State projected to have budget surplus

Associated Press

Updated: May 10, 2012 5:15 PM

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican Gov. Scott Walker's administration says new revenue projections show the state will finish the 2011-2013 biennium with a $154.5 million surplus.

The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated in February the state would finish the two-year period with a $143 million deficit. But Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch wrote in a letter to Walker on Thursday that personal income growth has been stronger than anticipated and the state now expects to collect $265 million more in taxes than the Legislative Fiscal Bureau expected.

The developments are good news for Walker, who faces Democrat Tom Barrett in a June 5 recall election. Democrats are trying to oust Walker from office as payback for proposing a contentious law stripping most public workers of nearly all their union rights.

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