A lawmaker calls for an end to "creative accounting" in the state budget. Wisconsin's budget deficit is now more than $2 billion, and a state lawmaker says due in large part to a failure to use generally accepted accounting principals in preparing biannual state budgets. There are only three states in the country that carry GAAP deficits, that aren't doing honest budgeting," says Assembly Republican Republican Frank Lasee , adding that Wisconsin is "the worst of all of them. It's why our bond rating is low, and why we pay more to borrow money in this state, because we are overspending and then lying to people about it, that we have a balanced budget."
Lasee proposes an Honest Budget Bill which would require the state to use generally accepted accounting principles when preparing the budget. With Governor Jim Doyle due to deliver his budget message by month's end, Lasee concedes there's little bipartisan support for honest budgeting, but he hopes raising the issue now will convince lawmakers to eventually address the issue.