I've heard a lot of grumbling's lately on the internet regarding Scott Walker's proposed 2011 Budget. I thought it might be interesting to see how we ended up here by looking at the historical deficit in Wisconsin. Rather than blame our current Governor for trying to fix the problem, let's look at the past Governors who created it (both Republican and Democrats mind you).
I'll leave that chart up to your own interpretation but I think it speaks for itself. I wasn't able to find data older than 1990 but it would be interesting to see if Wisconsin ever had a surplus.
| Year Ending | Surplus/Deficit | Governor |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | -743 | Thompson |
| 1991 | -1077 | Thompson |
| 1992 | -1168 | Thompson |
| 1993 | -1131 | Thompson |
| 1994 | -1219 | Thompson |
| 1995 | -1128 | Thompson |
| 1996 | -918 | Thompson |
| 1997 | -1472 | Thompson |
| 1998 | -1274 | Thompson |
| 1999 | -907 | Thompson |
| 2000 | -830.3 | Thompson |
| 2001 | -1214.8 | McCallum |
| 2002 | -1484.3 | McCallum |
| 2003 | -2242.5 | Doyle |
| 2004 | -1931.1 | Doyle |
| 2005 | -2122.2 | Doyle |
| 2006 | -2150.5 | Doyle |
| 2007 | -2444.1 | Doyle |
| 2008 | -2502.7 | Doyle |
