Walker Expects Bipartisan Support For Tax Cuts

MADISON, Wis.—Gov. Scott Walker said Thursday that increasing the state's projected budget shortfall will not be a deal breaker for his proposed half billion-dollar tax cut plan, even though some Republican senators have raised concerns about it.

Walker said he expects his $504 million property and income tax cut plan to pass with bipartisan support, even though Democrats have been quick to criticize it and some Republican senators have said they want to see changes.

Republicans are zeroing in on the fact that the plan would increase the state's projected shortfall heading into the 2015 budget from about $700 million to $800 million. That shortfall, however, does not take into account any revenue growth, which Walker expects to more than cover the difference.

"One or two people have raised the concern," Walker said in response to questions following a speech at a meeting of the Wisconsin Grocers Association. "I don't think that it's a deal breaker."

Walker outlined his "Blueprint for Prosperity" in his State of the State speech on Wednesday night and then touted it across Wisconsin, making stops Thursday in La Crosse, Madison, De Pere and Hurley.

The tax cuts are made possible by $912 million in revenue above previous projections. Walker argued that the money ought to be returned to taxpayers.

"The budget surplus is really your money," he said at the grocers meeting. "You earned it."

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