Gov. Tony Evers today vetoed a GOP plan to cut Wisconsin’s top two income tax rates but signed most of the nearly $99 billion budget passed by Republican lawmakers.
The impact of his vetoes leaves a $175 million reduction in income taxes after Republicans had proposed a $3.5 billion package.
Evers called the document Republican lawmakers sent him “incomplete,” but rejected calls to nix the entire two-year plan. He cited the various priorities he achieved in the budget, including increases in funding for education and local governments.
“Vetoing this entire budget would mean abandoning priorities and ideas I’ve spent four years advocating for,” he said ahead of signing.
In all, Evers issued 51 partial vetoes, including a GOP plan to target 188 diversity, equity and inclusion positions at the UW System. Another partial veto targeted a provision that sought to ban – to the extent allowed under federal law – payments through Medical Assistance for puberty-blocking drugs used for gender dysphoria or transition, as well as gender reassignment surgery.
Republicans had sought to reduce all four of the state’s four income tax brackets. His veto nixes the proposal to take the top rate of 7.65 percent down to 6.5 and the 5.3 percent bracket to 4.4 percent.
By comparison, he issued 50 partial vetoes in the 2021-23 budget and 78 in the 2019-21 document. The state Supreme Court later overturned three of the partial vetoes he issued in 2019, ruling they exceeded his authority.
See Evers’ release here.
Read the veto message here.
This story will be updated with additional details.
