Just like that, Wisconsin has billions to use, if they want. And use it, they must

I thought Finance Committee decisions on the WisDOT budget and the State's Building Program would be the big budget story of the day. And then a huge bomb was thrown into the budget discussions late this morning.

Wisconsin officials learned Tuesday they would take in a game-changing sum over three years — $4.4 billion more than previously projected — but they may not be able to agree on what to do with it. The windfall would allow Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican lawmakers to cut taxes, slash borrowing, greatly increase funding for schools, boost spending on other programs or enact a combination of all those ideas.... "The increase in general fund tax collections in 2021, particularly in the months of April and May, is unprecedented," Bob Lang, the director of the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, wrote in a memo published Tuesday.

Hoky smokes! Let's take a look at that LFB memo and see where this windfall is coming from.

Based on our review of collections data and the economic forecast, general fund taxes will be higher than previous estimates by $1,447.9 million in 2020-21, $1,543.7 million in 2021-22, and $1,435.8 million in 2022-23. The three-year increase is $4,427.4 million, or 8.1%.

To date,collections data show significant strength in individual income tax, sales tax, and corporate income/franchise tax,compared to the January estimates.Over the three-year forecast period, the individual income tax estimates have increased by $2,578.2 million, the sales and use tax estimates have increased by $990.0 million,and the corporate income/franchise tax estimates have been increased by $861.6 million ($4,429.8 million total). The sections below present additional information on each of these tax types.

The LFB can now make these estimates after tax returns came in for May, and the most incredible of the boosts is in the Fiscal Year the ends in 3 weeks. But the following two years also beat previous estimates by well over a billion dollars.

And why is this happening? Because things have gotten a lot better in the last 4 1/2 months...which just happens to coincide with the new Administration in DC and a Dem-controlled Congress.

The primary factor in the increased estimates is ARPA, the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill enacted in March. ARPA included stimulus checks of $1,400 per qualifying person, an extension of emergency unemployment programs through early September, an enhanced unemployment benefit of $300 per week, funding for a second round of paycheck protection program (PPP)loans and economic injury disaster loan advances, and more than $1 trillion in aid to states for various purposes. It is estimated that $2.5 billion in funds will be allocated to Wisconsin. At the time of the January forecast, this stimulus package was not incorporated into theestimates.

Further, at the time of the January estimate, COVID-19 cases were rising across the country and containment measures were increasing. There was uncertainty surrounding the effectiveness of newly-introduced vaccines against new strains of the COVID-19 virus, and the speed at which such vaccines could be distributed to the population. Since that time, new COVID-19 cases have declined rapidly, containment measures have relaxed, and inoculation efforts have accelerated.

I think the term "Biden Boom" has a nice ring to it, don't you?

As a result, there will be a mind-boggling amount of money for the Legislature and Governor to play with in this budget.

Previously, based upon actions through June 7, 2021, by the Joint Committee on Finance on the state's 2021-23 budget, it was estimated that the gross balance in the general fund at the end of the 2021-23 biennium would be $2,082.3 million. The tax collection projections of this analysis indicate that the balance would nowincrease by $3,788.2 million to $5,870.5 million. This is reflected in Table 2, which displays the 2021-23 General Fund Condition Statement.

And this is before we even account for the Federal funds that we have coming to us from the March stimulus package, or what may come from an infrastructure package later this Summer. Yes, I know these are projections, and I don't think we should throw away all of those funds in this budget. But the excuse that "we can't afford to do all these things in Wisconsin" is not going to fly.

So #wibudget has $5.8 billion to play with in Wisconsin due to Biden Boom and COVID fading.

Don’t tell me we can’t fund schools, fix roads, expand broadband, cut property taxes, and restore the UW.

Watch the choices made now, folks. New ballgame.#wiunion #wipolitics

— JakeEdwards (@JakeMadtown) June 8, 2021

And those choices are going to be coming from the Legislature and (hopefully) the Governor, as this one-time amount of funds is so large it should prompt people to hit the re-set button on where the budget is. This amount of money has the opportunity to be transformational for this state, and remove a decade-plus of neglect that has made us fall behind. Or we can choose to stay on the same, subpar slog, where we limit our investments and keep giving away the store to the rich and corporate.

You know, like how Robbin' Vos wants to do, which would involve blowing $4 billion of this money on tax cuts. If they even try that, Evers should rip up the GOP's budget and tell them to start again. Doing nothing different beyond cutting taxes to those that have already gotten a lot of breaks is not an acceptable option.