Doyle's speech encourages Republicans Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle acknowledges the crowd before giving his State of the State address to a joint session of the legislature Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003, in the Capitol in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) The majority party, however, is eager to see his budget proposal on Feb. 18 By T. Harty and M. Balas News-Chronicle State legislators from the Green Bay area, most of them Republicans, were encouraged by the words of Democrat Gov. Jim Doyle during his State of the State address Thursday night. They believe he sent the right message with the proper tone, reiterating he will not raise taxes and he is prepared to make the tough choices necessary to balance a budget staring at a $3.2 billion deficit for the period through June 30, 2005. Now, they all anxiously await Feb. 18, the day Doyle presents his budget to the Wisconsin Legislature. "We're obviously excited that we have a governor who's not going to raise taxes," said Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo. "It's going to be tough, but it can be done. We're optimistic." Doyle adamantly said he will not raise taxes, and Rep. Frank Lasee, R-Green Bay, said, "It's a little surprising that he hasn't backed off from that, but I completely support him. I know the budget numbers very well. It's a difficult job without raising taxes. He's got his work cut out for him." State Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay, liked the way Doyle didn't mince words about the troubled state of Wisconsin's government and the budget. "One thing I really liked was he pointed out the state as a whole is doing better than the government," Cowles said. "It's not the economy that's so bad; it's the government's handling of it. "I think he's reaching out to the Republican legislature trying to resolve this problem. ... He wants us to work with him. We have to cut 13.6 percent out of the base budget to balance it. ... It's going to be painful, and he wanted to prepare us for what's coming. Not many things will be spared the cuts." Cowles mentioned Doyle's speech Feb. 18 will be the more critical one, but he is optimistic about what's to come after Thursday's speech. "I'm inclined to work with the man until he does something harmful to the state or our district," Cowles said. Rep. Phil Montgomery, R-Ashwaubenon, spoke of the weeks leading up to the Feb. 18 address, saying, "After hearing the conviction with which (Doyle) spoke tonight, I feel very confident it will be a good budget proposal. For a Democrat governor to embrace not raising taxes the way he has is very refreshing." Montgomery applauded Doyle's attitude toward the Republican Party, which holds the majority in the Assembly and Senate. "We're all going to have to work together," Montgomery said. "He stressed the bipartisanship that's going to be needed." Gard and Cowles mentioned Doyle's speech in general seemed to be received better by the Republican legislators than the Democrats. Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, thought that was a matter of opinion. Hansen, however, thought Democrats were more receptive to Doyle's call for campaign-finance reform, which he believes will go a long way toward solving the budget problems. "Most important in my mind is campaign-finance reform," said Hansen. "We have to take the money out of politics." Otherwise, Hansen believes Doyle made it clear the state faces tough times in the next two years, and the governor will not let politics stand in the way of solving the problems past legislatures created. Lasee even acknowledged, "We've been spending our way toward this problem." Hansen said Doyle is in a "very difficult position, but Democrats are "committed to working closely with the governor and Republican party in a bipartisan way. It's not an easy time, and we have a lot of work to do."