Bill would force Wisconsin agencies to submit budget cuts

MADISON — Two Republican lawmakers are pushing a bill that would require state agencies to give the governor plans for cutting their budgets along with their biennial spending requests.

Current state law requires agencies to submit budget requests to the governor by Sept. 15 every even-numbered year. The requests start with the previous biennium's spending levels and build from there.

Sen. Chris Kapenga and Rep. Rob Hutton's bill would require agencies to include plans for cutting their budgets by 5 percent and as well as maintaining current spending levels.

The legislators said in a news release announcing the bill last week that the measure is a step toward addressing the continued expansion of government.

State spending has risen from $65.8 billion in the 2009-11 budget to $73.3 billion for the 2015-17 biennium.