Just a day before his State-of-the-State address, the governor says the economy is going to be a "real challenge." 

We're hearing a lot these days about a possible recession , and Governor Jim Doyle says Wisconsin's not immune.

"You know I don't know what the technical definition of recession is, and when they pull that word out and, I know everybody's reluctant to use it because using it starts to cause it to occur."

With shrinking consumer confidence and slower spending, a recession is very real. One thing's for sure, Doyle says, we will definitely have to make some sacrifices.

"There's no doubt that this … we're gonna be … difficult time and we're gonna have to ah, ask people to make sacrifices and do without some things and put some things off that we want to get done."

Doyle says he has to get a better look at the numbers before he can make any changes, but we're certainly going to have some tough days ahead.

"Well I'm very worried about the national economy and there's no doubt we're gonna have some big challenges in Wisconsin. You can see it happening just all across the states."

Doyle is preparing for his State-of-the-State address on Wednesday night. Among other things, he hopes to lay out a plan that would help to spur the economy, but he's not ready to ask for any spending cuts just yet. Also, the governor says there needs to be a balance between the slower growth of revenues and the heavy demand for Medicaid and other public services.

AUDIO: Jackie Johnson report (1:27 MP3)

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