Wisconsin Gov. Doyle, Legislative Leaders Reach Agreement On State Budget

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 24 Oct 2007 - 12:00 PDT

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Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) and legislative leaders of both parties on Friday reached an agreement on a $58 billion state budget that would increase the cigarette tax by $1 per pack and does not include proposed taxes on hospitals, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Doyle originally had proposed increasing the cigarette tax by $1.25 per pack.

The tax increase would be used to expand health coverage to nearly all children in the state through the new BadgerCare Plus program. The budget also increases by at least $25 million a one-time transfer of $175 million from a fund that helps pay legal awards in medical malpractice lawsuits. The Wisconsin Medical Society has filed a lawsuit to block the transfer (Walters et al., Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/19). In addition, the proposed budget would provide $30 million to smoking prevention programs (AP/New York Times, 10/21).

Wisconsin is the only state without a budget approved for the current fiscal year; it is operating on a temporary budget. The Legislature is scheduled to vote on the budget on Tuesday, according to state Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson (D) and state Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (R). Robson expects "broad bipartisan approval" of the proposed budget (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/19).

Universal Health Care Proposal
State Sen. Jim Sullivan (D) on Friday said Healthy Wisconsin, a $15.2 billion proposal by state Senate Democrats to create universal health coverage in the state, has been abandoned, but it could lead to a bipartisan health care reform plan in the state Legislature, the Journal Sentinel reports. Healthy Wisconsin had been a sticking point in the budget discussions, but in September, Democrats agreed to remove it and reintroduce it as separate legislation.

However, state Sen. John Erpenbach (D) said the proposal "in some form is coming back," and it will be modified and reintroduced in the state Senate. He added that any health care proposal is "going to have to be comprehensive and substantial" (Rinard, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/19).

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