MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The year 2026 is guaranteed to bring significant political change in Wisconsin. Voters will elect a new governor, Democrats believe they have a great chance at legislative power for the first time since 2010 and the state's most powerful lawmaker might not return to the Capitol.

In a wide-ranging interview Tuesday, Dec. 30, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said he hasn't decided whether he'll seek re-election. Vos is the longest-serving speaker in Wisconsin history, having held that post since 2013.

"My wife and I already started the conversations. I still love this job," Vos said. "I've been so blessed to represent the people in Walworth and Racine [counties] for quite a while, and I feel like we've done a good job in Wisconsin, and I want to make sure we keep doing that, so I'll decide in January and February."

As Wisconsin moves into the back half of the 2020s, Vos said he believes the biggest problem facing the state is its demographics. The Department of Administration (DOA) estimates Wisconsin's population will begin to fall by the 2030 U.S. Census. By 2050, the state population is projected to fall by nearly 200,000 people, going from 5.89 million to 5.71 million.

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Vos says any solution must either draw people to Wisconsin, keep them from moving away or encourage families to have more kids. To do that, Vos highlight what he considers the five types of affordability: The cost of government, housing, food, healthcare and utilities.

Vos highlighted measures in the current state budget that exempts utilities from the sales tax and a provision raising the tax Wisconsin charges its hospitals; 30% of the hospital revenue would go toward BadgerCare, the state's version of Medicaid for low-income people. 

Vos also said the Assembly will also vote on a measure creating incentives for school districts that merge, reducing the number of staff and building to align with falling birth rates.

"If we have fewer kids in schools, you have to figure out a way to do it in a smarter way," Vos said. "You can't just have the same number of people doing the same number of things with fewer kids in the classroom. It just doesn't work."

When the Legislature reconvenes next week, Vos said Republicans will also take up a bill that exempts tips and overtime hours from the state income tax.

Speaker Robin Vos CBS 58

"I want people to work overtime," Vos said. "I want people to earn extra so they can save for that starter home or put kids through college."

When asked if legal immigration is also part of the solution, Vos said it is. When asked what he'd tell Republicans in Washington, Vos praised President Donald Trump for prioritizing border security and insisted, because of those efforts, Congress can now address an outdated legal immigration system.

"Now that we have closed off the border," Vos said. "I really wanna make sure that people who want to come to America, that love our country, that want to have everything that really is the American Dream, that we bring those people in based on the skill sets that we need."

Vos said he'd want Congress to pursue a model based on Canada's legal immigration system, where legal status is provided based on applicants' skill sets and how well those skills align with specific labor needs.

"I have always been a believer in legal immigration, and it should be robust," Vos said. "We've had a pretty good system up until the mid 1980s, where it kind of blew apart, so I feel like, it many ways, we would be able to go back to that."

Vos said he'd also support having Wisconsin add to "Trump accounts" for newborn babies. He said Wisconsin could provide a $500 matching payment with parents, on top of the federal government's $1,000.

Democrats' solutions on affordability include property tax credits for low-income residents, lowering prescription drug prices and providing free breakfast and lunch in public schools.

Vos gave those proposals the cold shoulder.

"I'm always open to listening to their ideas, but almost every one picks winners and losers, and it also expands the size of government," Vos said. "I think the idea to give free school lunches, I don't know why the richest person needs to have a free school lunch, as opposed to the person in poverty."

"If we're gonna do that, we already have a pretty robust system, so I would rather have it be something that's outside of government, where we're helping you to save for your home or make sure you have that, as opposed to just another government program."

CBS 58's AJ Bayatpour, Speaker Robin Vos CBS 58

Property taxes and school funding regrets

Vos blamed Democratic Gov. Tony Evers for much of the property tax increase Wisconsin landowners have seen on their 2025 bills. He pointed to Evers' partial veto in the 2023-25 budget that allowed school districts to raise their property tax levies by $325 per student for the next 400 years.

Vos said Republicans will vote this spring on a constitutional amendment banning future governors from creating to increasing taxes or fees via partial veto. It will be the second straight session in which Republicans pass the proposed amendment, which will bring the question before voters in a statewide referendum.

In Wisconsin, the school funding formula is incredibly complex. If general state aid increases without a levy limit increase, schools essentially get the same funding while residents get a property tax cut.

In the 2025-27 budget, Evers and GOP lawmakers agreed to not increase general aid, leaving districts to turn to the $325 per student property tax increase. 

Vos noted the budget instead raised special education reimbursements, going from covering 33% of a district's special ed costs to 42% this year and 45% next year.

He said Republicans agreed to take that path based on what they heard from school administrators during listening sessions early this year. Vos said, in hindsight, the Legislature should've increased general aid instead. 

"We said, following their advice, we'll put a historic investment into special ed," Vos said. "Now, they've got what they wanted, and they've come back and still said, 'Well, we still need to have this maximum property tax increase, no matter what you did on special ed funding.' So, I guess if we had to do it over again, we should have probably put it into general education, as opposed to special ed, but we did what they wanted.

Postpartum Medicaid expansion? Not on Vos' watch

While Vos highlighted addressing affordability, those efforts will not include an expansion of postpartum Medicaid coverage for low-income mothers. 

Wisconsin and Arkansas are the only two states in the country that do not offer Medicaid coverage for up to one year after childbirth. Previous bipartisan pushes for Wisconsin to expand coverage beyond its current 60-day window have been unsuccessful, dying in the Assembly.

Earlier this year, the state Senate overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill expanding postpartum Medicaid by a 32-1 vote. Vos said Tuesday he's unmoved.

"Expanding welfare is certainly not making it more affordable for the people who pay the bill," Vos said. "I don't think it has enough Republican votes in this chamber, which is kind of why we've kind of been very consistent in how we move things forward, that we need 50 Republican votes to be able to move a bill, and I don't think those are there."

Vos said as long as he's Speaker, no bill will receive a floor vote unless at least 50 Republicans support it. The GOP currently has a 54-45 majority in the Assembly.

No movement on marijuana

Wisconsin will remain on an island when it comes to marijuana legalization. While Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan have all legalized recreational marijuana sales, Wisconsin has made little progress on efforts to legalize marijuana for medicinal use.

Vos said he continues to support medical marijuana but added the votes aren't there to advance a bill in the Assembly. He went on to say he disagreed with President Trump's recent decision to reclassify marijuana to a lower schedule, making possession and distribution a less severe offense.

"I think we are not there [on having enough votes.] As you know, I've been a supporter of [medical marijuana] for almost a decade now," Vos said. "So, look, I think what President Trump did by reclassifying or reducing the classification of marijuana was wrong. I think Marijuana is still a dangerous drug that should never be legalized in Wisconsin."

"The only positive that is gonna come out of it is, perhaps, we will now be able to do some medical research on medicinal cannabis, to say is it something where studies now can show it's a better alternative than some kind of narcotic?"

2026 predictions

Vos' big prediction for the new year was Republicans will stun people by maintaining control of the Legislature while also winning the governor's office.

Such a feat would require swimming upstream, as this shapes up to be an election favoring Democrats since they are out of power at the federal level. 

Under new voting maps approved by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Democrats need to flip two seats to win the Senate and five seats to win the Assembly. 

"For the past dozen years, I've had Democrats say to me, 'This is the year we're gonna take the Legislature and you just wait,'" Vos said. "Well, every year, I'm proven right by saying, 'No, we aren't gonna turn the Legislature over to the liberals, and I think that will happen again this year."