July 29, 2024 – Slinger, WI – It has been one year since the 2023-2025 biennial budget was signed into law. My Republican colleagues and I coined it the Budget Made for Wisconsin.
This is because the budget reflected priorities of hardworking Wisconsinites, including those in the 58th Assembly District.
Governor Tony Evers had proposed a budget that was simply a reckless wish list of higher taxes, mountainous spending, additional regulations on businesses, and a massive expansion of welfare.
It even included new benefits for illegal immigrants, like in-state tuition and driver’s licenses. This combination of tax hikes and more spending was fiscally irresponsible, as it turned a $2.8 billion structural balance into a projected $1.4 billion deficit.
Wisconsin is in a strong fiscal position thanks to the frugal efforts of Republican state legislators, who directly listen to constituents.
We removed many of the items Governor Evers pushed for and worked on the budget from scratch. Prior to the passage of the budget, I sent out a spring survey to thousands of constituents across the district to find out what their priorities were.
The top result was fixing roads and bridges, which 77% of respondents said was a priority. Millions of Wisconsinites and visitors drive across our state every day and our weather does not help with the condition of our roads.
The Republican budget invested in the state highway rehabilitation program by $10 million more and local road aids by $130 million more than what Governor Evers proposed.
In total, the Republican budget will increase funding by $1.5 billion on roads, bridges, rail, and transit.
Another key priority was education. We continued our commitment to funding public, choice, and charter schools with over $1 billion in new money. This includes an increase in funding by nearly $100 million for special education aids, which will support one-third of district costs related to special education.
Another crucial investment was made in K-12 reading initiatives. Testing shows that students are lagging behind in reading proficiency, which was only made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. We allocated $50 million to address this problematic trend and get our students back on track.
We made these investments in infrastructure and education while also trying to cut taxes.
Taxpayers deserve to keep more of what they earn, which is why we made a meaningful effort at tax reform with the largest tax reduction in state history at $4.4 billion. This included an income tax cut of $3.5 billion, which averaged $573 in savings per filer each year.
Unfortunately, Governor Evers used his line-item veto power to remove 95% of the income tax cut. Instead of $573 in savings per filer, the average reduction was only $36 per filer each year.
Fortunately, the property tax reduction within the Republican budget was left intact.
When Republicans decided to provide a historic investment in K-12 schools, we didn’t want it to be on the backs of local property taxpayers. This is why we spent over $600 million to reduce the property tax burden in our state.
Altogether our budget funded priorities and reduced taxes while also spending $7 billion less than what Governor Evers proposed.
Republicans made changes to the budget because a combination of massive spending and new taxes has disastrous consequences on Wisconsin families that are already suffering from a high cost of living. We’ve seen these same issues at the federal level, where large spending packages have eroded the value of the dollar and driven up prices.
By being responsible with the state budget, we actually managed to pay off $400 million in existing debt and bonded $165 million less than what the governor called for.
This budget will keep moving Wisconsin forward. What’s best for Wisconsin is to make thoughtful investments that have a positive impact in our communities while also cutting taxes to help individuals, families, and businesses. Wisconsin Republicans will continue to make efforts to do so in the years ahead.
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