MADISON, Wisconsin - Republican Governor of Wisconsin and the leaders of the GOP in several other States are faced with increasing pressure to back down to deep cuts in spending to education and social programs in light of the higher than forecasts of revenues expected as the economy improves.
Income skyrocketing is giving rise to a delicate matter - are governors making deep cuts because they have or because they choose to?
The issue takes place in Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, Colorado and several other States rolled where tax revenue forecast up all the legislatures work packet of budget reduction.
In Wisconsin, principals and local school board members are pressing legislators and Governor Scott Walker, scale back his proposed cut 8.4% for the reduction of the public schools and 5.5% How many schools can collect money from the State and property taxes combined. Parliament under Republican control submitted the order of the day of Walker for the moment, but has not rejected the appeal outright.
Miles Turner, Director of the Association of Wisconsin of the District School Board administrators, said that the previous cuts were based on a leaner budget perspective. Continuing with the overall reduction now, he said, would show "there is a greater interest in the suite with an ideological campaign against the education of the public that there is in support of the education of the public".
Several school districts have been planning to lay off teachers, increase the size of classes and bring programs such as music and foreign languages to cover the reductions.
In addition, the Colorado Legislature approved $ 22.5 million less in education cuts than originally proposed by the Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper, following improvements in the forecast of State revenues. In Michigan, Republicans who control the legislature and Snyder of Rick Republican Governor reduce their original proposed cuts to schools by as much as two-thirds.
A similar effort does not get much traction in New Jersey where the Republican Governor Chris Christie has refused to back its program reductions, even if the revenues are projected to increase between 500 million and $ 900 million over two years.
Wisconsin tax revenue forecasts have been revised the week last to show that the State will receive 636 million more through the end of the budget cycle than anticipated. The increase amounts to only 1.6%, but would be sufficient to reduce warnings layoffs and cuts in school curricula. Milwaukee, largest school district in the State, is expected to eliminate approximately 1,000 teaching positions and full time staff.
Republican Senator Alberta Darling, co-Chair of the budget Committee, said that Republicans were considering to soften cuts for some schools would be the most poorly. She would not say how many cuts of Walker could be restored.
She and other Republican leaders also is more plan to go hand in hand with the Walker plan to change a program of popular seniors prescription drugs. Walker had targeted this program to 15 million in savings.
But supporters of education say they doubt that the legislature will draw as much as possible. They require that Walker and his conservative allies want to reduce the support for public schools as part of a wider objective of the expansion of education vouchers, and restricting the public sector.
"It is quite clear, there is a real reluctance to spend on schools," said Joe Quick, Wisconsin School Boards Association government relations specialist. "The objective is pressed property taxes".
When Walker unveiled its budget, he said that the cuts are necessary because the State could not afford for all programs and expenditures. "It is time to start to pay our Bills today so that our children are not stuck with bills still more tomorrow," he said in March.
When Wisconsin received the new budget rose last week, Walker was quick to say that the extra money should go to repay the debts of the State. Wisconsin faced a deficit of $ 3 billion, down from the previous projection of $ 3.6 billion. The State added 25,000 jobs in the private sector since January as the economy improves.
Walker said Friday that school districts can soften the blow of budget costs of pension and their employee health insurance management better. "We are not cutting without options", he said. Co-Chair of the Committee budget Republican Rep. Robin your insisted that deep cuts were still necessary and not only to achieve small-government conservative ideology. "Ideology is on balancing the budget," he said.
Walker has not completely closed the door to revise some of his proposed cuts. But with a power wider veto of any Governor in the country, it has discretion to reject the changes, that the legislature could do.
Walker is not only the Governor with the more difficult line. In Ohio, Republican Governor John Kasich said that it was not a vocals off the coast of its budget cut plans, even if the economy is that the improvement of his condition. Any increase in income would reduce taxes, he said.
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