May 8, 2023 at 12:09 p.m.
JFC trashes Evers's budget
Panel axes 545 spending, policy proposals
Among the proposals sent to the landfill were the legalization of recreational marijuana, repairs for the Milwaukee Brewers' stadium, paid family and medical leave, Medicaid expansion, PFAS standards, several gun control provisions, school-based mental health programs, and a whole lot more.
If the Republicans were quick to throw hundreds of spending proposals into the dumpster, Democrats were even quicker in starting a dumpster fire in response.
State Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) said the committee's vote marked the third time in a row that Republicans had disregarded the public's priorities, and he said the governor might respond by killing the entire budget proposal that Republicans ultimately send to him for his signature.
"Republicans are just asking for the governor to veto their plan if they choose to go down this road," Smith said. "The governor was re-elected last fall to get the people's job done, and Republicans need to stop playing politics."
Smith said the state has a $7 billion surplus to work with for the budget.
"The governor's leadership when Republicans quit doing their jobs during the pandemic turned adversity to prosperity for Wisconsin - the least they could do is try a couple of his ideas to continue us on that path," he said. "Instead, they've proposed massive tax cuts for millionaires in their flat tax proposal, a special interest stuffed shared revenue plan and they are poised to push for more voucher school expansion for the rich, all while doing nothing to fix Wisconsin's 1849 abortion ban law."
State Sen. Melissa Agard (D-Madison), the Senate Democratic leader, said the vote to remove the proposals shows that recent public listening sessions held by the committee were all for show.
"Despite hosting four listening sessions throughout the state of Wisconsin, it is clear that legislative Republicans view these as a box to check rather than a time to actually listen and take action based on the needs voiced by Wisconsinites," Agard said. "It is shameful to see my Republican colleagues continuing to put special interests and politics over the people they serve."
In contrast, Agard said, the governor's budget was crafted with input from ordinary people who make the state great.
"He included provisions that the majority of people support - expanded health care access, legal cannabis, common-sense gun safety reform, paid family leave, student mental health assistance, and so much more - each item removed from the budget with no further deliberation by JFC Republicans," she said. "It is irresponsible to legislate without listening to the people of Wisconsin, our bosses. We cannot afford to continue ignoring the needs of our state. With a $7 billion surplus, our state can and should do more to support the people that live here."
Democratic members of the JFC also expressed what they called deep disappointment and frustration over the budget vote. Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) said Evers had set the bar with his budget and it was disappointing that Republicans refused to address the needs of Wisconsinites.
She also pointed to the recent listening sessions, which Roys said shows just how popular the governor's proposals are.
"During listening sessions around the state, people came forward to share the need for investment in child care, public schools, and our local communities," she said. "Today, Republicans showed they're unwilling to make necessary investments to serve the people in their communities and make Wisconsin a place people want to live, learn, and thrive."
Budget irresponsible
But Sen. Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville), a member of the JFC, said Evers's budget proposals were irresponsible.
"Today the Joint Finance Committee is starting to build the next state budget from base," Stroebel said on Twitter. "We have been sifting through Evers's laundry list of wishful spending and are ultimately removing 545 policy items from Evers's proposal to craft an actual, responsible budget for Wisconsin."
Unsurprisingly, Stroebel said, Evers tried pushing his agenda through the budget process by including provisions for weakening election integrity, attacking school choice, providing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, legalizing marijuana and restricting gun ownership.
"Moreover, JFC pulled Evers's reckless plan to spend our record $7 billion surplus into a $4 billion deficit in two short years," he said. "The governor's budget proposal is not serious."
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), the state's largest business association, said the governor's budget proposals were costly and not in the public interest.
Scott Manley, WMC's executive vice president of government relations, said the governor's budget would have increased taxes on individuals and businesses, limited educational options for students trapped in failing schools, made health care more expensive, and raised the costs to make and build things in Wisconsin.
"The proposals included in Gov. Evers's budget would not only expand the size and scope of government significantly, they would have had a devastatingly harmful effect on our economy," Manley said. "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."
Manley observed that Evers's budget proposal would have raised taxes on manufacturers by $650 million through the essential repeal of the Manufacturing & Agriculture Tax Credit; limited worker freedoms by repealing Wisconsin's Right to Work law; and made public construction projects more expensive by reinstating the costly prevailing wage law.
Manley said Evers's budget would also have 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; and forced additional costs on workers and employers by creating a taxpayer-funded paid family leave program.
"Today's actions are a win for Wisconsin taxpayers," he said. "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."
On the agricultural side, Venture Dairy Cooperative said the governor's budget would have increased fees for some dairy farmers and made it easier for those farms to be the targets of anti-agriculture activists.
"We thank the members of Joint Finance who voted to remove these problematic, anti-farmer provisions from Gov. Evers's budget proposal," Kim Bremmer, executive director of Venture Dairy Cooperative, said. "The last thing farmers need is higher fees, especially as the programs these fees support need significant reform. It helps no one to throw good money at bad programs or policy."
Cindy Leitner, president of Wisconsin Dairy Alliance, said that part of farming is running a business, and farmers not only care about agricultural policy, but also feel the impacts of workforce shortages and high taxes.
"We applaud Joint Finance for removing provisions that would have also increased property taxes, increased insurance costs and limited education freedom for students and families," Leitner said.
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