MADISON, WI (WSAU) — Stevens Point Senator Patrick Testin says the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee did formally accept Governor Evers’ proposed state budget on Wednesday, then immediately stripped it down to the bare bones.
“We are not going to be operating off of what the Governor has proposed,” said Testin on Thursday. “We are going to start out under the base budget which we are currently under, and we will build off of that.”
Testin says he and other Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee don’t see the Governor’s proposed spending increase as sustainable, citing a study from the state’s fiscal bureau which says that if the Governor’s proposed spending levels were maintained the current budget surplus would be quickly reversed. “If we were to adopt what [Evers] proposed, by the fiscal year 2027 we would be looking at a $700 million shortfall [at minimum.]”
Governor Evers proposed budget includes a 23% increase in state spending, at a time when the state’s coffers are flush with cash to the tune of $7 billion. Testin notes that increases like that can’t be counted on year-over-year, and says increases in inflation and federal spending have helped build that cushion.
Republicans are also expected to push for a flat income tax of about 3.25% for all residents, which Testin says would put Wisconsin in line with other neighboring states like Illinois. “It would make us much more competitive compared to some of our surrounding states.
“While the Governor has thrown cold water on that idea because he doesn’t want to provide a tax cut to the top bracket within our tax code,” added Testin. “When you take a look at our tax climate in the state, we are about middle-of-the-pack nationwide. So if we want to be competitive and attract workers, investments, and businesses- we need to make the case as to why they should come here.”
Despite those differences, Testin says he does expect that the two sides will be able to push through a workable budget. “The last two budgets that we sent him weren’t up to the level of [spending] that he would have liked, but we have still made critical investments that, at the end of the day, the budget reached his desk and he signed it into law.
