Jump to full article: AP, 2008-03-18
Intro: Gov. Jim Doyle's plans to get cash to offset the state's budget shortfall will cost the state $94 million down the road, according to an independent analysis.
Doyle wants to refinance a loan so the state can use more of the money it receives from tobacco companies to pay for state health programs for the poor.
An analysis released by the Legislature's nonpartisan budget office showed the delay in paying off the debt will cost taxpayers $94 million. . . .
"I don't call that anything other than essentially what McCallum did," Todd Berry, president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, said of Doyle's refinancing plan. "We were told we weren't going to repeat the tobacco problem."
As attorney general, Doyle helped win a settlement with tobacco companies over the costs of smoking.
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