05/12/2026
“This bill is a reckless use of tax payer money at a time when we need to be careful and strategic.
Evers is getting played. Again.”
I will not be supporting the deal that is currently being negotiated between retiring leaders Speaker Vos, Senate Majority Leader LeMahieu, and Governor Evers. Even though I represent school districts that, thanks to years of neglect, desperately need money, the current deal is irresponsible and reckless. Here are some of the main claims that you’ll hear about the deal and the truths according to the Fiscal Bureau, the agency that crunches the numbers:
Claim 1: Individuals will receive a $300 check; married couples will receive $600.
Facts: 1.36 million Wisconsinites will not receive any rebate at all, and some checks will be as little as $10 (or even less). The poor and anyone whose only income is social security will get nothing, and people could get tiny checks depending on their tax liability. This policy disproportionately benefits people who don’t need nearly as much help, including 8,700 households that make $1mil or more per year. Among married-joint file households, 72.7% of rebates will go to people with incomes over $100,000.
This provision will cost us nearly $1 bil but will fail to help the people who need us most. This is bad public policy.
Claim 2: This deal will meaningfully cut your property taxes.
Facts: For the median value home in the state--a staggering $312,000,--property owners will see $107 in savings for the entirety of 2027. If your taxes are paid in an escrow account, that’s $8.91 / month, and you won’t start seeing the impact until January 2027.
Claim 3: This is a responsible way to address school deficits and to provide funding for public schools.
Facts: This bill puts us in a structural deficit in the outgoing years, which will make it much harder for us to actually fix what’s broken in our public school system with Democratic majorities, especially given that economists are predicting slower economic growth next year. Oh, and this bill gives voucher schools an additional $20 million.
This bill is a reckless use of tax payer money at a time when we need to be careful and strategic.
Evers is getting played. Again.