Doyle: Everyone will share burden of state's financial problems By JR ROSS Associated Press Writer MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin's deficit is so severe that all state residents will feel the pain of the deep spending cuts required to solve the shortfall without raising taxes, Gov. Jim Doyle warned Thursday in his first State of the State address. Doyle proclaimed the state of Wisconsin government "profoundly troubled" in the face of the massive debt and challenged Democratic and Republican lawmakers to join him in solving the problem. But he offered no specifics on how he will solve the state's $3.2 billion deficit. "The crisis is too big, too deep, too firmly rooted for any one part of our state or segment of our society to shoulder the burden alone," Doyle said. "We can't pit one group against another. As a matter of morality and mathematics, everyone must share in the difficult decisions ahead." Doyle, the first Democrat to hold the governor's office in 16 years, received a rousing reception before his speech. He used some of the hourlong address to blame the state's fiscal problems on lawmakers and his predecessors. He said they spent the last 15 years doubling state spending, increasing the state work force by 11,500 people and failing to put money into a rainy day fund during the economic boom of the 1990s. "Now a storm has broken out, and we're left without an umbrella," Doyle said. State fiscal experts predict a $3.2 billion shortfall for the two-year period that starts July 1 because projected revenue does not cover requested spending. Doyle is expected to lay out how he wants to fix much of the problem Feb. 18, when delivers his two-year budget proposal to the Legislature. The budget pays for services such as education, medical assistance programs and aid to local governments. Because Doyle has ruled out tax increases, funding for some programs will be reduced or cut. The constitution requires the budget to be balanced. Both houses would have to approve the plan and Doyle would have to sign it for it to become law. "The message he proclaimed tonight has been the message Republican legislators have been working on for years," Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, said of Doyle's call to hold the line on taxes and rein in spending. "The question is what's in the details." Doyle noted governors normally use their State of the State addresses to lay out new programs. But he said the fiscal problems were so severe that he would be forced to protect what was important rather than launching major new undertakings. Still, he announced: -A task force to study how to overhaul the way Wisconsin pays for public education. Currently, the state pays, on average, two-thirds of public school costs through a complicated formula. Doyle said the system spends twice as much on the state's richest schools as on its poorest; he has said he wants to change the system to a set grant for each student. -A new program to encourage greater community involvement in middle schools. -A purchasing pool to allow small businesses and farmers to take advantage of the state's buying power to receive more affordable health care coverage for their employees and families. -An effort to bring together government, labor and business leaders to craft a plan to grow Wisconsin's economy. He also urged lawmakers to approve a campaign finance reform package that would cost an estimated $4 million annually. Spokesman Thad Nation said the other proposals listed by Doyle have minimal costs or would save money, but he had no exact figures. Senate Majority Leader Mary Panzer, R-West Bend, praised Doyle for laying out the state's fiscal problems and renewing the most important part of his solution - not raising taxes. Still, she wanted more details on Doyle's proposals, especially creating the health care purchasing pool and bringing together leaders to create a business plan. "The real answers will come Feb. 18," Panzer said. Included in the $3.2 billion deficit is a $452 million shortfall for the fiscal year that ends June 30 caused by slumping revenues that will not cover spending the state has already committed. The budget for that two-year period is about $22 billion. Doyle called lawmakers into a special session to take up a plan he introduced this week to reduce $161 million of that shortfall and urged them to quickly approve his proposal. It would require state agencies to: -Cut $31.8 million from their budgets supported by taxpayer dollars. -Send back to state coffers about $65.8 million in unspent money from a variety of funds, including those supported by fees and other program revenues. The plan also would borrow $64.5 million from the budget the begins July 1 to pay for a shortfall in medical assistance programs and the state's health insurance program for the working poor. It would also spend an additional $16.5 million on the Department of Corrections. State statute requires the governor to introduce a plan to fix a deficit once the state falls so far into debt. Republicans sent Doyle a letter Thursday saying the law requires him to fix the entire $452 million deficit for the current fiscal year in one bill and his plan falls short. Nation said Doyle believes the law allows him to fix the shortfall through the plan he introduced this week and the two-year budget he will propose next month. During his speech, Doyle said fixing that shortfall could only be done through cutting essential services like health care, reducing education funding and slashing aid to local governments and he was unwilling to do that. "But we can make a serious down payment on the tough work that awaits us. Every dollar we don't spend this year is one we won't have to cut next year," he said. --- On the Net: Gov. Jim Doyle: http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/