State to use mortgage money for budget

MADISON (AP) - Wisconsin will use about $26 million of its $140 million share of a national mortgage settlement to help plug a state budget hole.

• Click here to take an in-depth look at the budget shortfall

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen's office made the decision in consultation with Gov. Scott Walker.

The rest of Wisconsin's share will go toward helping homeowners who were affected by foreclosure abuses between 2008 and 2011.

Walker said at a news conference Thursday that just like communities and individuals affected by the foreclosure crisis, the state has also been harmed and the payment will go toward offsetting that.

But Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a story published Friday that none of the money should go toward the state budget.

A new projection shows the state faces a $143 million budget shortfall.