Wisconsin Budget Project Publishes Article on W-2 Caseload Levels

Given the current economic situation, you might think that the W-2 cash caseload level would be at historic highs. If so, you’d be wrong.


Yes, the short-term picture shows an increase in caseload levels in each of the last three years. Yet the longer-range view reveals that the current caseload is a fraction of the level two decades ago. As shown in the chart, the recent increase in caseload doesn’t begin to make up for the precipitous drops in caseload that occurred over the 1990s.

Some low-income families are relying on other benefit programs instead of W-2. A recent article by the Wisconsin Budget Project published in the WisKids Journal compares the W-2 caseload increase to that of other public benefit programs, and discusses the fiscal impact of the increase in W-2 caseload.

A Little Bit of Good Budget News !!

Wisconsin has gotten a string of bad news about its fiscal situation over the last two weeks, so I feel compelled to report on one bit of somewhat positive revenue news. The Dept. of Revenue (DOR) released June tax collection data this week, and their figures show that last month’s tax collections were 3.9% ahead of June 2009, bringing revenue for the full fiscal year very close to the projections made in January. 

Significant Unemployment Benefits Victory, but What Comes Next?

Thousands of Wisconsin families will sleep a little better after the Senate finally managed to approve a bill last night to extend unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for the long-term unemployed. The House approved the bill this afternoon and sent it to the President for his signature. Although passage of the bill is a huge relief for those families and will pump millions of dollars into communities across the state, the bill is also noteworthy for what it doesn’t include.

Supreme Court Ruling Adds to Wisconsin’s Substantial Budget Challenges

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled today that the state must pay back the $200 million it transferred from the medical malpractice fund to help balance the 2007-09 budget. The 5-2 court ruling  sided with the arguments by the Wisconsin Medical Society that taking the money from the fund was unconstitutional.  The ruling adds to the substantial challenge Wisconsin will have in bringing the 2009-11 biennial budget back into balance.

Wisconsin Below Average in New Census Data on Per Capita State and Local Spending and Taxes

The following news is not a “man bites dog” story, but some people might see it that way because of the widespread misimpressions about taxes and spending in Wisconsin. 

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau released last week show that Wisconsin was below average in per capita state and local taxes and spending in fiscal year 2008.  The Wisconsin Budget Project’s analysis of the data reveals that the average Wisconsinite paid $40 less in state and local taxes than the average for the nation as a whole in fiscal year 2008. Our state ranked 17th in per capita taxes (with #1 being the highest), compared to 8th in 2000.

LFB Gives Us Some of the Bad Budget News; More May Follow

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) issued a July 9 memo that provides an overview of the state’s budget situation. The picture isn’t pretty and includes a $2.5 billion deficit or "structural imbalance" going into the next budget periord.  However, the LFB spared us from sketching out the ways in which that picture is likely to get uglier – such as a probable shortfall in the Medicaid budget and other increases to the state’s structural deficit.

Property Tax Breaks for Agricultural Land Benefit Developers

Tax breaks intended to provide property tax relief to farmers have had the side effect of lowering property taxes for some developers, according to a new report released by the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau.

Under use value assessment, land used primarily for agricultural purposes is taxed based on its agricultural productivity, rather than its full market value as other land is. As a result, owners of agricultural land pay much lower taxes than they would if the land was not considered agricultural.

DPI Releases General Aid Estimates

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has released its estimates for general aid to school districts for the upcoming school year. Total general aid for the 2010-11 school year will be $4.5 billion, an increase of 1/100th of one percent of the aid received in the 2009-10 school year. General aid is the largest source of funding for public schools in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Leads the Nation in the Ratio of Manufacturing to Government Jobs

On a number of occasions this year, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) has lamented that Wisconsin now has fewer manufacturing jobs than government jobs. A WMC report implies that this recent development is a calamitous turn of events and reflects badly on Wisconsin’s business climate.  A new analysis by the Wisconsin Budget Project compares the ratio of manufacturing to government jobs in every state, and those statistics put Wisconsin in a much different light than the WMC report. 

Different Sales Tax Systems for Online and Main Street Retailers

Ever notice that you don’t pay sales tax when you make a purchase from Amazon.com? The owner of your local bookstore has noticed, especially because the sales tax puts his or her business is at a competitive disadvantage with online retailers.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a recent article and then a follow-up editorial about the tax advantage online retailers enjoy over Main Street businesses. The Wisconsin Budget Project also recently released a paper on this topic, which includes information about how much money is at stake, why there are different rules for different retailers, and what Wisconsin can do to level the playing field and to make a modest dent in the state’s deficit.

Update on Proposed Extension of UI Benefits, Medicaid Relief and TANF Emergency Fund

An estimated 1.7 million jobless Americans, including about 59,000 in Wisconsin, had lost their unemployment insurance (UI) benefits by July 3rd because of a Senate filibuster of legislation to extend those benefits. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of directly affected unemployed workers will grow by the end of this week to more than 2.1 million nationally and almost 72,000 in Wisconsin.

In the wake of recent Congressional setbacks -- this post explains the somewhat improved prospects for passing a bill next week to restore the extended UI benefits and the diminished chances of extending fiscal relief to the states for Medicaid and TANF program costs.

House Amendment would mean $180 million for teachers and law enforcement in Wisconsin

Before adjourning late Thursday, the House took up the “war supplemental” bill approved by the Senate in May, which would appropriate $58.8 billion for war spending and disaster relief. The House voted to add $21 billion for domestic priorities, including $10 billion to states to help reduce the number of teachers and law enforcement personnel who will be laid off as a result of the ongoing fiscal crisis.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has completed a preliminary analysis of the $10 billion provision. They estimate that the Wisconsin share of the funding for teachers and law enforcement would be $180 million.

The House amendment would also add nearly $5 billion to cover a shortfall in the Pall grant program. The domestic spending provisions are fully offset. Although the amendment was approved, the House vote on final passage of the amended supplemental bill has been delayed until Congress reconvenes on July 12.

Once the amended bill clears the House, it has to go back to the Senate, where it will be difficult to round up 60 votes for the non-war funding. A standoff between the two houses is very possible, although there’s usually intense pressure to settle issues that affect current defense spending. Today’s edition of CQ Politics examines the potential implications of a delay from the Pentagon’s perspective.

The Senate deliberations on the House amendment are likely to feed into a broader debate about domestic spending versus spending for our nation’s overseas interventions – during a period of deep domestic cuts. For example, the Department of Labor estimates that as of July 3 there are about 1.7 million Americans, including 59,000 in Wisconsin, who have lost their unemployment benefits because the Senate was unable to end the filibuster of domestic spending bills that would extend those benefits.