{"id":10299,"date":"2024-04-19T05:03:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T05:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=10299"},"modified":"2024-04-19T05:08:20","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T05:08:20","slug":"report-wisconsins-finances-in-best-shape-in-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=10299","title":{"rendered":"Report: Wisconsin\u2019s Finances in Best Shape in Decades"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/wisconsindailystar.com\/news\/report-wisconsins-finances-in-best-shape-in-decades\/tcsquare\/2024\/04\/19\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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by Benjamin Yount<\/h5>\n

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A new report says Wisconsin is in its best fiscal position in decades.<\/p>\n

The Wisconsin Policy Forum released its latest report this week. It looks at the state\u2019s debt, budget health, general fund reserves and what the future may hold for the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, the state\u2019s finances ended 2023 in outstanding fashion. Wisconsin has improved its fiscal condition substantially since the Great Recession years, a period marked by severe budget challenges in which the state raised taxes, cut aid to schools and local governments, delayed debt payments, and decreased benefits and take-home pay for state and local workers,\u201d the report noted.<\/p>\n

The Policy Forum\u2019s report makes a special note that Wisconsin\u2019s long-term debt, or pension debt, has fallen dramatically since the Republican reforms of 2011.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state\u2019s long-term liabilities grew as a share of assets during the 2000s, peaking at 41.2% of assets in 2011. Since then, they have fallen as a share of assets to 30.2% in 2023. Though that was up slightly from the prior year\u2019s record low of 28.4%, it was still one of the lowest percentages in our two decades of data,\u201d the authors wrote.<\/p>\n

As for Wisconsin\u2019s other debt, the report says Wisconsin\u2019s debt payments are at their lowest level in decades, Wisconsin\u2019s net assets are rising, and Wisconsin has more than enough cash on hand to pay its bills.<\/p>\n

\u201cFour years after the arrival of COVID-19, the state of Wisconsin\u2019s finances are the strongest on record, thanks to federal relief aid and the actions of state leaders. From ample cash reserves to low debt, the state measures up well on key fiscal metrics,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n

But there is a warning as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut recent decisions to cut taxes and increase spending will reduce some of these advantages this year, leaving policymakers with important questions to consider in the next state budget,\u201d the Policy Forum added.<\/p>\n

The Policy Forum isn\u2019t sure what the long-term effects of Wisconsin\u2019s most recent tax and spending cuts will be. Those cuts may drop the state\u2019s ranking in certain debt-related categories, but the Policy Forum said Wisconsin should remain on solid financial footing for a while to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the next year the state\u2019s finances should remain relatively strong overall, particularly with respect to debt levels and other long-term metrics,\u201d the report states in its conclusion. \u201cThe progress the state has made over the past decade is the result of a strong economy and federal pandemic assistance as well as many decisions by state elected officials of both parties, including some that were painful. This newfound strength better positions the state to take advantage of future opportunities and weather potential storms. Holding onto these hard-won gains, however, will require both vigilance and prudence from state leaders as well as some measure of good fortune.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 \u2013 \u2013<\/p>\n

Benjamin Yount is a contributor to The Center Square.\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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The post Report: Wisconsin\u2019s Finances in Best Shape in Decades<\/a> appeared first on The Wisconsin Daily Star<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/wisconsindailystar.com\/news\/report-wisconsins-finances-in-best-shape-in-decades\/tcsquare\/2024\/04\/19\/ by Benjamin Yount \u00a0 A new report says Wisconsin…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wi-daily-star"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10300,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10299\/revisions\/10300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}