Eliminate state income tax? Free pre-K for every 3-year-old child? Candidates have grand ideas, few specifics

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Grand campaign ideas are nothing new, and this year's race for governor is no exception. Republican Tom Tiffany vows to return Wisconsin's entire $3 billion surplus to taxpayers while also increasing school funding. Democrat David Crowley wants to expand a number of social service programs. 

When it comes to how they'll pay for those cuts or enhanced services, Tiffany and Crowley are either walking back past remarks or simply not providing a detailed accounting on how they'd make the math work.

One of Tiffany's signature platforms is a 10% state income tax cut for families making less than $150,000 a year. However, audio obtained by CBS 58 indicated Tiffany is willing to consider going even further.

At a September 23 event in Oconomowoc, a support asked Tiffany if he'd supporting eliminating both the income and property taxes in Wisconsin. 

"Will we get rid of the state income tax and the state property tax? Right? So, our first budget is gonna be a real challenge," Tiffany responded. "It's gonna be a real challenge. Once we get past the first budget, then we're going to look at doing things like that."

Tiffany told the supporter he'd end the 400-year-veto enacted by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in 2023. It allows school districts to raise local property taxes each year for four centuries. He also pledged to freeze property taxes, which would almost certainly involve giving state dollars to local governments.

Those have been standard public-facing comments from Tiffany on the campaign trail. However, restricting local governments from levying property taxes would cost them a combined $14.4 billion, based on 2025 collections analyzed by the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

In the audio recording, Tiffany circled back to eliminating the state income tax and indicated firm support for eventually doing what nine other U.S. states have done -- stop collecting state income taxes.

"You asked am I going to eliminate the income tax? I will not be able to do it in the first budget," Tiffany said. "But after that, we sure hope to be able to get it done."

Tiffany held a roundtable event with lawmakers and law enforcement leaders in Kenosha Friday morning. Following that event, a CBS 58 reporter asked Tiffany about those remarks.

"What I was referring to is aspirational," Tiffany said. "I want to reduce taxes every single budget when I'm governor, and that's ultimately what this is about."

In the most recent fiscal year, Wisconsin collected $10.56 billion in individual income taxes and $3.01 billion in corporate income taxes. That amounted to 58.6% of the state's total tax collections, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.

Eliminating the state income tax would fundamentally alter the state budget and how Wisconsin funds schools, prisons and aids local governments. 

When asked if that was a realistic aspiration, Tiffany said: "I think it's good to have hopes for the people to the state of Wisconsin, to reduce their taxes however that we can."

Crowley has no cost estimate for expanding universal pre-K

A key tenet of Crowley's "Badger Basics" platform is funding a universal pre-K program that provides free access for every three-year-old and four-year-old child in Wisconsin.

CBS 58 asked the Crowley campaign Thursday night for a cost estimate for that expansion. The campaign provided a statement Friday that did not include anything resembling a projected price tag.

Crowley campaigned Friday with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who is only the third Black person elected governor in U.S. history. If Crowley wins in November, he'd be the fourth.

Following an event in Racine, a CBS 58 reporter asked Crowley how he'd pay for a massive expansion of free pre-K. 

"I think it's clear there are a lot of billionaires who will be getting a lot of tax breaks, not only here in Wisconsin but also across the federal government," Crowley said. "We legalize marijuana, that would help bring in more dollars throughout the state, but we also have to take a long-term look as it relates to how we do our spending, as well as bring in new revenue, so we want to put together a blue ribbon commission."

Previous estimates from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau found Wisconsin lost out on $42 million in tax revenue on marijuana sales to Illinois and Michigan in 2024.

Crowley has previously mentioned the idea of a commission to examine all taxing and spending, but if he's elected, he'd have less than two months between his inauguration and when he'd present his first proposed state budget.