Swansenreport

Wisconsin’s $1.8 Billion Tax Relief Deal Is Dead — And Everyone Is Blaming Someone Else

The bipartisan Wisconsin budget surplus deal that looked like a done deal just days ago — property tax relief, $300 rebate checks, no tax on tips or overtime — died in the state Senate late Wednesday night, and the blame game that followed was every bit as messy as the vote itself.

The bill passed the Assembly 61-32 in a bipartisan vote, with 10 Democrats crossing the aisle to support it. But in the Senate, it failed 15-18. All 15 Senate Democrats voted no, joined by three Republicans — Sens. Steve Nass of Whitewater, Chris Kapenga of Delafield, and Rob Hutton of Brookfield — enough to sink it. Bloomberg Law

Gov. Evers came out swinging immediately after the vote, pointing the finger at U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee. Evers said Tiffany had made phone calls to Senate Republicans urging them to tank the deal. “Wisconsin’s kids and schools aren’t going to get the investments they desperately need this year because Tom Tiffany and a few Republican and Democratic lawmakers chose to blow up a bipartisan plan,” Evers said. LifeZette

Tiffany wasn’t hiding his opposition. On his campaign Facebook page, Tiffany called Evers “the arsonist who wants praise for spraying a drop of water on the fire he started,” arguing that the surplus existed because Wisconsin families were overtaxed in the first place and that the deal did nothing to repeal Evers’ 400-year property tax increase. Yahoo!

But the full picture is more complicated than Evers’ framing suggests. Senate Democrats were furious that they were frozen out of negotiations entirely — receiving the bill text on Monday before a Wednesday vote — and argued the deal would create a $2.9 billion structural deficit in the next budget cycle. Senate Democratic Majority Leader Diane Hesselbein called it “completely reckless.” Sen. Steve Nass, the Republican holdout who said he would “stand with Tom Tiffany,” cited the same Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis showing the package would increase Wisconsin’s structural deficit going forward. Twitchy

Several Democratic gubernatorial candidates also opposed the deal. Sen. Kelda Roys said she was “shocked” to find herself agreeing with Tiffany and Nass. Rep. Francesca Hong called it “a backroom deal” and “a payday loan taken out at the expense of our children.” Even Evers himself called Democrats who opposed the bill “the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” in an interview with CBS58. Breitbart

Senate Republican Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, who had helped negotiate the deal, put the bottom line plainly after the vote: Senate Democrats had chosen to “leave $2.5 billion sitting in a Madison bank account” rather than deliver relief to Wisconsin families.

The result: your property tax bill stays where it is, no rebate check is coming in November, and Wisconsin’s $2.5 billion surplus sits untouched heading into a midterm election where control of the Senate is very much in play.

Sources: WPR | WXPR | Wisconsin Watch | WBAY | Wisconsin Examiner | Spectrum News 1