MADISON, Wis. | While its neighbors avoided government shutdowns by passing state budgets in the nick of time, Wisconsin has quietly operated 13 weeks without a new spending plan and is the only state left without a budget.
There is no hammer of a government shutdown in Wisconsin as lawmakers bicker over raising the cigarette tax and imposing new taxes on big oil companies and hospitals. And there’s no limit to how long lawmakers can be in session. Current taxing and spending levels continue even when there is no budget in place by the July 1 start of the fiscal year.