MADISON Wisc. (CBS 58) -- Gov. Tony Evers did not get the results he was hoping for Wednesday night, May 13, and neither did the majority of Republicans. Democrats said the plan was fiscally irresponsible, while Republicans argued the legislation would have helped Wisconsin residents struggling with current economic conditions.
Most Republican lawmakers voted with their party, and those who supported the legislation called the Senate vote disappointing.
“Right now, what we are hearing from the fiscal bureau down here in Madison is that we have overtaxed our people and we had a recent report that there is even more of surplus that what we are working with here today,” State Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, a Republican representing Fox Crossing, said.
Not all Republicans agreed. Republican Senators Steve Nass, Chris Kapenga and Rob Hutton joined Democrats in the Senate in voting against the bipartisan legislation. None of them were available for on camera interviews on Wednesday but each provided a statement you can read them below.
“At a time when families are facing ongoing economic uncertainty, this plan increases spending and creates a projected $1.2 billion deficit. Coupled with Governor Evers’ refusal to rescind his 400-year spending increase this puts our state on an unsustainable path,” Hutton, R-Brookfield, said.
“The Evers-Vos II Deal spending $1.8 billion did not have the votes to pass as originally introduced. After the LFB confirmed that the passage of the deal would explode the state's structural deficit in the next budget period to $2.9 billion, the proposal was on life support.
“As has been the ongoing crisis of integrity in the State Capitol this session, Governor Evers and legislative leaders are once again behind closed doors buying the votes of legislators to make a bad deal even worse. I will continue to stand with Tom Tiffany and vote against this shallow political ploy that will in the long term hurt taxpayers, schools and other programs when the state's next budget will have to consider program cuts, revenue increases or both," Nass, R-Whitewater, said.
“After reviewing the details of the supposed "bi-partisan" agreement between the Governor and outgoing legislative leaders, I feel it is a very bad deal for the people I work for. We have a one-time budget surplus that should be returned as a one-time refund to the Wisconsin taxpayers who were overcharged. That's simple budgeting math every household can understand. But leave it to government to give you only a small portion back, and then spend the difference, not once, but every year into the future, assuming we're too dumb to notice the bait and switch that will end up costing my constituents billions over the course of a decade. There is no winner in this deal,” Kapenga, R-Delafield, said.
Democrats said the projected deficit was the reason they could not support the legislation brought forward by the leader of their party, Gov. Tony Evers.
“If we were to pass this yesterday, we could be in a position where we would have to make cuts to schools in future years because this was just not a proposal that was looking responsible towards the future,” Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer said.
The bill is now dead, and there appears to be no sign of it returning. However, the issue is expected to remain part of the conversation as election season begins to ramp up.
Republican gubernatorial candidate and Congressman Tom Tiffany were criticized by Evers for getting involved in the process. Tiffany issued the following statement in response:
“A government that keeps taking more from families year after year while people struggle to afford homes and utility bills has lost sight of who it serves. Governor Evers chose to protect the 400-year property tax hike instead of the people of Wisconsin. As governor, I will repeal the 400-year veto, return the full surplus to taxpayers, and restore the principle that your paycheck belongs to you, not Madison bureaucrats,” Tiffany said.