WI budget surplus provides opportunity for much-needed compromise

Will the Wisconsin Legislature ever get anything done? It is a fair question, since the past two years have been marked by gridlock in Wisconsin’s capitol, with a Democrat s Governor and Republicans in control of the Legislature. As a result, very little has gotten done for the past two years. The Governor proposes a budget, as he will do again soon, and legislators rip it up and start over. Then lawmakers in March gave themselves the rest of the year off, and when called back to Madison for special legislative sessions, refused to act. We are in the same position again, with the democratic Governor winning re-election, and Republicans strengthening their hold on the Legislature. And once again, the two parties are far apart on the issues. But they are going to need to figure out a way to compromise or we face two more years of gridlock on the important issues facing the state. Is there a willingness to compromise? Perhaps on the issue of the record state surplus. Let’s hope they can find some common ground on how to return this surplus to taxpayers, either through rebate checks or permanent tax cuts. If they can’t that money is just going to sit there, and that isn’t doing anybody any good.