As expected, Governor Tony Evers has vetoed three Republican authored tax bills. Evers has twice previously vetoed tax cuts from Republicans.
In a statement Friday, the Democratic governor said the three measures totaling $800 million would have driven the state into insolvency and threatened services. The bills included expansion of the state’s second income tax bracket to cover higher earners, an increase in the income tax credit for married couples, and an increase in the amount of retirees’ income exempt from the state income tax.
The bill passed the both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature last month on party-line votes, with Republicans urging Evers to sign them. “He continues to say things like, ‘oh, I want a middle class tax cut, I want a middle class tax cut,’ said Majority Leader Tyler August (R-Lake Geneva). “That’s exactly what this package is.”
“Despite repeated opportunities provided by Legislative Republicans, Governor Evers refuses to support tax cuts that directly benefit the middle class, even when using defined parameters on what he deems as middle class,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said in a statement following the vetoes.
Evers did not mention a fourth Republican bill, an expanded tax credit for couples with children.