MacIver News Service | January 25, 2012
[Madison, Wisconsin] As Governor Scott Walker prepares to deliver his annual State of the State address Monday night, one area of improvement to which he could point is the status of the state general fund’s cash flow.Compared to this time last year, the projections are much rosier. The Walker Administration does not anticipate the General Fund balance to dip into the red in the next several months, a practice that happened often in the final years of the Doyle Administration. The Administration did not need to rely on inter-fund transfers/borrowing to keep a positive balance in the General Fund in December and does not anticipate having to do so for at least the first quarter of 2012.
2011’s Q1 forecast:
Forecast for 2012 Q1:
In December of 2010, the Dolye Administration offered the following warning to lawmakers:
“The General Fund may experience low balances intermittently from December 13th through January 3rd. During this time it may become necessary to exercise the authority granted under s. 20.002(11)(a), Wisconsin Statutes, pertaining to the temporary reallocation of certain eligible surplus moneys.“
One year later, Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebch wrote:
“It is not anticipated that the authority granted under s. 20.002(11)(a), Wisconsin Statutes, pertaining to the temporary reallocation of certain eligible surplus moneys, or the authority granted under s. 16.53(10)(a) , Wisconsin Statutes, pertaining to the delay of payments will be utilized.”
The data comes from the quarterly reports the executive branch must submit to the legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance, per state statutes.