The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee this week jettisoned 545 of liberal Governor Tony Evers’ budget proposals, packed with higher taxes on businesses and individuals and growing government initiatives.
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state’s largest business advocate, is applauding the Republican-controlled budget-writing committee for trimming Evers’ bigger government budget plan.
“The proposals included in Gov. Evers’ budget would not only expand the size and scope of government significantly, they would have had a devastatingly harmful effect on our economy,” WMC Executive Vice President of Government Relations Scott Manley said in a statement. “It is clear that the members of JFC who voted to repeal these detrimental policies are putting the people of Wisconsin and our economy first.”
Republicans, led by Joint Finance Committee co-chairs State Representative Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) and State Senator Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green), promised to rebuild Evers’ bloated $104 billion biennial budget proposal from the ground up after the Democrat governor unveiled the plan in February.
”There really is a lot of awful things that we’re removing in this motion and the minority party had a hard time even finding good things to talk about,” Born told WMTV-TV. ”We’re focused on not creating new programs, not building new agencies or new offices within those agencies, but investing in the priorities of Wisconsin through the current system.”
Evers’ sought to legalize marijuana, create an expensive paid family and medical leave program for public- and private-sector employees, and spend billions of dollars on other expanded government programs. Those proposals are gone.
Finance Committee Democrats blasted Republicans for cutting what they called “crucial” provisions in the budget. With a $7 billion state surplus, State Senator Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) complained the GOP-led budget-writing committee missed a “crucial opportunity to invest in the people of Wisconsin.”
“Removing hundreds of budget items in one motion is irresponsible and shameful. Each of these items deserves discussion and debate in the Joint Finance Committee,” the liberal lawmaker said. “I am deeply disappointed that legislative Republicans are preventing Wisconsin residents from having their voices heard.”
But Republicans have long been opposed to including non-fiscal policy items in the state budget, and Evers’ proposal includes plenty. Among a long list of liberal policy initiatives, the governor included several gun control measures and gifts for his Big Labor friends.
As WMC notes, included in Evers’ budget proposal were policies that would have:
- Raised taxes on manufacturers by $650 million through the repeal of the Manufacturing & Agriculture Tax Credit
- Limited worker freedoms by repealing Wisconsin’s Right to Work law
- Made public construction projects more expensive by reinstating the costly prevailing wage law
- Increased property taxes by instituting an automatic two-percent minimum levy limit increase
- Trapped more families in failing schools by capping enrollment in Wisconsin’s popular school choice program
- Increased private health insurance costs by using federal tax dollars to expand Medicaid
Manley said the JFC’s actions are a win for Wisconsin taxpayers.
“WMC and our members applaud the actions from JFC today and look forward to working with members of the Legislature to craft a budget that protects our economy, improves education and provide much-needed tax relief to hard-working Wisconsinites,” he said.
The Joint Finance Committee will meet in the coming weeks to craft and vote on a stripped-down 2023-25 budget, with the looming threat of Evers’ veto pen.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Tony Evers” by Tony Evers.
