State budgets were due Friday, marking the end of one of the most contentious legislative seasons in recent memory, and the first day of the new fiscal year for most states.
After years of painful cuts and layoffs, and with the economy still stagnant and federal stimulus money dried up, governors and state lawmakers across the U.S. had to close a combined $103 billion in shortfalls this year.
The task resulted in heated debates over spending cuts and taxes between Democrats and Republicans in state capitols across the nation. Here's a look at who came out on top and who took a hit during the 2011 state budget battles.
WINNER: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
Despite months of protests, bitter legal battles, a Supreme Court special election recount, and nine campaigns to recall state senators, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker appears to have won the battle and the war.
The first-term Republican signed a state spending bill this week that closely mirrors the budget he proposed during the showdown in Madison this spring. The two-year $66 billion budget fulfills Walker's promise not raise taxes, balancing the budget with a variety of cuts including $800 million from K-12 education, $500 million from Medicaid and $250 million from Wisconsin's university system.
With Walker's signing of the bill, Wisconsin's new collective bargaining law goes into effect. The law — which has sharply divided the state — limits public-sector union negotiating rights and increases state employee pension and healthcare contributions.
WINNER: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo successfully closed a $10 billion budget deficit without new taxes — and with the overwhelming support of the state legislature.
The Democrat relied on steep spending cuts to New York schools and hospitals to close the budget gap, along with closing seven state prisons.
After the budget passed, Cuomo's popularity rating soared to 73 percent, with 54 percent of state residents approving of his job performance.
Overall, the end of Cuomo's first legislative session was impressive, with the governor shepherding through a property tax cap and a bill allowing same-sex marriages in New York state.
WINNER: California Gov. Jerry Brown
Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed California's second on-time, balanced budget in a decade with little fanfare yesterday, calling it "honest but painful."
Although Brown failed to deliver a bipartisan spending plan, the governor came out of budget talks looking like a reasonable and accountable public servant — a rarity in U.S. budget debates this year. His historic veto of his own party's sham budget — which Brown lambasted as accounting gimmickry — forced lawmakers to work without pay to come up with a workable solution.
To be sure, California's $85.9 billion spending plan relies on economic improvement and major cuts — including $3 billion in payments to schools, $1.3 billion in California's university systems and 70 state park closures — to close the state's roughly $25 billion deficit. If the rosy economic projections don't pan out more cuts are definitely in store.
Brown's no-nonsense leadership has already shifted the blame onto Republican lawmakers, who have failed to negotiate any new fiscal or regulatory reforms., largely due to their unwillingness to put tax increases to a vote.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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See Also:
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- Minnesota Government Shuts Down
- Amazon Drops 10,000 California Affiliates Amid Sales Tax Requirement
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