Joint Finance Committee eliminates over 600 items from Evers' budget proposal

Yahoo

09-05-2025

Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) told reporters that they would be starting from 'base' with the budget. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
The Joint Finance Committee kicked off its work on the next Wisconsin State Budget Thursday by eliminating over 600 items from Gov. Tony Evers' sweeping budget proposal, saying they would start from 'base' and his budget had too much 'irresponsible' spending. Democrats criticized Republicans for blocking all of Evers' proposals without presenting a plan of their own to address the concerns of everyday Wisconsinites.
The committee spent last month hearing from members of the public, many of whom called for investments in public education and health care, and from some agency heads, who have defended Gov. Tony Evers' budget requests. The state has a $4 billion budget surplus it's considering, and Evers proposed the state tap those funds and raise income taxes on the wealthiest Wisconsinites to fund his proposals.
The list that lawmakers eliminated from the budget bill spanned about 20 pages and includes a new 9.8% income tax bracket for high-income earners, Medicaid expansion, nearly $500 million for the Child Care Counts program, marijuana legalization and taxation, $125 million to create a grant program to address PFAS, $200 million to address the replacement of lead pipes and other provisions to help address lead poisoning and many provisions related to public schools including free school meals, a 'grow your own' teaching program and ensuring access to menstrual supplies in schools, funding for the Office of School Safety and a provision to cap participation in the state's voucher programs.
Ahead of the budget meeting, committee co-chairs Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) told reporters that they would be starting from 'base' with the budget, meaning removing all of the items and taking the budget back to the one in place for 2023-2025.
Born said legislators are accustomed to 'the way we have to manage the governor's executive budgets.' Since Evers took office in 2019, Republicans have kicked off every budget cycle by removing all of his proposals.
'Unfortunately, [Evers] sends us an executive budget that's just piles full of stuff that doesn't make sense and spends recklessly and raises taxes and has way too much policy,' Born said. 'So, we'll work from base and the first step of that today is to remove all that policy… and then begin the work of rebuilding the budget.'
Responding to Democrats' criticism that Republicans are removing items that are popular with the public, Marklein said they should draft separate bills and use the regular legislative process to advance those ideas.
'I can point to things in the budget bill that we're going to pull up that I like… and we're pulling that out as well. It's a policy,' Marklein said. 'It's got nothing to do with the budget.'
Born noted that there are also other ways that lawmakers could address issues of concern apart from Evers' suggestions, saying the removal of items 'doesn't mean that when we build this budget over the next couple of months, we won't impact those areas in positive and significant ways.'
'The governor has one idea on how to fund child care or one idea on how to impact mental health,' Born said. 'There are other ways that we can do that in current law and current budget operations by inserting more money in things that I can most likely see us do.'
Marklein also noted that there could be some changes to how they go about drafting the budget this year following the state Supreme Court upholding Evers' partial veto in the last budget.
'I anticipate that you're not going to see too many references to digits, years anymore,' Marklein said. 'My guess is that our drafting attorneys are going to recommend that you spell out those years, and those dates in the budget.' Born said the decision could also affect the education budget because there are increases already 'baked into the cake.'
Evers slammed Republicans for gutting his proposal, saying that they are refusing to help Wisconsinites.
'The most frustrating part for me as governor is that Republicans consistently reject basic, commonsense proposals that can help kids, families, farmers, seniors and Wisconsinites across our state, all while Republicans offer no real or meaningful alternative of their own,' Evers said. 'Republicans talk a lot about what they're against, but not what they're for.'
During the meeting, Democrats proposed keeping 19 items in the budget across a handful of motions that touched on certain issue areas, saying they hoped they could carve out some spots for agreement.
One would have placed $420 million back in the budget to fund the Child Care Counts program, as well as several other child care related measures.
Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) said Republicans are 'willing to pull out really, really important items' and said the child care proposals are essential, warning that money for the Child Care Counts program is expected to expire in June.
'We are at risk of losing 87,000 [child care] slots… The fact that these things are being pulled out of the budget today and as of today, there is no mention or discussion of a replacement plan for something as important as this,' she said, is creating uncertainty among Wisconsinites and exacerbating a crisis.
'Our children deserve quality services. Our families deserve affordable rates,' Johnson said.
Another motion would have placed Medicaid expansion back in the budget. Wisconsin is one of only 10 states that haven't accepted the federal expansion, which would allow coverage for those up to 138% of the federal poverty line.
'Families are struggling to afford the care they need, and we have an opportunity — and I would argue an obligation — to do something,' Andraca said.
Andraca noted that Congressional Republicans, including Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, are considering cuts to the Medicaid program as they aim to extend the 2017 tax cuts from President Donald Trump's first term.
'We heard how people are fearful of cuts to the programs that they rely on, and they are forced to make increasingly hard choices between groceries and prescriptions,' Andraca said. 'Are you still willing to turn your backs on the people who entrusted us to vote for their best interests? Honestly, our constituents deserve better than this.'
The final proposal from Democrats would have kept items in the budget related to veterans including tax credits for veterans, funding for a veterans' mental health program and for the Wisconsin Veterans Museum as well as an item to designate Juneteenth and Veterans Day as holidays.
Rep. Tip McGuire (R-Kenosha) said he hoped they could agree on not making veterans' lives harder.
'I recognize that it's sort of the whole brand of the Republican party right now is to make everyone's life a little bit more difficult,' McGuire said. 'Certainly, it's harder to travel in this country, It's harder for people to access health insurance, it's harder for people to afford college or go to college or manage their student loans. It's harder for people to afford groceries and there may even be a question of what you can have full shelves soon… I know it's your whole brand to make people's lives harder, but I think we can all agree… [veterans] should still deserve some support.'
Republicans rejected each motion.
McGuire doubled down on his point, saying that Republicans' opposition to supporting even smaller parts of Evers' proposal is a sign that they don't want to help the average person.
'People are struggling and it is a challenging world and the one thing we should not be doing the one thing that nobody votes for their legislator to do is to make their life harder,' McGuire said. 'Yet, that is all we are seeing out of the Republican party right now. That's all we see out of the federal Republican party and frankly the Republican party here,' McGuire said, noting that Republican lawmakers recently passed legislation that would place additional restrictions on unemployment benefits.
'You're making things less affordable and more difficult for regular [people] and that's bad and we shouldn't do it,' McGuire said.
Marklein said he was 'glad we're going back to base' because Evers' budget proposal included a 20% increase in spending, an additional 1,300 positions funded by general purpose revenue and an increase in taxes.
'When I talk to my constituents about the process, they are truly supportive of us not starting from this inflated budget that [Evers] put before us,' Marklein said, noting that Evers signed the last budget after they went through a similar process. 'The idea that the door is closed on all these things is pretty ridiculous.'
McGuire pushed back on Marklein's comments, saying that lawmakers are pretending it is a 'nice and friendly' process.
'Part of the process that occurs here today is that not only do you remove the governor's budget items, which make life easier for Wisconsinites, but then, you also prohibit anyone from ever discussing them ever again,' McGuire said. 'And that's really bizarre… This is a top-down totalitarian committee where we're not permitted to discuss things past a certain point.'
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