Editor’s note: The following statement has been issued for publication by the office of State Sen. Steve Nass. 

Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, issued the following statement regarding his opposition to the 2023-25 biennial budget (SB 70) being considered today (June 28) in the State Senate:

Today (June 28), the Senate is missing an opportunity to maintain sound fiscal practices in developing the 2023-25 biennial budget.  The budget submitted by the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) will take this state from a $7 billion structural balance to a $2.5 billion structural deficit at the start of the next budget period on July 1, 2025.

The creation of a $2.5 billion structural deficit as a result of the excessive spending contained in the 2023-25 budget means that nearly all of the likely growth in state revenues during the 2025-27 biennium will be exhausted before we even consider one dollar of new spending in that next budget period.

The 2023-25 budget that will pass the Senate will total more than $99 billion in spending (all funds) for a state of only 5.9 million people.  This is a $10.3 billion increase over the current budget (all funds) or about an 11.7% growth in spending.

The 2023-25 General Fund — the portion funded primarily by state income and sales taxes — will increase to $44.4 billion in spending, which is a $4 billion increase over the current budget or a 10% increase in the biennium.

Additionally, I am objecting to the process used in the last week that deprived senators of adequate time to review the JFC budget action that only ended last Thursday.  Senators did not receive the detailed summary from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) explaining the $99 billion in proposed spending from JFC until late afternoon on Tuesday, June 27. We are voting on this massive spending plan this afternoon on Wednesday, June 28.  The LFB summary is more than 600 pages.

I doubt very many senators actually know the broader details of what they are voting on today (June 28) since we have had slightly more than 24 hours to consider the detailed summary.

State Sen. Steve Nass represents the 11th District, which includes in part or whole, the communities of Fort Atkinson, Jefferson, Milton, Whitewater, Elkhorn, Lake Geneva, Walworth, Clinton, and Sharon, among others. The district includes Assembly districts 31, represented by Ellen Schutt, R-Clinton; 32, represented by Tyler August, R-Lake Geneva, and 33, represented by Scott Johnson, R-Hebron.