A recomendation to pump up the state's "rainy day fund" is included in a new report on the state's fiscal health. Chris Schneider with the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute has authored a report on "Wisconsin's Subprime Budget Planning," and he finds such planning lacking, with Wisconsin "woefully unprepared" in the event of an economic downturn.
Wisconsin's insurance policy against future economic downturns is the state's stabilization fund, better known as the rainy day fund. Most other states that have such funds set aside about 5% of their gross receipts each year into a rainy day fund, while Wisconsin sets aside less than 1%. Schneider's report contains a number of recomendations, such as that the state deposit all unanticpated revenue in the rainy day fund, and establish the fund in the state constitution, to prevent governors and legislatures from raiding it for other purposes.