Wisconsin’s Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul announced Tuesday that he will not run for governor, opting instead to seek a third term as the state’s top law enforcement official.
The governor’s race is wide open after Democratic incumbent Tony Evers, 73, announced this summer that he won’t seek reelection. The race will be the highest-profile contest on the ballot, but it has even greater significance this cycle as Democrats look to hold the office and take control of the Legislature for the first time since 2010.
More than half-a-dozen Democrats have announced plans to run in the August primary. Kaul would have been the de facto front-runner had he joined, given his large base of support and two statewide election victories.
The most prominent candidates in the Democratic primary scramble include Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez; Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley; state Sen. Kelda Roys; state Rep. Francesca Hong and former Wisconsin Economic Development Commission leader Missy Hughes. Former lieutenant governor and 2022 U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes said Tuesday in the wake of Kaul’s decision that he’s “strongly considering” entering the race.
The most notable Republicans running are U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann.
Kaul said in an interview Tuesday that he seriously considered running for governor but was worried the job would take him away from his two sons, ages 8 and 11. The state also needs leaders willing to push back against President Donald Trump’s administration, he said.
“It’s vitally important that we have folks who are going to stand up and protect our freedoms and rule of law,” he said.
Kaul is nearly three-quarters of the way through his second term. He defeated incumbent Republican Brad Schimel in 2018 and held off a challenge from Republican Eric Toney, Fond du Lac County’s district attorney, to win a second term in 2022.
Toney is expected to run for attorney general again in 2026. Voicemail and text messages were left with him Tuesday.
Kaul has been an advocate for liberal causes as attorney general. He has repeatedly called on Republican legislators to enact gun safety measures, to no avail. He successfully persuaded the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court to strike down the state’s abortion ban this year. Kaul has launched an investigation into clergy sex abuse in Wisconsin and has worked to expedite testing of sexual assault evidence kits.
Kaul also has worked to create multiple legal obstacles for Trump.
Last year, he filed felony charges against two attorneys and an aide who helped submit false papers to Congress claiming that Trump had won Wisconsin in 2020. Democrat Joe Biden won the state by less than a percentage point. The case Kaul brought against the fake electors is still pending.
Kaul has also joined more than two dozen multistate lawsuits challenging edicts from the current Trump administration. The filings challenge an array of proposals, including dismantling the federal volunteer agency AmeriCorps, withholding federal education funding from the states and capping research grant funding.
Republicans tried to curtail Kaul’s powers ahead of his first term, passing legislation in a lame duck session before he took office that required the Legislature’s GOP-controlled finance committee to approve any court settlements his office might broker. Kaul fought the statutes all the way to the state Supreme Court and ultimately won a ruling in June that the legislation was unconstitutional.
A conservative Wisconsin appeals court judge announced Wednesday she is running for an open seat on the battleground state’s Supreme Court, promising to stop the politicization of the courts after record-high spending in the last race, fueled by billionaires Elon Musk and George Soros.
Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar, who formerly worked as a prosecutor for the Wisconsin Department of Justice, is the first conservative to get into the race, which will be decided in April. Liberal Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor, a former Democratic state lawmaker, also is running.
Lazar, 61, said she was disturbed by the massive spending and partisan politics of those races. Both the Republican and Democratic parties were heavily involved in the last campaign.
“We must stop the politicization of our courts,” Lazar said in a campaign launch video.
Lazar pitched herself as an “independent, impartial judge” who will “stop the destruction of our courts.” She also promised “never to be swayed by political decisions” when ruling.
Liberal candidates have won four of the past five Supreme Court races, resulting in them taking a 4-3 majority in 2023 to end a 15-year run of conservative control. If liberals lose the April election, they would still maintain their majority until at least 2028. And if they win in April, it would increase to 5-2.
Several high-profile issues could make their way to the court in the coming months, including cases involving abortion, collective bargaining rights, congressional redistricting and election rules.
Lazar, in her launch video, contrasted herself with Taylor by saying she “has always been a politician first.”
She noted that she was appointed as a Dane County circuit judge by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in 2020 without having any prior experience on the bench. Taylor won election to the circuit court in 2021 and to the appeals court in 2023.
Lazar will start at a financial disadvantage. Taylor’s campaign said in August that she had already raised more than $1 million.
Lazar, who has been on the state court of appeals since 2022, worked in private practice for 20 years before joining the state Department of Justice as an assistant attorney general in 2011.
During her four years there, she was involved in several high-profile cases, including defending a law under then-Gov. Scott Walker, that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers. Known as Act 10, the statute was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2011 at a time when it was controlled by conservative justices.
A circuit court judge ruled in December that it is unconstitutional, but put that decision on hold pending appeal. It could end up before the state’s high court, raising questions about whether Lazar could hear it, given her previous involvement.
Lazar also defended laws passed by Republicans and signed by Walker, implementing a voter ID requirement and restricting access to abortion.
Lazar left the Justice Department after being elected circuit court judge in Waukesha in 2015. She held that post until being elected to the state appeals court.
Wisconsin business owner Bill Berrien, a supporter of President Donald Trump, ended his Republican campaign for governor on Friday, days after it was reported that he followed numerous sexually explicit accounts online, including a nonbinary pornography performer.
Berrien, a former Navy SEAL and one of three announced prominent Republican candidates, issued a lengthy statement saying, “I had no idea that running for political office could be almost as dangerous” as “hunting down war criminals in Bosnia.” Berrien said he concluded he could not win the Republican primary.
“Looking towards what is in the best interest of the party, voters, donors, and my family, I have decided to end my campaign,” he said.
Berrien’s departure leaves U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who got into the race on Tuesday, and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann as the only Republican candidates. There are numerous Democrats running. The primary is in August.
Berrien has an account on the online platform Medium.com where he followed nonbinary porn performer Jiz Lee and several other authors of sexually explicit essays. He also followed “publications,” which are similar to blogs, that dealt with exploring sexuality, including having relationships with multiple partners.
Lee issued a statement Thursday calling Berrien a hypocrite. Several prominent Republicans had been calling for him to drop out of the race.
Schoemann did not address Berrien’s social media habits in a statement reacting to his withdrawal from the race. Instead, Schoemann said he appreciated his willingness to serve his country as a candidate. Tiffany did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Wisconsin Democratic Party spokesperson Phil Shulman blamed Berrien’s departure not on his social media activity but his past criticism of Trump.
Conservatives had questioned the viability of Berrien’s candidacy because he had supported former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential primary and said in August 2020 that he hadn’t decided whether to support Trump.
“Bill Berrien is a lesson for all GOP candidates: if you don’t show complete and total loyalty to Trump–past or present–then you better pack your bags and head for the door,” Shulman said in a statement. His failure, despite his resume, financial investment, and doing somersaults to earn Trump’s love, shows just how far the other GOP candidates are going to have to go to win the nomination.”
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported on his online activity on Monday. Berrien defended his actions to The Associated Press on Tuesday, saying the media was focusing on “stupid articles I read years ago.”
He was even more forceful in his statement dropping out of the race, describing the articles he read and people he followed as “cherry-picked.” He said it “painted a salacious and sensational picture that was clearly targeted to force me out of this governor race. It was a major attack piece.”
“And for what? For reading!” Berrien said. “Nothing illegal, nothing unethical, and nothing immoral. Just reading. Wouldn’t you want your political and business leaders (and all of society, frankly) to be widely read and thoughtful and aware of different perspectives and ideas?”
Berrien, the CEO of Pindel Global Precision, ran as a supporter of “family values.” He had been critical of transgender people in the opening weeks of his candidacy. He quit less than three months after getting in the race.
The governor’s race in battleground Wisconsin is open for the first time since 2010. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers decided against seeking a third term.
The most prominent Democratic candidates are Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez; Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley; state Sen. Kelda Roys; and state Rep. Francesca Hong. Others considering getting in include Attorney General Josh Kaul, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and former state economic development director Missy Hughes.
If you head to a Wisconsin DMV after Oct. 1, don’t be surprised if you’re asked to pay more for a brand-new or renewed driver’s license.
That’s because fees for driver’s licenses, vehicle titles, heavy trucks and lost or destroyed license plates are going up at the start of October.
Those fee hikes were approved as part of Wisconsin’s 2023-25 state budget passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in July.
The fee hikes will generate millions of dollars for the state Department of Transportation to improve roads, bridges and other infrastructure, Evers said.
In total, the budget will produce nearly “nearly $200 million in additional revenue to improve the sustainability of the transportation fund,” Evers wrote.
Wisconsin vehicle title fee increases to $207
The fee for a motor vehicle title or title transfer will increase from $157 to $207. The fee is waived if the owner has died and the vehicle is being transferred to an immediate family member.
The increase to vehicle title fees is expected to generate around $116 million over the next two fiscal years.
Initially, Evers proposed increasing the vehicle title fee by $120.
Wisconsin driver’s license fee increases to $32.50
The fee for a “Class D” motor vehicle license, which covers operation of automobiles, light trucks and mopeds, will increase to $32.50, up from $24.
The fee will apply whether the driver is being issued a license for the first time or renewing their license.
That increase is expected to generate $7.6 million in revenue over the next two years.
Wisconsin trucks over 6,000 pounds will see a 10% increase in license fee
Fees for trucks with a gross weight of more than 6,000 pounds will increase 10%.
The state has several tiers of annual fees for trucks based on weight. Currently, trucks between 16,000 and 20,000 pounds have a fee of $356, for example. That will go up 10%, to around $392.
Wisconsin fee for lost or destroyed plates rises $2
If a license plate gets lost, destroyed or becomes illegible, the driver must apply to the DOT for a replacement. Each replacement plate will now be $6, an increase from $4. For a set of two plates, it’s $12.
State budget increased some other fees in Wisconsin
The state budget increased several other fees in Wisconsin, including bingo and raffle licenses and nonresident camping and admission fees at state parks.
An annual bingo license in Wisconsin now costs $10, with a $20 license fee for each bingo occasion.
An annual raffle license is now $50.
Nonresident camping fees at state parts are now $50 per night, up from $45.
Additional fees for campsites with electricity go up $5-$10 at certain state parks.
Nonresident annual vehicle admission stickers are now $49.50, up from $37.50. Fees for nonresident buses also go up several dollars.
Together, those increases are expected to generate about $181 million more in revenue over the next two years, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
A loyalist of Donald Trump who represents a broad swath of Wisconsin’s rural north woods in Congress entered the governor’s race in the battleground state Tuesday, shaking up the Republican primary.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany becomes the front-runner over the two other announced Republican candidates who have less name recognition and support from key conservative donors.
President Donald Trump has not endorsed anyone, which will be key in the August GOP primary. Tiffany said earlier this month, after reports that Trump declined to immediately endorse him, “I’m not worried about endorsements. I think we focus too much time chasing endorsements.”
Another GOP candidate, businessman Bill Berrien, has faced fierce criticism on conservative talk radio after he backed former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in the 2024 primary and said in August 2020 that he hadn’t decided whether to support Trump.
The third Republican in the race, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, has also tried to court Trump voters. He represents a suburban Milwaukee county that Trump won with 67% of the vote in 2024.
“I have the experience both in the private sector and the public sector to be able to work from Day One,” Tiffany said in an interview on “The Dan O’Donnell Show” announcing his candidacy.
“I give us the best chance to win in 2026,” he said, promising to make the governor’s race one of the most competitive in the country by raising up to $40 million himself to attract additional outside spending.
Reacting to Tiffany’s announcement, Schoemann said he looked forward to a primary “focused on ideas and winning back the governor’s office.”
Even if he lands a Trump endorsement, Tiffany faces hurdles. In the past 36 years, gubernatorial candidates who were the same party as the president in a midterm election have lost every time, except for Evers in 2022.
Tiffany has cruised to victory in the vast 7th Congressional District, which covers nearly 19,000 square miles encompassing all or part of 20 counties. Tiffany won a special election in 2020 after the resignation of Sean Duffy, who is now Trump’s transportation secretary. Tiffany won that race by 14 points and has won reelection by more than 20 points three times.
But candidates from deep-red rural northern Wisconsin have struggled to win statewide elections, largely because of the huge number of Democratic voters in the state’s two largest cities, Milwaukee and Madison.
Prior to being elected to Congress, Tiffany served just over seven years in the state Legislature. During his tenure, he was a close ally of then-Gov. Scott Walker and voted to pass a law that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers.
Tiffany also voted in favor of legalizing concealed carry and angered environmentalists by trying to repeal a state mining moratorium to clear the way for an open-pit mine in northern Wisconsin.
In Congress, Tiffany has upset animal welfare activists with his push to take the gray wolf off the endangered species list, which would open the door to wolf hunting seasons.
In 2020, Tiffany voted against accepting the Electoral College votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania as part of an effort to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s win. He was one of just 14 Republican House members in 2021 who voted against making Juneteenth a national holiday.
Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Devin Remiker branded Tiffany as “Tariff Lover Tom Tiffany,” highlighting his support for Trump’s tariffs, his push at the federal level to ban abortions around six weeks of pregnancy.
“We’re going to show Wisconsinites what a fraud he is and defeat him next November,” Remiker said.
When asked about his abortion stance Tuesday, Tiffany said he stood by the current Wisconsin law that bans abortions after about five months of pregnancy. He also reiterated his support for Trump’s tariffs.
Tiffany promised as governor to freeze property taxes, lower income taxes, improve schools, bolster job creation, overhaul the state Department of Natural Resources and protect farmland from foreign ownership.
Tiffany, 67, was born on a dairy farm and ran a tourist boat business for 20 years. He has played up his rural Wisconsin roots in past campaigns, which included ads featuring his elderly mother and one in which he slings cow manure.
A Republican manufacturer running for governor in Wisconsin as a conservative supporter of “family values” and President Donald Trump followed numerous sexually explicit accounts online, including a nonbinary pornography performer.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Monday that Bill Berrien, the CEO of Pindel Global Precision and one of two announced 2026 Republican candidates for governor, unfollowed several accounts in recent days after the newspaper asked about the matter.
Berrien, in a statement to The Associated Press, downplayed any concerns about his online activity.
“There are a lot of important issues that are affecting our state and nation,” he said in the statement, “but what is the mainstream media focused on right now? Some stupid articles I read years ago, not the plans I have to reindustrialize our state, turn the economy around, and bring prosperity for all through work.”
In a post on X on Monday, Berrien derided the Journal Sentinel story as “garbage political hits.” He did not refute anything written in the story in his comments to the AP or in his post on X.
The revelation led to calls from some Republicans for Berrien to drop out of the race.
Berrien, 56, is a political newcomer running his first race for Wisconsin’s open governor’s seat. Josh Schoemann, the Washington County executive, is the other Republican in the race. The GOP primary is 11 months away. Numerous Democrats have also announced they are running in an attempt to succeed Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is not seeking a third term.
Berrien has been critical of transgender people in the opening weeks of his candidacy. On his campaign website, he says “our daughters’ sports teams and locker rooms are at risk because of radical social experimentation.”
But the Journal Sentinel reported that Berrien has an account on the online platform Medium.com where he followed nonbinary porn performer Jiz Lee and several other authors of sexually explicit essays. He also followed “publications,” which are similar to blogs, that dealt with exploring sexuality, including having relationships with multiple partners.
Berrien stopped following the accounts of 23 people, including the most sexually explicit ones, after the Journal Sentinel asked about his history on the website, the newspaper reported.
“Is this the best they can do?” Berrien posted on X. “Just days after I promised to stand with President Trump to protect our state, stop the woke indoctrination, and keep boys out of girls sports, they came after me with the same failed attacks they tried with President Trump. Garbage political hits didn’t slow President Trump down, and the Democrats and the media’s latest attempts to keep me out of this fight won’t work either.”
Schoemann, the only other announced Republican candidate in the governor’s race, declined to comment. The Wisconsin Democratic Party also declined to comment. Wisconsin College Republicans urged Berrien, in a post on X, to drop out of the race.
Bill McCoshen, a longtime Republican strategist, posted on X that he thought the revelation would be the end of Berrien’s candidacy. Conservatives, including influential talk radio hosts, already had criticized Berrien for his support of former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential primary and for saying in August 2020 that he hadn’t decided whether to support Trump.
“I’ve thought this campaign was over for some time,” McCoshen posted. “Now there’s no doubt.”
Dan Degner, president of the social conservative group Wisconsin Family Action, said that “family and sexuality issues matter” with Republican voters. The group’s political action committee will make an endorsement in the Republican primary next year, he said, and it will only go to a candidate who “champions social conservative causes,” Degner said.
“We would have to have some pretty in-depth conversations with him before we would consider an endorsement,” Degner said of Berrien.
A Democratic state lawmaker who is promising to be a “wild card” joined Wisconsin’s open race for governor on Wednesday, saying she will focus on a progressive agenda to benefit the working class.
State Rep. Francesca Hong, who lives in the liberal capital city of Madison, is embracing her outsider status. In addition to serving in the state Assembly, Hong works as a bartender, dishwasher and line cook. As a single mother struggling with finding affordable housing, she said she is uniquely relatable as a candidate.
“I like considering myself the wild card,” Hong said. “Our campaign is going to look at strategies and movement building, making sure we are being creative when it comes to our digital strategies.”
Part of her goal will be to expand the electorate to include voters who haven’t been engaged in past elections, she said.
Hong, 36, joins a field that doesn’t have a clear frontrunner. Other announced Democratic candidates include Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and state Sen. Kelda Roys. Additional Democrats are considering jumping in the race, including Attorney General Josh Kaul.
On the Republican side, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and suburban Milwaukee business owner Bill Berrien are the only announced candidates. Other Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and state Senate President Mary Felzkowski, are considering running.
The race to replace Gov. Tony Evers, who is retiring after two terms, is open with no incumbent running for the first time since 2010.
Hong is the most outspoken Democrat to join the field. She is known to use profanity when trying to make a point, especially on social media.
Hong is one of four Democrats in the Wisconsin Assembly who are also members of the Socialist Caucus.
“We’re meeting a moment that requires a movement and not an establishment candidate,” she said.
She promised to make working-class people the center of her campaign while embracing progressive policies. That includes backing universal child care, paid leave, lower health care costs, improving wages for in-home health care workers and adequately funding public schools.
Like other Democrats in the race, Hong is highly critical of President Donald Trump’s administration and policies.
“It’s important to refer to the administration not as an administration but authoritarians who aim to increase mass suffering and harm working-class families across the state,” Hong said. “A lot of communities are scared for their families, for their communities, how they’re going to continue to make ends meet when they’re worried about health care and salaries.”
Hong was elected to the state Assembly in 2020 and ran unopposed in both 2022 and 2024.
The Democratic primary is 11 months away in August 2026, and the general election will follow in November.
Zippel Park in Gillett is getting a makeover, and Gov. Tony Evers swung by Aug. 28 to learn more about it.
The park received $1 million in funds from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, which was awarded by the state on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Gov. Tony Evers, middle, and Department of Administration Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld, right, look at illustrations showing proposed upgrades for Zippel Park at Gillett City Hall in Gillett on Aug. 28.
This project includes the addition of a new inclusive playground, lighted walking paths and trails, a park kiosk, reconditioned pickleball and basketball courts, multiple picnic stations, ample seating, and an ADA-compliant restroom.
“We believe that this project will not only enhance the quality of life for our residents but also foster a sense of community and belonging,” Chelesa Anderson, a member of the city of Gillett Parks Committee, wrote on the city’s website.
Evers and Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld met with local leaders to hear about the city’s uses for its CDBG grant funding and tour Zippel Park.
Evers also is using the tour to lament President Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts that would eliminate the federal CDBG program that helps rural communities improve and repair local infrastructure.
Gov. Tony Evers, middle, leads a Community Development Block Grant meeting with local leaders at Gillett City Hall in Gillett on Aug. 28.
“I’m … deeply concerned about what it will mean if the investments that make these projects possible all go away, and Wisconsinites need to know what’s at stake,” Evers said in a press release prior to his visit.
The Trump administration said CDBG’s efforts have been “poorly targeted” and local governments should administer the program on their own.
Overall, 21 communities in Wisconsin received more than $18.6 million to support improvement projects, which were announced Aug. 26. The others are:
City of Abbotsford – $1 million for street and utilities infrastructure improvements;
City of Ashland – $1 million for street and utilities infrastructure improvements;
City of Augusta – $383,600 for sanitary sewer system infrastructure improvements and the construction of a new lift station;
Village of Bagley – $1 million for street and utilities infrastructure improvements;
Village of Boyd – $1 million for street and utilities infrastructure improvements;
Village of Clyman – $1 million for water system, well, and water tower upgrades;
City of Cornell – $1 million for street and utilities infrastructure improvements;
City of Cumberland – $412,672 for water main boring, relocation, and replacements;
Village of Iron Ridge – $950,300 for street and utilities infrastructure improvements;
Village of Lomira – $1 million for street and utilities infrastructure improvements;
City of Markesan – $1 million for street and utilities infrastructure improvements;
Village of Milltown – $1 million for community center reconstruction and improvements;
Village of Minong – $1 million for water system and wellhouse infrastructure improvements;
City of Nekoosa – $956,151 for street and utilities infrastructure improvements;
Village of Norwalk – $536,800 for street and utilities infrastructure improvements;
Village of Plum City – $442,800 for street and utilities infrastructure improvements;
City of Prairie du Chien – $1 million for street and utilities infrastructure improvements;
Town of Ridgeville – $1 million for construction of a new fire station for the Norwalk Area Fire District;
City of Shullsburg – $945,333 for street and utilities infrastructure improvements; and
Village of Soldiers Grove – $1 million for wastewater treatment plant rehabilitation and equipment replacements.
Gov. Tony Evers, middle, and Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld, middle left, hold an illustration showing proposed upgrades for Zippel Park in Gillett on Aug. 28.
Wisconsin Republicans are asking voters to take away the governor’s power to unilaterally spend federal money, a reaction to the billions of dollars that flowed into the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers was free to spend most of that money as he pleased, directing most of it toward small businesses and economic development, angering Republicans who argued the Legislature should have oversight.
That’s what would happen under a pair of related constitutional amendments up for voter approval in the Aug. 13 primary election. The changes would apply to Evers and all future governors and cover any federal money to the state that comes without specific spending requirements, often in response to disasters or other emergencies.
Democrats and other opponents are mobilizing against the amendments, calling them a legislative power grab that would hamstring governors’ ability to quickly respond to a future natural disaster, economic crisis or health emergency.
If the amendments pass, Wisconsin’s government “will become even more dysfunctional,” said Julie Keown-Bomar, executive director of Wisconsin Farmers Union.
“Wisconsinites are so weary of riding the partisan crazy train, but it is crucial that we show up at the polls and vote ‘no’ on these changes as they will only make us go further off the rails,” she said in a statement.
But Republicans and other backers say it’s a necessary check on the governor’s current power, which they say is too broad.
The changes increase “accountability, efficiency, and transparency,” Republican state Sen. Howard Marklein, a co-sponsor of the initiative, said at a legislative hearing.
The two questions, which were proposed as a single amendment and then separated on the ballot, passed the GOP-controlled Legislature twice as required by law. Voter approval is needed before they would be added to the state constitution. The governor has no veto power over constitutional amendments.
Early, in-person absentee voting for the Aug. 13 election begins Tuesday across the state and goes through Aug. 11. Locations and times for early voting vary.
Wisconsin Republicans have increasingly turned to voters to approve constitutional amendments as a way to get around Evers’ vetoes. Midway through his second term, Evers has vetoed more bills than any governor in Wisconsin history.
In April, voters approved amendments to bar the use of private money to run elections and reaffirm that only election officials can work the polls. In November, an amendment on the ballot seeks to clarify that only U.S. citizens can vote in local elections.
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Republicans put this question on the August primary ballot, the first time a constitutional amendment has been placed in that election where turnout is much lower than in November.
The effort to curb the governor’s spending power also comes amid ongoing fights between Republicans and Evers over the extent of legislative authority. Evers in July won a case in the Wisconsin Supreme Court that challenged the power the GOP-controlled Legislature’s budget committee had over conservation program spending.
Wisconsin governors were given the power to decide how to spend federal money by the Legislature in 1931, during the Great Depression, according to a report from the Legislative Reference Bureau.
“Times have changed and the influx of federal dollars calls for a different approach,” Republican Rep. Robert Wittke, who sponsored the amendment, said at a public hearing.
It was a power that was questioned during the Great Recession in 2008, another time when the state received a large influx of federal aid.
But calls for change intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic when the federal government handed Wisconsin $5.7 billion in aid between March 2020 and June 2022 in federal coronavirus relief. Only $1.1 billion came with restrictions on how it could be spent.
Most of the money was used for small business and local government recovery grants, buying emergency health supplies and paying health care providers to offset the costs of the pandemic.
Republicans pushed for more oversight, but Evers vetoed a GOP bill in 2021 that would have required the governor to submit a plan to the Legislature’s budget committee for approval.
Republican increased the pressure for change following the release of a nonpartisan audit in 2022 that found Evers wasn’t transparent about how he decided where to direct the money.
One amendment specifies the Legislature can’t delegate its power to decide how money is spent. The second prohibits the governor from spending federal money without legislative approval.
If approved, the Legislature could pass rules governing how federal money would be handled. That would give them the ability to change the rules based on who is serving as governor or the purpose of the federal money.
For example, the Legislature could allow governors to spend disaster relief money with no approval, but require that other money go before lawmakers first.
Opposing the measures are voting rights groups, the Wisconsin Democratic Party and a host of other liberal organizations, including those who fought to overturn Republican-drawn legislative maps, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice.
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business lobbying group, and the Badger Institute, a conservative think tank, were the only groups that registered in support in the Legislature.
MADISON, Wis. — Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin are challenging Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto powers in a new lawsuit, alleging Evers improperly struck sections of a bill that set up a plan to spend $50 million on student literacy.
The lawmakers filed their suit Tuesday in Dane County Circuit Court. The action centers on a pair of bills designed to improve K-12 students’ reading performance.
Evers signed the first bill in July. That measure created an early literacy coaching program within the state Department of Public Instruction as well as grants for public and private schools that adopt approved reading curricula. The state budget that Evers signed weeks before approving the literacy bill set aside $50 million for the initiatives, but the bill didn’t allocate any of that money.
The governor signed another bill in February that Republicans argue created guidelines for allocating the $50 million. Evers used his partial veto powers to change the multiple allocations into a single appropriation to DPI, a move he said would simplify things and give the agency more flexibility. He also used his partial veto powers to eliminate grants for private voucher and charter schools.
Republicans argue in their lawsuit that the partial vetoes were unconstitutional. They maintain that the governor can exercise his partial veto powers only on bills that actually appropriate money and the February bill doesn’t allocate a single cent for DPI. They referred to the bill in the lawsuit as a “framework” for spending.
Evers’ office pointed Thursday to a memo from the Legislature’s nonpartisan attorneys calling the measure an appropriations bill.
Wisconsin governors, both Republican and Democratic, have long used the broad partial veto power to reshape the state budget. It’s an act of gamesmanship between the governor and Legislature, as lawmakers try to craft bills in a way that are largely immune from creative vetoes.
The governor’s spokesperson, Britt Cudaback, said in a statement that Republicans didn’t seem to have any problems with partial vetoes until a Democrat took office.
“This is yet another Republican effort to prevent Gov. Evers from doing what’s best for our kids and our schools — this time about improving literacy and reading outcomes across our state,” Cudaback said.
The latest lawsuit comes after Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business group, filed a lawsuit on Monday asking the state Supreme Court to strike down Evers’ partial vetoes in the state budget that locked in school funding increases for the next 400 years.
The bill had passed the Republican-controlled Legislature despite Evers vowing he would veto it from the moment it was introduced. While Democrats did not have the votes to stop its passage in the Legislature, now Republicans don’t have the votes needed to override the veto.
Evers said in his veto message that this type of legislation “harms LGBTQ Wisconsinites’ and kids’ mental health, emboldens anti-LGBTQ harassment, bullying, and violence, and threatens the safety and dignity of LGBTQ Wisconsinites, especially our LGBTQ kids.”
Evers vetoed it in the Capitol surrounded by Democratic lawmakers, transgender advocates, the mayor of Madison and others.
Republican Rep. Barb Dittrich, who sponsored the bill, called Evers’ veto “disgusting” and accused him of “misogynistic and hateful position towards actual females.”
“His veto today clearly demonstrates his disrespect for women and girls as well as for protecting their hard-fought achievements,” Dittrich said in a statement.
The bill proposed to limit high school athletes to playing on teams that match the gender they were assigned at birth.
Republicans who backed the bill argued it was a matter of fairness for non-transgender athletes. But bill opponents argued there was no real issue with transgender high school athletes in Wisconsin and said the proposed ban was a form of discrimination and harmful to transgender youth.
At least 20 states have approved a version of a blanket ban on transgender athletes playing on K-12 and collegiate sports teams statewide, but a Biden administration proposal to forbid such outright bans is set to be finalized this year after multiple delays and much pushback. As proposed, the rule would establish that blanket bans would violate Title IX, the landmark gender-equity legislation enacted in 1972.
Neighboring Minnesota has recently passed a number of bills that proponents say make it a refuge state for LGBTQ+ youth, including a bill banning conversion therapy. Additionally, Minnesota lawmakers recently passed legislation that aimed to make Minnesota a “refuge” for transgender persons in general. Those pushing the legislation forward said it would protect trans patients and providers of gender-affirming care from legal action in other states where such care is banned or restricted, creating a safe haven in Minnesota.
Republicans who control the state Senate fired eight more of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ appointees Tuesday, including two Universities of Wisconsin regents who voted against a deal that limited campus diversity and four judicial watchdogs who wouldn’t commit to punishing liberal state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz.
The Senate also fired a member of the governor’s domestic abuse council after Republicans accused the body of violating open records laws and taking what the GOP considered a stance against white people, as well as a member of the deferred compensation board, which administers a state retirement program.
The Senate has now fired 21 Evers appointees since the governor took office in 2019. The governor said in a statement Tuesday that he was “apoplectic” that Republican senators keep firing his appointees for no good reason.
“It’s obvious this is about Wisconsin Republicans exacting their political punishment and retribution on Wisconsinites who’ve volunteered to give their time, expertise and experience to serve our neighbors and our state,” Evers said.
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu issued a statement Tuesday saying that the Senate has confirmed more than 500 of Evers’ appointees.
“The Senate takes its role in the advice and consent process seriously,” he said. “Appointments must prove that they are qualified, capable and that they will follow the law in their capacities.”
The Senate voted to reject confirmation for regents John Miller and Dana Wachs. They voted twice in December against a plan UW officials brokered with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos that called for regents to freeze hiring for diversity positions through 2026 and shift at least 43 diversity positions to focus on “student success.” In exchange, legislators agreed to release money to cover UW staff raises and building projects around the system.
Senate President Chris Kapenga threatened on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that unconfirmed regents would be rejected if they voted against the deal.
“For the life of me I can’t understand what is wrong with wanting to make everyone feel welcome (and) included,” Democratic Sen. LaTonya Johnson, who is Black, said on the Senate floor Tuesday.
Wachs said in a telephone interview that he was disappointed by how petty politics in Madison has become. He said he’s considering running again for the Assembly to change the tone. Wachs, an Eau Claire attorney, served three Assembly terms previously and mounted an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2018.
Miller said in an email that he voted to protect campus diversity and the deal set a precedent for future legislators to withhold funding from UW in exchange “for their next pound of flesh.”
“What’s next?” Miller wrote. “Legislative approval of course syllabi? Which books are on the library shelf?”
Evers announced after the votes that he had appointed attorney Haben Goitom and Amy Traynor, a teacher at a Mondovi charter school, to replace them.
The Senate also voted to reject confirmation for Wisconsin Judicial Commission members Yulonda Anderson, Jane Foley, Janet Jenkins and Judy Ziewacz.
The commission investigates and prosecutes misconduct allegations against judges. Republicans grew upset last year after the four wouldn’t say how they would handle complaints against Protasiewicz and the rest of the state Supreme Court’s liberal majority.
Protasiewicz provoked Republicans’ anger when she proclaimed on the campaign trail that she supports abortion rights and called GOP-drawn legislative districts “rigged.”
Republican Sen. Van Wanggaard, chairman of the Senate’s judiciary committee, said it was clear after confirmation hearings last year that the four commissioners didn’t understand their duties and authority. Democratic Sen. Kelda Roys shot back that the hearings were designed to inappropriately force the appointees to make a pre-judgment about potential Protasiewicz complaints.
Evers announced he had appointed Barbara Notestein, Roberta Gassman, Analiese Eicher and John Hendricks to replace the ousted commissioners.
Mildred Gonzales lost her seat on the governor’s domestic violence council after the Senate voted to reject her confirmation. Democrats repeatedly asked Republicans on the floor what Gonzales did wrong but no one would answer them.
Republicans have previously accused the council of failing to notice meetings as mandated by state law. Brian Radday, a spokesperson for Majority Leader LeMahieu, pointed Tuesday to a council manual that says white people cannot be full allies in the fight against domestic abuse.
Gonzales didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Evers appointed Elizabeth Lucas, director of the state Department of Corrections’ office of victim services, to replace Gonzales.
The Senate also rejected confirmation for Terrance Craney, a member of the Deferred Compensation Board. The board administers an optional retirement savings plan for government employees.
It’s unclear why Republicans found fault with Craney. The Senate voted without any debate and Radday didn’t respond when asked about him. No one immediately responded to emails sent to aides for Sen. Rob Hutton, chairperson of the Senate’s universities committee, which voted to recommend rejection.
Craney didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Evers appointed retired financial consultant Timothy Graham to replace him.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A man illegally brought a handgun into the Wisconsin Capitol on Wednesday, demanding to see Gov. Tony Evers, and returned at night with an assault rifle after posting bail, a spokesperson for the state said.
The man, who was shirtless and had a holstered handgun, approached the governor’s office on the first floor of the Capitol around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, state Department of Administration spokesperson Tatyana Warrick said Thursday. The man was demanding to see the governor, who was not in the building at the time, Warrick said.
A Capitol police officer sits at a desk outside of a suite of rooms that includes the governor’s office, conference room and offices for the attorney general.
The man was taken into custody for openly carrying a firearm in the Capitol, which is against the law, Warrick said. Weapons can be brought into the Capitol if they are concealed and the person has a valid permit. The man arrested did not have a concealed carry permit, Warrick said.
The man was booked into the Dane Count Jail but later posted bail.
He returned to the outside of the Capitol shortly before 9 p.m. with an assault-style rifle, Warrick said. The building closes to the public at 6 p.m. He again demanded to see the governor and was taken into custody.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – AUGUST 19: This file photograph shows Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers waiting to address the virtual Democratic National Convention, at the Wisconsin Center on August 19, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Melina Mara – Pool/Getty Images)
Madison police reported Thursday that the man, who was not named, was taken into productive custody and taken to the hospital. A spokesperson for the police department did not return an email seeking additional details.
Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback declined to comment. The governor’s office typically does not respond to questions about security issues.
The incident is just the latest in a series of violent threats against public officials.
Evers, a Democrat, was on a hit list of a gunman suspected of fatally shooting a retired county judge at his Wisconsin home in 2022. Others on that list included Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Whitmer was the target of a kidnapping plot in 2020.
Warrick said no immediate changes to security in the Capitol or for the governor were planned. The public has free access to the Capitol daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. There are no metal detectors.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) used his line-item veto power to expand school funding in the state for the next four centuries on Wednesday, a blow to Republicans who were livid with the crafty use of executive power.
The governor vetoed a selection of words, numbers and a hyphen in the state’s new budget, which effectively stretched out an expansion in school funding for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years to an annual increase every year until 2425.
The initial budget allowed school districts to raise an additional $325 per student annually, ending the next school year. But the deletion of certain wording effectively expands that policy for 400 years, a change the governor said would “provide school districts with predictable long-term increases for the foreseeable future.”
The red text was deleted with the governor’s veto.
“In many ways, Republicans in the Legislature have failed to meet this historic moment, sending my budget back to my desk absent critical investments in key areas that they know — and publicly acknowledge — are essential to the success of our state, all while providing no real justification, substantive debate, or any meaningful alternative,” Evers said in a veto message on Wednesday. “That decision is, to put it simply, an abdication of duty.”
The change could be undone by a future legislature or governor. The legislature could also override his vetos, but that is unlikely as the Assembly would need a two-thirds majority to do so.
Evers, a former public school educator, made 51 line-item vetoes in total, notably changing Republican-approved tax cuts for wealthy residents from $3.5 billion to $175 million. Republicans had hoped to condense the state’s income brackets, which would have provided massive cuts for top earners.
Republicans, who control both houses of the Wisconsin legislature, were livid with the move.
Robin Vos, the Republican speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, said the increase in funding would impact homeowners who could suffer from “massive property tax increases in the coming years.”
“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 responded to the passage later Wednesday, posting of a photo of himself sipping from a mug to his official Twitter account.
The Associated Press notes that Wisconsin governors from both parties have had line-item veto power, which allows them to reshape state budgets in a legislative dance with lawmakers. Voters outlawed the “Vanna White” veto in 2000, which saw some governors delete specific letters to create new meanings.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans plan to make no substantive changes to the state budget, meaning that a cut in funding to the University of Wisconsin System that puts the entire spending plan in jeopardy of being vetoed will remain, legislative leaders said Tuesday.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has threatened to veto the two-year spending plan if UW funding for diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programming is cut. The plan passed by a Republican-controlled budget committee reduces UW funding by $32 million and eliminates nearly 190 positions, money and staff dedicated toward DEI staff salaries and programs.
However, the budget does allow UW to come back and get the $32 million if it shows how it would be spent on workforce development efforts, and not DEI programs.
The Republican-dominated North Carolina legislature has swept six vetoed bills into law. The House and Senate completed the efforts on Tuesday following a succession of votes with margins large enough to overcome Democratic Gov.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers says in a newspaper report that he won’t sign the state budget if Republican lawmakers cut funding for the state’s university system’s diversity officers and initiatives.
New St. John’s coach Rick Pitino has thrown out a ceremonial first pitch at the Subway Series between the New York Yankees and New York Mets.
Republican lawmakers have suspended a vote on funding for University of Wisconsin campuses, just hours after a top GOP leader promised to slash the college system’s budget as part of an ongoing fight over diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Evers also has the power to make more limited line-item vetoes, but he could not increase funding with a partial veto. Evers on Sunday told WISN-TV that he was waiting to see the final budget text before making decisions on vetoes. His spokesperson Britt Cudaback referred to those comments Tuesday when asked about the governor’s plans.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he “can’t imagine” that Evers would veto the entire budget because of the UW funding cut. But Vos says he had not spoken with Evers about it.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on passing the budget on Wednesday. It would then go to the Assembly, which would have to pass an identical version before it would go to Evers. The Assembly could make changes, which would then send it back to the Senate for another vote.
But Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Vos told The Associated Press in separate interviews Tuesday that no changes were planned.
Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, along with school and law enforcement leaders, have been pushing Republicans to increase funding for the state’s school safety office. That office, created by Republicans in 2018, was designed to prevent violence in schools after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The office provides safety grants to Wisconsin schools, maintains a 24/7 tip hotline, offers training and maintains blueprints of school layouts to assist law enforcement when reacting to emergencies. The Legislature’s budget committee voted to cut funding for the office this month, a move that Kaul said would essentially gut it and not allow it to provide all the services it currently does.
The office would have more than half a million dollars in funding to pay for nearly four full-time positions. It currently employs 16 people, with 12 of them paid for by time-limited federal funding that came during the pandemic.
Vos defended the cut, saying the Legislature won’t replace pandemic-era federal funding and that the core functions of the office can continue with the money provided.
If Kaul wants to make a case to the Legislature later for additional funding, “we’re always willing to take a look at it,” Vos said.
Kaul said he was “certainly disappointed” that the Legislature doesn’t plan to continue current funding levels. If funding isn’t found to replace it by the end of the year, Kaul said programming that helps schools around the state may be lost.
Kaul said that all avenues to maintain current funding, including going back to the Legislature, will be pursued.
Democrats and child care providers have also been pushing to restore funding for a pandemic-era child care subsidy program that Republicans cut. Advocates have argued that the move would be devastating for needy families and the state’s economy.
Kaul, the UW System and others advocating for additional funding have argued that it could be done given that the state has a projected budget surplus of nearly $7 billion. Republicans have instead focused on cutting taxes.
The state budget includes a $3.5 billion income tax cut for all taxpayers, a plan Democrats have derided because wealthy people will get a bigger reduction than lower earners. The budget also includes $1 billion more for K-12 public schools, additional funding that Evers secured as part of a deal with Republicans to increase state aid to Milwaukee and other local communities.
Evers signed the past two state budgets passed by Republicans and took credit for tax cuts they included.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is projected to win reelection in Wisconsin, blocking Republicans from taking total control of the swing state.
Evers defeated Republican construction company CEO Tim Michels, who conceded early Wednesday morning.
Michels won his primary with the backing of former President Donald Trump and largely embraced his backer’s lies about the 2020 election. He then proceeded to relentlessly attack Evers on the economy, crime and education.
Evers fought back with his own focus on education, arguing that he successfully guided the state’s schools through the coronavirus pandemic.
A mild-mannered executive, Evers has battled GOP efforts to strip away his power since his narrow 2018 victory over incumbent Republican Gov. Scott Walker. His vetoes have prevented the GOP from enacting a slew of different conservative policy goals.
Evers could still lose his veto powers, as a fresh gerrymander of the state’s legislative districts has given Republicans a shot at veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature.
The governor’s race was long considered a toss-up, with polls showing the two men within the margin of error.
A Michels win, along with continued GOP control of Wisconsin’s heavily gerrymandered state legislature, would have meant that Republicans would have had total control of one of the nation’s most crucial swing states. President Barack Obama won the state twice, though Trump won it in 2016 and Biden narrowly took it back in 2020.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Twenty eight of the nation’s 50 governors are Republicans and 22 are Democrats. With 36 gubernatorial contests to be decided in the 2022 midterm elections, millions of dollars are now being spent by and on behalf of both parties to increase their gubernatorial ranks. A midwestern race that was previously thought to be uncompetitive is now, according to recent polls, tightening up and presenting a pickup opportunity for Republicans to gain control of another governorship.
As the 2022 election cycle enters the home stretch, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) finds herself on the defensive and with her challenger gaining ground less than 20 days before the final votes are cast. Whitmer’s Republican opponent in the November 8 general election, Tudor Dixon, has focused on Whitmer’s support for various tax increases in recent media interviews. Another point Dixon is hitting as part of her closing message is to highlight not just the tax increases for which Gretchen Whitmer has advocated, but also the tax relief from which Michiganders could be benefitting had Governor Whitmer not blocked it with her veto.
Vetoing Republican-passed tax cuts might not sound like an unusual move for a Democratic governor and historically it hasn’t been one. But these days Gretchen Whitmer’s rejection of legislatively approved state income tax relief makes her an outlier, even compared to her Democratic counterparts in other states and how they responded when similar tax relief packages hit their desks.
Acting in contrast to Whitmer are Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D), Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards (D), and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D), all of whom have signed significant income tax cuts passed by their GOP-led state legislatures over the past two years. Governor Edwards went so far as to support a package that could phase out Louisiana’s income tax in the coming years.
Gretchen Whitmer, meanwhile, has vetoed personal income tax cuts and other tax relief sent to her desk by the Republican-led Michigan House and Senate. This past summer on June 10, for example, Governor Whitmer vetoed a bill that would’ve reduced the personal income tax rate from 4.25% to 4.0%, increased the Earned Income Tax Credit, established a $500 child tax credit, and boosted tax breaks for disabled military veterans and seniors.
The tax cut that Whitmer vetoed in June would’ve resulted in a $2.7 billion annual net tax cut. While Whitmer blocked income tax relief for Michigan families and employers with her veto, on the campaign trail in nearby Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers is now touting the income tax cuts he signed last year, which were approved by the GOP-led Wisconsin Senate and Assembly.
Governor Roy Cooper signed a new budget last November that will phase out North Carolina’s corporate income tax entirely by the end of 2030. Four months after Cooper signed that corporate income tax-eliminating budget, Governor Whitmer vetoed legislation that would’ve cut Michigan’s corporate income tax rate from 6% to 3.9%. Five months after Whitmer vetoed that corporate tax cut, her Democratic counterpart in Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Wolf (D), was touting his signing of a bipartisan reform that will cut the Keystone State’s corporate income tax in half over time, taking it from 9.99% down to 4.99%. Governor Wolf’s office touted in an official release published August 8 that the move to a 4.99% corporate rate, which will be more than a full percentage point below Michigan’s rate, will give Pennsylvania “a healthier, more competitive business environment that attracts good-paying jobs and moves our economy forward.”
While Whitmer has responded to legislative Republicans with her own tax relief plan, sources in the Michigan political and public policy community contend Whitmer’s tax cut counterproposal is aimed more at helping her base of voters and not the broader public. Republican critics of Whitmer’s fiscal policy record and proposals acknowledge her campaign for re-election is based around conservative messaging. She’s running ads, for example, that tout her enactment of balanced budgets that did not include tax hikes. While Whitmer’s ads boast about not raising taxes, they leave out the fact that she tried to raise the gas tax but was blocked by the Republican-run legislature.
“Governor Whitmer has brought Republicans and Democrats together to deliver four balanced budgets that have made historic investments in Michigan’s public education system, infrastructure, public safety, and economy,” writes Joseph Costello, a Whitmer for Governor spokesperson, in an email responding to questions from this author. “The Governor has also gotten the state’s fiscal house in order by turning a projected $3 billion deficit into a $7 billion surplus, paying down billions in debt, and bringing the rainy day fund to an all-time high of nearly $1.6 billion – without raising taxes.”
While Governor Whitmer’s team says she has brought Republicans and Democrats together, it’s clear Republican leadership in the state legislature doesn’t see it that way.
“Governor Whitmer is a tax hiking, big spending liberal and the only reason Michigan taxpayers have been protected is because of legislative Republicans stopping her tax increases,” Michigan Senate President Pro Tempore Aric Nesbitt (R) told this author.
“If Governor Whitmer had had her way, gas would be 45 cents more and the small businesses who survived her shutdowns would be paying 40% higher taxes,” Senate President Nesbitt adds. “She has vetoed every inflation relief bill we’ve sent her, including suspending the gas tax, lowering the income tax and creating a child tax credit. Michigan voters are smarter than she gives them credit for and they know she’s prioritized government’s spending over relief for working families.”
“We’re in a state right now where she could offer tax relief. She’s been given the opportunity to offer people tax relief,” Tudor Dixon said of Whitmer’s record during an interview on the October 20 episode of the Ruthless variety program. She ran saying she wouldn’t increase taxes, but time and time again…when she has been given the opportunity to provide relief to the people of Michigan, she vetoes that every single time.”
In response to such criticism, Whitmer’s campaign points to the tax plan that Whitmer has offered as a counterproposal to the tax relief package approved this year by the Michigan House and Senate.
“Governor Whitmer has fought to lower costs and send real relief to hardworking families as quickly as possible by pushing to triple Michigan’s earned income tax credit, calling for a suspension of the state’s 6% sales tax on gas, and proposing a plan to immediately send $500 to families from the state’s surplus,” Costello adds. “The Governor continues fighting to fully repeal Michigan’s retirement tax, which would save half a million households an average of $1,000 annually.”
Republicans in the Michigan legislature, however, are not keen on Governor Whitmer’s counterproposal. Representative Matt Hall (R), who chairs the Michigan House Tax Policy Committee, called Whitmer’s planned rebate a “one time gimmick.”
“I don’t know if she will ever change her mind and allow hard-working taxpayers to keep more of their own money, but I do know House Republicans will continue to fight for tax relief and continue to give her the chance to finally do the right thing,” Representative Hall added. “This isn’t over.”
There are sure to be more state level efforts to enact rate reducing and flattening income tax relief in 2023. Not only that, such proposals will be introduced in states where there is unified partisan control and also in places where there is divided control of government. Nearby in Wisconsin, for example, Republican legislators are planning to introduce another income tax cut next year no matter who wins their gubernatorial election.
There is growing bipartisan support for income tax relief at the state level, demonstrably so, but Gretchen Whitmer has prevented Michigan from being part of that trend. Michigan state government is projected to have a $5 billion surplus over the next two years. As it stands, the state’s Democratic governor and Republican-run state legislature are in fierce disagreement over how much of that surplus to return to taxpayers and the manner in which to do so. On November 8, Michigan voters will decide whether they want Whitmer to retain the authority to continue blocking income tax relief for the next four years, or whether they prefer the Republican challenger who happens to be campaigning on the type of income tax relief that many of Whitmer’s Democratic counterparts in other states have recently enacted.
