There was a time when budgeting in Wisconsin was relatively straightforward. State government carried over a true surplus from year to year; state income and sales tax collections grew with the economy; and only new revenues were used to increase spending for agency operations, employee compensation, and various programs, most notably aid to schools and other local governments.

In the past 15 years, however, state commitments frequently outstripped available tax revenues, regardless if the part in power. Budgets were technically balance by artificial or unsustainable fiscal "fixes"; but, in reality. spending-revenue imbalances were carried forward from biennium to biennium, and the state's official financial statements showed mounting deficits that reached $2.7 billion this year...