Oct. 28, 1971.
That is the only date, in the history of Wisconsin's state government, that the budget took longer to pass than it has this year.
Although the situation bred frustration throughout the month of September, many wonder if there really will be an end to the frustration. Is there an Oct. 28 for 2007 as well?
Negotiations continued throughout this week on the budget, and, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the debate now centers on the cigarette tax and the hospital tax.
For those fed up with following the bipartisan ping pong, Gov. Jim Doyle proposed the hospital tax in order to generate more funding for Medicaid, and the cigarette tax increase bounces between the Senate Democrat $1.25 and the Assembly Republican 75 cents.
Upon first glance, these two taxes seem like no-brainers. Health care is a public service the government needs to provide to all Wisconsin residents. Although idealistic, lawmakers should work toward this because health is something that should not be a commodity.
The cigarette tax seems like a given as well. Cigarettes are detrimental to health, and a raise in the price of a packet of cigarettes could discourage smokers from lighting up and potentially harming themselves or those around them.
Unfortunately, these taxes are much more complicated.
The Democrats rescinded the initial hospital tax and brought it back only after the Wisconsin Hospital Association changed its original opposition of the tax to neutrality.
Although the hospital tax would create more funding for Medicaid, 23 hospitals across the state would still receive less funding, and 72 would remain unchanged by the tax. This leaves 50, a significant number, that would benefit, but clearly there is more to the tax than one would originally think.
The waffling does not stop at the hospital tax; Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, formerly supported the $1.25 cigarette tax but shifted his support to the 75-cent tax.
Although the issues stalling the budget are very complicated, it is ridiculous for lawmakers to continue to waffle, endorsing and pushing for a tax one day and doing a political 180.
The focus should no longer be on what provisions they can get the other party to agree to, if feasible, but on thinking of what benefits the people of Wisconsin.
Rumors state that Republicans may break with their party in order to pass the budget next week and we can only hope that the rumors prove true.
For the good of the people, the reputation of Wisconsin as a state and the respectability of its lawmakers, it is time that the budget passed.
