Madison - The Legislature's budget committee today recommended a $2 million cut in state spending to fight chronic wasting disease, after several lawmakers said state government so far has lost its war on the deer-killing disease.

On a 15-1 vote, the Joint Finance Committee called for spending $7 million to fight CWD over the next two years, or a cut of about $1 million a year from what state government is now spending. The vote came as the committee continued to draft its version of the next state budget, which must pass the full Legislature this summer.

Sen. Russ Decker (D-Schofield), committee co-chairman, said when concerns about CWD were first raised several years ago, state officials had a "knee-jerk" response that wasted state money "with virtually no results."

In CWD target zones in southwest and south-central Wisconsin, where the goal was to cull the whitetail deer herd, state efforts backfired, said Decker, an avid hunter.

Rep. Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford) agreed, saying hunters in his area of central Wisconsin "don't know what's going on with CWD."

The vote would make the $2 million available to instead be spent reimbursing farmers for damage to crops caused by wildlife.