The proposed Wisconsin state budget goes to the state Assembly Thursday afternoon, after passage by the state Senate Wednesday. Democrats spent hours unsuccessfully trying to talk the GOP out of approving a large tax cut, and to instead put more money into programs like child care.
State lawmakers have been debating for months how to deal with a projected $7 billion budget surplus. While the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee approved some spending increases, the panel sliced a lot of money from proposals offered by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat. And last week, just before the committee wrapped up its work on the budget, Republicans ignored Evers' call for a 10% middle class tax cut. Instead, the panel recommended a $3.5 billion tax cut that trims tax rates by as much as 17%.
During Wednesday's debate over proposed amendments from Senate Democrats, much was made of estimates that a 15% cut for the highest tax rate would mean a saving of about $2,100 for people making at least $250,000 per year. The middle class would save about $250 per person, while those making about $30,000 per year would just net about $15.
Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) said the very wealthy would do really well. "The top 13 people collectively in our state would get $22 million in a tax cut. You average that out, you get $1.7 million each. These are people making well over what the average is in our state. These are people who do not need it. What are they going to do, blow it all on hats or shoes?," he asked other senators.
Larson used a castle analogy to contrast how wealthy and low-income communities would benefit. "That is the equivalent of taking the $3.5 billion that goes out in tax cuts, and putting the biggest chunk in a catapult and launching it over into the castle of the rich. Maybe a couple dollars fall down from that onto the poor. And the response is, 'Well ya' got something,'" he said.
Democrats tried a few times to get Senate Republicans to put as much as $340 million into maintaining a subsidy program called Child Care Counts, which Evers used federal pandemic money to fund. Many child care centers used the money to stay open, add staff and keep prices down.
Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire County) said if Child Care Counts ends, more day care centers would close.
"Much of my district, for example, is considered a child care desert. Thirty-eight percent of the zip codes in Wisconsin are considered child care deserts. That means, there's no child care centers available or there's only one opening for every three children that need it," Smith told lawmakers.
Smith said if families can't find affordable child care, one wage earner will stay home — worsening Wisconsin's labor shortage.
Other Democratic amendments aimed to put more requirements on gun sales, expand Medicaid (Badger Care) in Wisconsin and repeal the 1849 law banning almost all abortions in the state. But Republicans rejected every proposal.
Eventually, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R- Oostburg) defended the GOP tax cut plan. "Earlier in the day, we heard a lot of hand-wringing about our tax cut is just tax cuts for millionaires, and the wealthy in the state of Wisconsin. Well, if you look at this tax cut, the top tax bracket is cut by 15%. The second to top tax bracket is cut by 17%. It's a bigger tax cut, percentage-wise, for the vast majority of income earners in the state of Wisconsin," he asserted.
Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) soon questioned LeMahieu's math. "Fifteen percent of the billion or millionaires money, and 17% of what we make, or people who make less than us, is not the same. It's not the same," she said.
Taylor, who is Black, also delivered a lengthy criticism of Republican efforts to cut diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the University of Wisconsin System and the City of Milwaukee. But the Senate passed the budget 20-13, with two Republicans joining all the Democrats in voting no.
The main architect of the attack on DEI, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Racine County) will help guide that chamber's budget action Thursday afternoon.
Evers will still have considerable veto power over the document.
Legislative audio provided by Wisconsin Eye.
