Things are tight at the statehouse, but not so tight that Gov. Scott Walker couldn't find room in his proposed state budget to insert a tax break for some in Wisconsin's prefab home industry.

And it's a tax break that would benefit one of his biggest contributors - Wausau Homes in Rothschild.

Same old, same old Madison politics?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

It is true that the firm's co-owners and the co-founder's wife donated a total of $25,000 to Walker's campaign fund last election. The trio has also been active with the tea party movement and Americans for Prosperity, which helped organize tea party events.

Also, the head of the association that represents the prefabricated home industry said Friday that Wausau Homes would benefit from the Walker budget provision, which proposes exempting certain prefabricated homes made in Wisconsin from the sales tax if they are to be shipped to and located in another state. The state estimates that this would cut state revenue by more than $500,000 over the next two years.

For Democrats, enough said.

"For Governor Walker to scratch the back of a political contributor just seems totally in line with what he's done," said Graeme Zielinski, spokesman for the state Democratic Party. "He's always taken care of cronies."

But Tom Schuette, president and co-owner of the firm, sounded genuinely surprised to hear about the budget item.

He initially said his firm wouldn't be affected by the legislation but later said it wasn't clear if it would, adding that the state's sales and use tax regulations are very complicated. He emphasized that he never asked Walker for the tax break.

"The donation didn't have anything to do with this," said Schuette, who gave the maximum $10,000 over two years to the first-term Republican governor.

But he said he had no doubts that he is being targeted because he supports Walker and his efforts to break up the "corrupt relationship" between the Democratic Party and union leadership. He has also donated to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy and other Republicans.

"The fact that they're running scared and playing dirty like they usually do - yeah, they're going to do anything possible to smear me and our company because of our support of Scott Walker," Schuette said. "It doesn't intimidate us but, unfortunately, it's irritating."

So who asked for the budget item?

Ross Kinzler, executive director of the Wisconsin Housing Alliance, said he had worked with Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) and Rep. Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) on legislation last session on this matter.

Kinzler's group, which represents the state's modular and manufactured home industry, said his members are at a competitive disadvantage because of the way Wisconsin and Iowa officials apply the sales tax.

Specifically, he said, prefab homes made here but shipped to other states are hit with a sales tax twice - once when they leave the manufacturer and a second time when they are placed on the foundation. By contrast, prefab homes made in Iowa but shipped to Wisconsin escape any sales tax, he said.

One Wisconsin firm, Homesteader Homes in Prairie du Chien, is facing a six-figure tax bill in Wisconsin, although it paid the sales tax in Iowa on its homes that were shipped there. A handful of other companies that do business primarily in Iowa would also be helped by the proposal.

Still, Kinzler said he wasn't the one who got the provision in the budget bill.

"I was surprised to see it," he said. (Kinzler and his group funneled a little more than a $1,000 to Walker in the last election.) He even went so far as to say he doubts the Walker team even knows that it would apply to Wausau Homes, which is not a member of his organization.

Well, Barca didn't lean on Walker to insert the item.

Melanie Conklin, a legislative aide for Barca, said he might have sent a letter to then-Gov. Jim Doyle last session about the matter, but that was the end of it. It was never a high priority.

Walker didn't ask Barca for his input on the state budget, Conklin said.

"It would be nice if he did, but that hasn't happened, and I'm pretty sure it never will," Barca said via Conklin.

Then who was it?

Walker's team is pointing to the state Department of Revenue.

"Revenue (officials) suggested this exemption to streamline the tax code and provide relief to this struggling industry," Walker spokesman Chris Schrimpf said.

Stephanie Marquis, a state revenue agency staffer, agreed. She said auditors were aware of the double-taxation problem for some time and suggested the solution to Secretary Rick Chandler when he took over earlier this year.

But did the governor and his top aides know this would mean a tax break for Wausau Homes and its owners?

Not at all, Schrimpf said.

Marquis asked, "Who are the Schuettes?"

So it's all just an unintended and unexpected bonus for a campaign contributor at a time when most everyone else is getting whacked in the budget.

Not surprisingly, Democrats are not buying it.

"If you're asking us to take Scott Walker's word for it that he wasn't playing political payback games," Zielinski said, "we won't."

Daniel Bice can be contacted by phone at (414) 224-2135 or by e-mail at dbice@journalsentinel.com.