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Madison -- The state’s budget projections have deteriorated by $216 million, opening a new budget shortfall for Gov. Scott Walker to confront amid the political dogfight of a recall election.

The estimates by the Legislature’s nonpartisan budget office show that a drop in revenue has opened the hole, which after counting the state’s previous cash reserves leaves the state with a projected $143 million budget deficit in its main account.

Walker and Republican lawmakers will have to deal with the budget gap while they face a likely round of fresh recall elections sometime later this year, adding politics to the already tricky financial concerns. Plus, the budget problem is in reality even worse since the deficit numbers released Thursday don't account for a shortfall in the state's health programs for the poor.

Previously, the state was projected to have a balance of $73 million in its main account, but tax revenue is failing to meet expectations and that has more than canceled out the relatively slim cash reserve.

The projected drop in revenue and shortfall in the state’s main fund is enough to trigger a requirement for the Walker administration to submit a budget repair bill to the Legislature, though the administration could have other options for dealing with it as well.

Walker said in a statement he would not increase taxes to solve the shortfall.

"Moving forward, we’re confident in our ability to finish the biennium with a balanced budget," Walker said. "We’ll keep our budget balanced without the job-killing tax increases implemented in the years before we took office."

A Walker spokesman had no immediate comment on what the administration would do to resolve the shortfall.

In addition to the $143 million shortfall, the Walker administration also has to deal with an additional $141 million shortfall in state Medicaid health programs for the needy.

Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon) and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) also released a statement committing to solving the budget deficit without tax increases.

"Instead of tax hikes that shift the burden away from the government and onto taxpayers, and instead of playing political games that make the business climate worse, Republicans in Madison will continue to keep focusing on growing jobs, not the government.," the statement from the brothers reads.