The union representing state employees backs the governor's dire warnings about the budget. Wisconsin State Employees Union executive director Marty Beil says the ongoing budget impasse will force state agencies to adopt belt tightening measures. "There was money in the governor's budget, and the joint finance version, to cover all this," says Beil. "With the Assembly version, and the fact that there is no budget, there is no budget and we're running a deficit in these agencies."
Most problematic, according to the Doyle administration, is the $370 million budget shortfall faced by the Department of Corrections. Beil says "this is no longer a political game," and that lawmakers need to get the budget done. Beil suggests furloughs within the Department of Corrections could leave state prisons short of staff, forcing them to go into lockdown more in order to maintain security.
