Assembly approves state budget without red-flag law, Senate up next

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By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Republicans moved a step closer toward finishing their work on their $87 billion state budget Tuesday, pushing the spending plan through the Assembly and on to the Senate.

The Assembly passed the budget 64-34. Four Democrats — Reps. Deb Andraca, Steve Doyle, Beth Meyers and Don Vruwink — joined Republicans in voting for the document.

The vote sends the spending plan on to the Senate, which is expected to take it up Wednesday. Senate approval would send it on to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

The governor will then have to decide whether to sign the plan that’s largely been stripped of his biggest priorities, or take the highly unusual route of vetoing the entire plan. Evers has broad power to line-item veto the budget, which he did two years ago after the GOP-authored plan passed with no Democratic votes.

The centerpiece of the two-year budget is a GOP-authored plan to cut $3.3 billion in income and property taxes, made possible largely by the state’s unprecedented $4.4 billion surplus. In all, the budget would spend about $4 billion less than Evers proposed.

Republicans erased hundreds of Evers’ policy proposals, including legalizing recreational and medical marijuana, expanding Medicaid, restoring collective bargaining rights for state workers, raising the minimum wage to $10.15 by 2024 and creating a so-called red-flag law that would allow judges to seize guns from people they deem dangerous.

“(The budget) reflects the priorities of all of Wisconsin, not just liberal Democrats in certain parts of the state,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said during a news conference ahead of the vote in that chamber. “I want to say thank you to the citizens of the state. We know exactly what you want in this budget.”

Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz said during his own news conference ahead of the vote that Republicans care more about denying Evers victories than doing what’s best for the state through the budget.

“Their goal is try to do everything possible to obstruct, oppose and undermine Gov. Evers,” Hintz said. “(They’re) more interested in trying to set the governor up for failure in an election year.”

The GOP moves have raised questions about what Evers will do. Evers, who is up for reelection next year, has not ruled out vetoing the entire budget, a step not taken since 1931. That would likely delay passage of a budget for months.

Evers issued nearly 80 line-item vetoes in 2019. But the Wisconsin Supreme Court sided with conservatives and overturned three of them, including one that shifted funding for school buses to electric vehicle charging stations, one that expanded the range of vapor products that could be taxed and one that changed who qualified for local road improvement funds. That ruling did not limit Evers’ veto power in this budget.

Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback didn’t return a message inquiring about the governor’s plans. According to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo, the state would lose $2.6 billion in federal pandemic relief aid if Evers vetoed the entire budget.

The Assembly also approved a bill that would eliminate a state tax on business equipment. The budget includes $202 million for local governments to offset the lost revenue.