According to this article posted in Statehouse News, the Walker Administration added $400 million more to the previous deficit projection of $3.2 billion by simply dropping an accounting maneuver for transferring revenue into the general fund. The new state deficit has now been recalculated to $3.6 billion.
This is beginning to look a little worrisome simply because Walker seems to be deliberately boosting the deficit on paper with the purpose of adding a greater sense of urgency to the situation. Walker also appears to be testing the public reaction to his cutting Medicaid, K12 and other state services instead of considering fund transfers from surplus accounts to help balance the budget on.
Interesting Note: It turns out that Jim Doyle merely passed the $3.2 billion Thompson/McCallum deficit right into the hands of Scott Walker. Granted, Doyle was unable to fix the problem, but he did no harm either despite being accused of using accounting tricks. It can be said that Doyle's time in office was nearly deficit neutral.
Hope Walker can say the same when his time is up.
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