MILWAUKEE — The state of Wisconsin has a historic budget surplus at the moment, and just a couple of weeks ago Governor Tony Evers released his 2023-2025 budget proposal.
Wisconsin’s Assembly Speaker, Robin Vos, joined WTMJ Conversations and WTMJ’s Steve Scaffidi and discussed his agreements and qualms with the Governor’s budget proposal.
Speaker Vos, who has butted heads with Gov. Evers for years now, said he doesn’t believe Evers’ budget is realistic.
“This idea that we are going to give massive increases in spending, even for very important priorities, is just devoid of reality. We are probably heading into a recession. So, we don’t want to overspend knowing that we are probably going to have less revenue than expected,” Speaker Vos said.
Speaker Vos cited a 25% increase in spending as well as “massive tax increases” as his general reasoning behind his opposition of Gov. Evers’ budget.
Speaker Vos also said Gov. Evers is focusing on too many things in his budget. Specifically, Speaker Vos said he agrees with Gov. Evers prioritizing things like funding for correctional officers. However, with a price tag well into the hundred million dollar range, Speaker Vos said an investment like this will eliminate a lot of the other things Gov. Evers wants to focus on.
“I think there are things we are going to find consensus on,” Speaker Vos said. “The idea that we have a billion dollars for this program and million dollars for that program is literal fantasy.”
The Republican Party currently controls both chambers of Wisconsin’s legislature, while the state is led by a Democratic Governor. This is a combination that has created gridlock for lawmakers since Evers initially entered office in 2019.
Speaker Vos said the Governor, himself, and the entire Wisconsin legislature have been working to create more common ground. However, Speaker Vos said Gov. Evers’ budget proposal doesn’t operate on a common ground between liberals and conservatives.
“We have tried to hit the reset button saying we want to find consensus. Governor Evers has still been a dictionary Liberal. The budget he produced wasn’t one that said ‘oh gee, I hope I can get Republican support,” said Speaker Vos. “I hope he accepts the fact that you don’t just get to have a Liberal wish list and hope people go along with it.”
The Joint Finance Committee will now spend the next several months holding hearings with state agencies and deciding what the state’s budget will actually look like.
