repair bill will account for a majority of the school aid reductions in proposed 2011-13 biennial budget. When at least $68 million of savings is factored in for school districts switching from the expensive WEA Trust health insurance program to the state plan or another private insurance plan, the proportion of savings to reductions improves—and that is before an increase in the amount of money employees pay toward their health insurance is factored in.

The main reason school aids are declining is because in the previous biennial budget, $789 million was used from the federal stimulus to backfill general fund aid shortfalls to K-12 education. Governor Walker’s budget addresses the hole left from the use of one-time money without widespread layoffs or massive tax increases by enacting modest pension and health insurance reforms.

Additionally, LFB’s numbers show the savings that will materialize from the pension reforms at the local levels of government.

Below is a statement from Governor Walker commenting on LFB’s release:

With the state facing a massive budget deficit, high unemployment, and an ever growing government that taxpayers can no longer afford to support, I stood up to the status quo and introduced a bold set of reforms that improve services and control costs.

The numbers released by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau today show that the reforms contained in the budget will avoid layoffs and protect middle class taxpayers all across Wisconsin, in addition to the changes to collective bargaining which will ultimately improve education.

Below is a link to the LFB document estimating these savings: