Don’t let Dan Kapanke’s zero-based budgeting stunt fool you

Following Governor Doyle’s State of the State address last night, the La Crosse Tribune reported state Senator and third district congressional candidate Dan Kapanke called for the state to adopt zero-based budgeting;

“Let’s build each department from dollar one,” Kapanke said.

Zero-based budgeting makes for great rhetoric as it requires administrators to justify each dollar spent in a department budget, instead of assuming funding levels from the last budget as a given. In the present hostile-to-government, tea party environment, voters love hearing “the government is not entitled to anything.”

Unfortunately zero-based budgeting is a bureaucratic nightmare. The hours spent re-building a budget from scratch is rarely recovered in cost-savings. Despite open hostility to government, many people have grown quite comfortable with government programs. The political backlash to cuts can be enormous.

The federal government tried a form of zero-based budgeting in the 1970′s under President Jimmy Carter, experiencing the problems described above. President Ronald Reagan ended the experiment, as did most state and local governments (Public Budgeting Systems, 7th ed, p. 122-3). Even Reagan acknowledged the flaws of ZBB, but it continues to be brought up by Wisconsin Republicans like Kapanke and Brett Davis, both while seeking higher office.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin is good at offering mere talking points without any proposals that could actually improve government or people’s lives. In the same article Kapanke touts stunts for his Congressional campaign, state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout discusses the Wisconsin CORE Jobs Act saying;

“It’s not easy to put into a sound bite…it’s a way to make capital available to new businesses.”

Vinehout’s honesty is refreshing. Not only is she neglecting talking points for her re-election this fall, she is actively working to put Wisconsinites back to work.

Republicans often say “health care is flawed but we don’t need to dismantle the entire system to reform it.” Government budgets contain waste but compiling each budget from scratch is not the best method to eliminate that waste. More legislators should follow Sen. Vinehout’s example and put people over political stunts.

Taxes Aren’t Killing Wisconsin, but Brett Davis is Trying

Not that “Wisconsin-taxes-are-too-high-and-killing-business” wasn’t a popular talking point from the right before the Pew Center Report, but its all over now. A Journal-Sentinel blog (always a beacon of intelligent thought) laments our tax burden and fleeing businesses. Perhaps the author missed Republic Airlines relocating 800 jobs to Milwaukee?

Wisconsin has some budgetary problems, no doubt, and the fed money isn’t going to be there next time around. Thankfully we’ve got legislators with no shortage of brilliant ideas.

Lieutenant Governor candidate Brett Davis wants the DOT to stop printing maps for free distribution at WI visitor centers. Democurmudgeon points out that telling tourists to “get lost” might not be the best idea for the state.

Davis has another bad idea to offer the state, zero-based budgeting. Davis (and Leah Vukmir, current rep and aspiring senator) wants state agencies to justify each component of their budget, instead of “cost-to-continue” being assumed each budget cycle.

Jimmy Carter implemented a version of zero-based budgeting. The result was excessive amounts of administrative time wasted justifying each line in a budget, much of which couldn’t be removed (entitlements, etc). Ronald Reagan ended the practice shortly after taking office.

Davis is 0-2 for good ideas solving Wisconsin’s budget problems. Anyone care to place a bet on the Lt. Gov race?

Press Release Come Quickly for Lt. Gov Candidates/Dumb Ideas re: Healthy Children Act

When running for Lieutenant Governor, the press releases come fast. Yesterday Brett Davis issued another. Davis is the ranking Republican on the Assembly Education Committee and the press release was to announce the Assembly GOP’s agenda on education.

The GOP plan includes a return of the Qualified Economic Offer, the state providing two-thirds of school costs by 2015-16 (reducing property taxes) and something about state health insurance for teachers (that sentence, at the end of the second to last paragraph is terribly unclear). Absent from the statement is Rep. Davis’ support for tying teacher pay to student achievement.

Davis’ plan to link pay with test scores (bonuses go to all teachers at a school where students improve) is executed in the best possible way. I’m not sure its possible to make the program completely fair, meeting the bonus criteria will be easier in some districts than others. I believe WEAC is on board with the plan, in my eyes their support garners the program a little credibility.

The Democrats have a package of education legislation, Assembly bills 533-537. AB 533 would allow teacher pay to be linked to test scores (though I don’t believe it spells out the same conditions for payment Davis seeks). The performance-pay link doesn’t seem like a terrible idea to me, but Ed Garvey of Fighting Bob thinks differently. Check it out for another perspective.

Ultimately the reason the Assembly is looking to allow teacher pay to be evaluated based on test scores is to qualify for federal “Race to the Top” stimulus money. That might be a good idea, but again, Garvey has some interesting points to ponder, and I cannot articulate this argument enough because I have to go to work soon and want to touch on another point.

The narrow-minds at Wisconsin Right to Life sent a memo to members of the Assembly, set to vote today on AB 458, the Healthy Children Act which will prohibit abstinence-only education in our schools.  I wrote about Pro-Life Wisconsin’s take on the bill last month and the WRTL memo contains what is essentially the same garbage. New to press releases on the bill is State Sen. Glenn Grothman (R- West Bend) who states;

Shockingly, school districts now will be required to use instructional methods that do not create a bias on a pupil who is sexually active.

Does Grothman want our youth branded if they have sex?  He goes on to equate sex education with child molestation, so don’t consider his opinions on the issue especially relevant.

Thankfully the Assembly will pass 458, and future generations will not be as narrow-minded and idiotic as Grothman.

EDIT: h/t The Sconz Messed the first attempt up..

State Rep. Davis’ Misplaced Outrage Over Swine Flu Vaccine For Prisoners

Today Blogging Blue has a post on Republican State Rep. (and candidate for Lt. Governor) Brett Davis voicing concerns over the H1N1 vaccine being distributed in prisoners. Blogging Blue clarifies the vaccine went to 45 pregnant inmates. On October 29th Davis issued a press release stating;

“I am deeply concerned, however, over reports that prisoners are getting the H1N1 vaccination over law abiding citizens of Wisconsin.”

Davis’ press release does not distinguish the 45 pregnant inmates who were vaccinated from the thousands of prisoners in Wisconsin. Was Davis trying to provoke outrage from conservatives to boost to his Lt. Gov campaign? Or did he just lack the facts? To his credit Davis’ press release did link to a story in which a DOC employee stated;

“There are limited quantities of the vaccine that have been utilized for certain inmates who are particularly vulnerable to serious illness from the flu.”

That however is not nearly clear enough as to who actually received the vaccine. I’m not calling for Davis’ head with this, but it bothers me there were several days between Davis’ original press release and the story of the inmates who actually received the vaccine.

h/t Blogging Blue and Democurmudgeon