Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday signed off on a two-year budget that, through a line-item veto, increased funding for K-12 public schools for more than 400 years after he significantly curtailed the Republican-proposed income tax cut, The Associated Press reports. Unless overturned by a future legislature and governor, the Democrat and former state education secretary's move, accomplished by striking a hyphen and two numbers, will increase the amount of revenue schools can raise per student by $325 a year until 2425. Evers had proposed allowing revenue limits to rise with inflation, and under his veto, he said schools will now have "predictable long-term spending authority."
Republicans assailed the vetoes, accusing Evers of violating an agreement they had reached. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said that the effectively eternal revenue limit increase could prompt "massive property tax increases" because schools have the power to raise those taxes if they're unable to cover per-pupil costs with state aid. He added that skimming the tax cut, which would have used nearly half of Wisconsin's $7 billion budget to cut income taxes across each bracket, also puts the state at an economic disadvantage when compared to nearby states with lower rates. Evers' veto wiped the rate reductions for the two highest brackets, which would have received the largest cuts under the Republican plan, and directed the remaining $175 million to the lowest two tax brackets, paid by individuals earning less than $27,630 per year or households earning less than $36,840 per year. "Legislative Republicans worked tirelessly over the last few months to block Governor Evers' liberal tax and spending agenda," Vos said in a statement. "Unfortunately, because of his powerful veto authority, he reinstated some of it today."
Evers was unable to veto the $32 million cut to the University of Wisconsin's funding that he had previously threatened to veto the entire budget over and that Republicans projected would go toward diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and staff. However, Evers' budget does allow the university to reclaim that funding later if it can prove it will go toward workforce development instead. Another of Evers' strike downs removed a provision that would have prohibited Medicaid payments for gender-affirming care. The Democratic governor admonished the proposal, accusing Republicans of "perpetuating hateful, discriminatory, and anti-LGBTQ policies and rhetoric" through it.
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