Republicans call Gov. Evers' plan 'liberal wish list'
MADISON -- Republican legislative leaders say Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' budget is a "liberal wish list" with no chances of passing as proposed.
Evers proposed a host of ideas that Republicans have long opposed, including tax increases and a Medicaid expansion.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald calls it a "thousand page press release" that's the "greatest hits" of the Democratic Party.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos calls the budget a "liberal tax and spend wish list."
Evers calls it "the people's budget" that reflects what he heard people wanted.
Republicans say they hope to find areas where they can compromise, but they intend to write their own alternative budget.
Lawmakers will spend the next several months rewriting the plan.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin released the following statement on Evers' budget proposal:
“Tony Evers inherited one of the strongest economies our state has ever seen. Thanks to eight years of Republican leadership, Wisconsin currently has historically low unemployment, record budget surpluses, and more people working in our state than ever before. Wisconsin has come so far from the days of double-digit tax increases, record job loss, and billion-dollar budget deficits.”
“Yet tonight, Governor Evers put forward a budget proposal that threatens to undo all of that – a proposal brimming with massive spending increases, tax hikes, and reckless, hyper-partisan proposals. Rather than responsibly fund the priorities of our state, Evers elected instead to score political points with his far-left base, all while gambling the fate of Wisconsin’s future. The dangers of Evers’ plan are clear because we’ve seen this type of proposal before. It’s the same liberal tax-and-spend agenda that has led us astray in the past.”
“Governor Evers was given a real opportunity to move our state forward, to grow our economy, and to show that he cares about Wisconsin’s hard-working families. Instead, Evers chose to prioritize the interests of his special-interest allies and put us on a dangerous path backwards.”