RHINELANDER - Gov. Scott Walker wants to use nearly $1.3 billion in bonding to help fill a Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) budget hole. It's a move Walker also wants to use to help pay for a new Milwaukee arena, but Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) says that proposal is in effect dead.
Wisconsin sits on nearly $14 billion of debt, most of which was acquired before Gov. Walker took office, heading into our next two-year budget. That's more than $2,400 per person in the state. Governor Walker's budget could add more.
State records show Walker has slowed the growth of state debt, but the state is still borrowing for some programs. According to records from the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, annual debt contracted in calendar year 2010 was around $809 million. In calendar year 2014, records show $598 million in debt contracted.
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