Back in June, while signing the state budget into law, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker claimed his cuts to education and health care had managed to balance the budget. From
an article republished on Walker's campaign website:
In a show of solidarity with businesses and supporters, Gov. Scott Walker on Sunday signed into law his first, two-year budget before a cheering crowd at a manufacturing facility here.
“Our balanced budget makes tough choices while also providing a path to recovery and prosperity for our state and our people,” Walker said during Sunday's bill signing at Fox Valley Metal-Tech Inc. before a crowd of about 100.
“Through honest budgeting, we are providing an alternative to the reckless tricks and gimmicks of the past,” the governor said.
However, in order to make further cuts to health care, last month Walker's administration reported to the federal government that Wisconsin still has a budget deficit:
To keep the possibility alive of making further cuts to state health programs, the Walker administration quietly certified to the federal government on Dec. 29 that the state had a deficit.
Federal law allows the state to drop tens of thousands of adults to save money on health care costs if the state can show it has a deficit. Walker has said he wants to cut health care spending in other ways, but hasn't ruled out dropping those 53,000 adults if the other methods aren't approved by the federal government.
To keep that option alive, state Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch wrote in a December letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that the state would have an undisclosed deficit from Jan. 1 of this year through June 30, 2013.
So Scott Walker is telling the public he managed to balance the budget by cutting health care and education, but he is telling the federal government Wisconsin still has a deficit and thus should be allowed to make further cuts to health care. This must be the "honest accounting" Walker spoke of back in June.