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Even with federal help, Wisconsin will face very deep and painful budget cuts, said Doyle, who met with President-elect Barack Obama in Philadelphia, along with other governors.
Wisconsin’s budget is projected to be about $5.4 billion in the red by mid-2011.
It’s not alone.
Doyle said 45 states at the meeting with Obama were in a similar situation.
Obama pledged quick work on an economic recovery plan that will include tax cuts and more federal spending.
But a federal bailout alone won’t be enough to rescue Wisconsin, Doyle said.
“There isn’t enough federal money in the world to take care of the kind of deficits states are facing,” he said. “We’re going to have to make very, very deep cuts in state government, and they are going to be very painful.”
A federal stimulus package should focus on such items as transportation, buildings, health care, unemployment compensation and the education system from kindergarten through college, Doyle said.
Obama did not talk in specifics about how much money may be in any stimulus package or how much Wisconsin would receive, he said.
To deal with the looming budget shortfall, Doyle has already announced 3,500 state jobs will be left vacant, bonuses for state workers will be eliminated, 500 state cars will be sold, $30 million in grants will be cut, and state agency budgets will be slashed.
Proposed tax increases on hospitals and oil companies, which Doyle supported but were rejected by the Legislature, also will be revived as part of a budget-balancing plan. A variety of other targeted tax increases are being considered, although Doyle has said he wants to avoid general sales or income tax hikes.
Doyle has repeatedly said the state will need federal help to dig out of its current hole.
His plan for the next two-year budget, which starts in July, will be delivered in February. He’s already told state agencies to plan for cuts of more than 10 percent.
Doyle also said he met briefly in private with Obama. Doyle said he thanked Obama for running an “incredible campaign” in Wisconsin and told him he appreciated what happened in the state.
Obama won Wisconsin by 14 points.
