Democratic Gov. Tony Evers proposed massive spending increases on Tuesday in a state budget that would put billions towards Wisconsin’s public schools, crack down on health insurance companies that deny too many claims, and lower taxes for the middle class while increasing them for millionaires and billionaires.
Evers also used his budget address to blast President Donald Trump’s early actions in office, accusing the president of causing “needless chaos.”
Overall, the governor’s plan would increase spending by more than 20% over the next two years. However, Republicans who control the state Legislature are unlikely to approve the governor’s ideas. In the past three budget cycles, they have tossed out Evers’ proposals before writing their own version of the budget.
“The 20% spending increase, the billion dollars in taxes, all of the wasteful new programs that are being created and regulations on the private sector, the increases on business, the increases on income taxes, all of those things – dead on arrival,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the state’s top Republican, said after Evers’ speech.
The Legislature typically sends its draft of the budget to the governor in June. Evers can remove items from that draft with his partial veto power, but he cannot add new policies.
Here’s a look at some of the major proposals in Evers’ budget for the 2025-2027 cycle:
Middle class tax cuts, upper class tax hikes
The governor touted a tax plan that would cut income taxes for the middle class, incentivize municipalities to keep property taxes stable for the next two years and eliminate taxes on cash tips. His plan would also increase taxes for millionaires and billionaires by creating a new tax bracket for income over $1 million.
Republican lawmakers say they want to spend the entire more-than $4 billion on tax cuts. In the last budget cycle, Evers and Republicans battled over where to direct tax relief. The governor ultimately used his partial veto power to slash a GOP-backed tax cut by 95%.
Massive boost in school funding
Evers is proposing more than $3 billion for K-12 education, mainly directed towards increasing per-pupil state aid payments and reimbursements for special education costs.
“This budget is about doing what’s best for our kids,” the governor said.
State Superintendent Jill Underly, who asked for more than $4 billion in her budget request to the governor’s office, approved of the proposal.
“Obviously I wish there was more, but this is a great start,” she said.
The Universities of Wisconsin would also receive an increase of $856 million in state funding under the governor’s budget – an amount Evers said would be “the largest two-year increase for our UW System in state history.”
Health care reforms
Evers proposed sweeping health care reforms that would crack down on health insurance companies that deny too many claims, require more transparency from health care companies, and lower the cost of medication.
“If an insurance company is going to deny your healthcare claim, they should have a darn good reason for it,” Evers said.
Evers also once again proposed Medicaid expansion in his budget, an idea that Republicans have repeatedly rejected. The governor’s office estimates that change would make an additional 98,000 people eligible for Medicaid and save the state $1.9 billion because of increased federal funding.
Bracing for decisions from the Trump administration
Evers urged Republicans who control the state Legislature to leave $500 million in the bank to respond to Trump’s actions.
“With irresponsible decisions in Washington every day hurting people in Wisconsin, we will need to have state resources readily available to respond to basic and emergency situations alike,” Evers said.
Wisconsin Republicans said they’re more worried about how the decisions of the liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court might affect the budget-writing process.
“What they’re doing in Washington, they’re rooting out waste and fraud, which is a great thing,” Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said.
Addressing water contamination
The governor is proposing $145 million to fight contamination from so-called forever chemicals known as PFAS. These chemicals are linked to birth defects and cancers and have been found in communities across the state.
Evers and Republicans have fought for years over how to address PFAS contamination in Wisconsin waters. Some Wisconsinites are relying on bottled water while they wait for help from state government.
The last budget set aside $125 million to address PFAS contamination. However, Evers and Republicans disagreed on passing guidelines to instruct the Department of Natural Resources how to use that money. As a result, Republicans who control the Joint Finance Committee still have not released the funding.
Prisons overhaul, child care investments, and more
Prior to Tuesday’s budget address, Evers had announced other budget proposals to make sweeping changes to the state’s prisons, continue a federally funded program that supports child care centers, and pay for school meal programs and student mental health initiatives.
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