Ambitious. That's how one political observer rates the Governor's budget proposals.
Even though republicans claim taxes will go up for families, UW-La Crosse political scientist Joe Heim says it really does look like a middle class budget. He cites the tax breaks for health care, college tuition and child care.
Heim says families and education are winners but there are losers. Very little was said, Heim points out, about prisons and crime. Even though the Governor touched on specific transportation projects Heim says we need to see the bottom line before Transportation can be moved into the winning column.
Heim doesn't think the cigarette tax hike will end up as high as proposed and the tax on big oil companies probably won't make it. So, how does the state fill that budget hole if it doesn't pass? Heim says the Governor threw that puzzle in the legislature's lap.
