MADISON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – From renewing campaign promises to pledging to find common ground with the Republican Legislature, Gov. Tony Evers laid out his plans for the future during his 2023 State of the State address Tuesday night.
State lawmakers and leaders met in the state capitol building Tuesday night to hear the governor’s take on how the state is doing now and where he’d like to see it go.
Evers talked about the economy, education and how he’d like to spend some of the state’s surplus money.
But with Republicans in control of the Assembly and Senate, not everyone agrees with his plans.
“Our state has never been in a better fiscal position than it is today,” said Evers.
The remark earned him a large applause, as the Democrat referred to Wisconsin’s historic budget surplus of $6.5 billion.
Evers went on to highlight some accomplishments of his past term.
“We’ve gotten to work, fixing the darn roads. I even helped fix some of those by the way. I’m proud to report we’ve worked together to repair and improve over 5,800 miles of roads and nearly 1,600 bridges across our state.”
He spent time talking about schools and said investing in them was a priority.
“So, I’m going to deliver on a promise I made before the election — to use a portion of the state’s historic surplus to make a historic investment in our kids and our schools.”
Evers wants to put $20 million into reading programs and another $20 million into recruiting and retaining teachers.
He also spent time talking about the challenges for students and the toll it’s taken on their mental health.
“The state of mental health in Wisconsin is a quiet, burgeoning crisis that I believe will have catastrophic consequences for generations if we don’t treat it with the urgency it requires,” said Evers. He declared 2023 the “Year of Mental Health.”
With Republicans controlling both chambers, there are certainly issues in which the Legislation disagrees with the Democratic governor. Legalizing abortion and legalizing marijuana are two of the biggest.
Another is how to provide tax relief to Wisconsinites.
“When we deliver tax relief — and we will deliver tax relief — we’re going to do it responsibly by ensuring we can keep taxes low,” he promised.
Republicans say they want to get the surplus money back into the pockets of taxpayers. They are also considering a flat tax rate. They also would like to see a lower income tax for Wisconsinites.
“In fact, it was recently announced that Wisconsin families have the lowest tax burden ever recorded. And while we should all take pride in that fact, we still have a long way to go,” said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos after Evers’ address, during the Republicans’ response. “The states around us — Michigan, Illinois and Iowa — all have a lower income tax burden than we do. We must do better to remain competitive. And I promise, we will.”
But Evers called the plan not just irresponsible but, also, “reckless.”
The two sides may need to compromise to get things done.
But compromise appears to already be the plan regarding other issues, like shared revenue.
“So, as we keep working together on a plan, let’s find common ground,” said Evers. “I’m announcing tonight that I want to work together on a budget provision that will send a total of up to 20% of the state’s sales tax revenue back to our local communities for shared revenue.”
Evers previously called for a 4% increase in shared revenue funding for each of the next two years, a total of about $91 million. Now, he’s supporting a plan that he says would bring about “half a billion dollars more per year in new resources to invest in key priorities.”
The governor will unveil his budget plan in mid-February. The state Legislature will then craft the budget and send it to Evers for his signature, likely sometime in the summer.
