State Has A New Budget

People who smoke are going to pay higher taxes in Wisconsin. The new state budget raises taxes on tobacco products.

The tax on a pack of cigarettes is going to increase by one dollar. The tax used to be 77 cents. The new tax means smokers will pay a total of $1.77 in state taxes for each pack of cigarettes.

The new budget calls for the state to spend $57.2 billion over two years. The new budget raises taxes and fees by $763 million over the last budget. The increase is about 6 percent.

Driving will cost more
The new budget will make driving more expensive. After smokers, the trucking industry will be the next group most affected by the new budget.

The budget is the plan used by the state to govern spending. The budget also spells out how the state gets the money it spends.

Taxes and fees are the main source of money for state government. Taxes and fees also are sometimes called revenues.

In Wisconsin, the budget covers a two-year period. The period starts on July 1st. State government operated under terms of the old budget for almost four months after July 1st.

The budget was 118 days late in getting approval. Governor Jim Doyle signed the budget on October 26th. The new budget missed by four days the record for the latest budget in Wisconsin history. The only budget that took longer to approve was the one adopted in 1971.

The budget needs to be approved on time. Public schools and state run colleges depend on money from the budget to operate. Many social service programs also depend on State money to serve the people of Wisconsin.

Parties disagree
The delay in approving the budget was caused by disagreements between Democrats and Republicans. Doyle wanted to increase taxes on oil companies by $233 million. He also wanted to raise taxes on hospitals.

Republicans were against those increases. Doyle is a Democrat.

In the final days of talks over the budget, Doyle gave up higher taxes on oil companies and hospitals.

Democrats hold most of the seats in the state Senate. Republicans control the state Assembly. The Senate and the

Assembly are called the two houses of the Legislature.

All of the Senate Democrats voted for the budget. All of the Senate Republicans voted against it. But enough Republicans in the Assembly joined Democrats in voting for the budget.

The governor proposes the budget. Both houses of the Legislature must approve the budget. It then goes to the governor for his approval. The governor can sign the bill into law. Or the governor can veto the entire bill or just parts of it.

A veto sends the item back to the Legislature. At least two thirds of the members of both houses must vote against a veto. If two-thirds vote against the governor's action, the item becomes law. If the margin is less than two-thirds, the veto holds. That means the item does not become law.

Revenue from the higher taxes on cigarettes will be used to pay for health care. The biggest part of the increase in revenues is going to be $411 million from the one dollar increase in a pack of cigarettes. The increase is expected to help about 33,000 people quit smoking, according to a non-profit group.

The next largest amount will come from transportation-related fees. That amount is expected to be $274 million.

The annual registration fee for owning a vehicle will increase to $75 under the new budget. The old fee was $55.