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Wisconsin State Budget Draws Criticism From Democrats & Republicans

Wisconsin Capitol Building
Maayan Silver
/
WUWM
The budget is not without controversy on both sides of the aisle.

Wisconsin recently passed its biennial state budget. Despite some major disagreements, Gov. Tony Evers signed the Republican-authored budget last week. But the budget is not without controversy on both sides of the aisle.

"The two issues here that most people are thinking about when they read and think about the budget is education funding and the enormous tax cut that was signed into law," says Molly Beck, a reporter who covers state politics and government for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Although the Republican-authored budget increases funding for education in Wisconsin, it fails to fully fund it. Beck says education leaders fear they will be forced to cut services and jobs. Education advocates have also pointed out that the state had an unprecedented windfall of $4.4 billion in tax dollars to use in this budget, and Republicans used that to fund a tax cut.

Republicans also sought to add around $500 million of these tax dollars to the state's rainy day fund, which Evers vetoed from the budget.

"That is something that the Republicans have criticized since then," says Beck.

Joy is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.
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