MADISON, Wis. — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said Tuesday that he hopes to find more areas to negotiate bipartisan compromises with Republicans in the upcoming state budget, building on work across the aisle in the last legislative session to pass a funding plan for the Milwaukee Brewers’ stadium and increase state aid for local governments.
“I think there’ll be four or five or six – hopefully even more – big issues that after all the huffing and puffing on both sides, people will say, ‘Well, we gotta get this done or we’re not gonna get reelected,’ or ‘It’s a really good idea,’ for example, and then we’ll do it,” Evers said at a conference hosted by the Wisconsin Counties Association.
The governor’s comments come just a week after he proposed a budget that would increase spending by more than 20% over the next two years.
Republicans who control the state Legislature called the governor’s proposal ridiculous and said they won’t support a budget that grows the size of state government. They quickly promised to scrap Evers’ plan and write their own version.
Watch: As Evers calls for compromise, Vos says budget negotiations hinge on tax cuts
Democrats and Republicans have signaled they could find common ground on some issues, such as reforming the state’s troubled prisons. However, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the state’s top Republican, said budget negotiations aren’t going anywhere until Evers signs tax cuts into law.
“I wanna know how much money we’re gonna put in the hands of the average Wisconsin family before we focus on how do we make sure the bureaucrats get what they want,” Vos said. “I think that has to be the order. So, we’ll pass a tax cut. Hopefully that will get signed, but if not, unfortunately the budget will probably have to wait.”
In the last state budget, Evers used his partial veto power to slash a GOP-backed tax cut by 95%, angering Republicans. Vos said Tuesday that Republicans are currently working on a new plan for broad tax cuts.
“I want everybody who lives in Wisconsin to say, ‘I’m gonna get some kind of tax relief,’ because we are all dealing with the inflationary costs,” he said.
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