Wisconsin state budget projected to end with $138 million more

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin's state budget is now projected to end with $138 million more than previously thought when it cleared the Legislature last year.

The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau on Wednesday said the current two-year budget that ends on June 30, 2019, will end with a $385 million balance.

Republican co-chairs of the Legislature's budget committee Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. John Nygren heralded the news. They say it shows "common sense reforms and prudent fiscal budgeting have put us on great fiscal standing."

The Fiscal Bureau says the higher forecast was largely the result of $76 million more in estimated tax collections, a nearly $98 million drop in spending caused mostly by re-estimates of debt payments and a $38 million fund transfer.