Governor Tony Evers and Lt. Gov Sara Rodriguez. MWC photo by Mike Leischner
CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – If I had a ticket tonight, there are two things I would yell out when Governor Tony Evers gives his state budget proposal.
“Hey Tony, how big does the state surplus have to be until you give taxpayers some of their money back?”
And
“Hey Tony, how much more money do we have to shovel into our failing schools?”
Tonight’s budget proposal is little more than a political speech. It is Republicans who still control the state legislature, and a majority on the Joint Finance Committee – that’s where the budget will be written. The governor is merely laying down political markers that will become campaign talking points. He’ll propose record spending increases in various areas, and then will claim Republicans are making cuts when they dial back his increases.
Wisconsin is sitting on a $4.6-billion surplus, by far the largest in state history. The governor does not believe that’s your money; it’s the government’s money. Getting your money back is like prying a rusty bolt off a screw. And, of course, any tax cut the Governor might consider includes tax refunds for people who don’t actually pay taxes. Tax-refunds-as-welfare is standard for democrats. Republicans might even go along to get some of that surplus back to their constituents.
The governor will again purpose record increases for K-12 public schools funding. His first budget increased school funding to record levels. His second budget used a creative veto to extend per-student funding increases for 435 years. What did we get for that money? Well, the state had to dumb down our student achievement tests to give the illusion that student performance is better. The Milwaukee schools, which already have the largest administrative staff in the state, lost millions in state and federal aid because they missed the deadlines for multiple reports. Thinking people have already figured out that how much money we put into the system has nothing to do with student achievement. If it did, MPS graduates would be going to Harvard, northern Wisconsin graduates would be going to community college.
Ignore what the governor says tonight. It has very little to do with the actual budget that the legislature will present to him.
Chris Conley
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