The immediate causes of Wisconsin’s budget deficit are twofold. First, along with many other states, our tax receipts fell when the dot.com bubble burst, and we now struggle to fund our growing needs from a shrinking tax base. Second, some bad budgeting decisions postponed a confrontation with the deficit, which had swelled to more than $1 billion. These immediate issues have put us in a deep hole.
Nichols is director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs, and a professor of economics and public affairs at the UW-Madison.
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