There’s a new report that says Wisconsin doesn’t need to raise taxes.
The MacIver Institute last week ran the numbers on Governor Evers’ budget, finding that the governor wants to raise taxes by one-point-six-billion dollars in the state and spend about eight-billion more in his next state budget. MacIver’s Brett Healy says Wisconsin has a billion-and-a-half-dollar surplus and a nearly billion-dollar rainy day fund, so there’s no reason to raise taxes. Healy also says there’s no need to spend as much as Governor Evers wants to spend either. As you might imagine, the Republicans who will actually write Wisconsin’s next state budget seem to agree with Healy.
While we are talking bucks in BuckyLand, Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol say there’s 20-million-dollars just sitting around that could go to schools that are open for in-person classes.
A group of lawmakers yesterday pressed Governor Evers to send the money to schools that are looking at extra costs for having kids in their classrooms. The money is part of last December’s second round of coronavirus aid and can only be spent on education. State Rep. Mark Born says schools with students in the classroom have had to pay for PPE, more cleaning, extra teachers, and in some cases extra classrooms. He says there’s no reason for the governor not to spend the money.
