Gov. Tony Evers wants to use the newfound state surplus to increase school funding and give $150 to every Wisconsinite

MADISON - Democratic Gov. Tony Evers offered a plan Thursday to give every Wisconsin resident a $150 tax rebate and funnel $750 million into education — ideas Republicans in the Legislature quickly rebuffed.

Evers' plan for tax rebates echoes one his predecessor, Republican Scott Walker, offered as he headed into reelection in 2018. Democrats panned Walker's proposal at the time, but Evers said rebates make sense now because the state is in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and inflation is high. 

Evers, who is gearing up his reelection campaign, put forward his $1.7 billion legislative package two days after officials learned the state will take in $2.9 billion more than expected through the middle of next year.

Republican lawmakers this week said they want to wait on cutting taxes until after the election for governor this fall. Evers said there is no reason to delay tax breaks.

"This is the people's money and sitting on the people's money for another year and a half makes no sense," Evers said at a news conference in the state Capitol.

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Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu of Oostburg quickly rejected Evers' proposal, saying the governor has access to billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds he can use to fund his priorities. 

"Senate Republicans will not gamble with a projected state surplus to fund Tony Evers' re-election gimmicks," LeMahieu said in a written statement.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester said Republicans four years ago embraced rebates as a temporary move but now are focused on tax reductions that will last.

"With a surplus this size, we are committed to permanent, generational tax reform, as also seen in every Republican budget over the last decade," Vos said in a statement.

Evers made his announcement a few hours after Marine veteran Kevin Nicholson launched his bid for governor. Nicholson faces former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch for the Republican nomination. 

Nicholson did not immediately react to Evers’ plan. Kleefisch said Evers’ plan did not go far enough.

"Any proposal that does not include substantial tax reform, putting more officers on the streets, and a real plan to fix our education system should be a non-starter for Republicans. No more band aids," she wrote on Twitter.

Kleefisch in 2018 touted Walker's plan to provide smaller tax rebates. Kleefisch spokesman Alec Zimmerman didn't say Thursday why Kleefisch liked Walker's plan if she thinks Evers' falls short.

Walker offered his plan when the state's finances were not as robust as they are now. It provided parents with $100 for each dependent child. A couple with two children qualified for $200.

Evers' proposal would provide $150 to every Wisconsinite regardless of age or income. A couple with two children would receive $600.

Evers' tax rebates would cost the state $816 million. Another $103 million would go toward a tax break for those who care for family members and $29 million would go toward expanded tax credits to help cover child care costs.

In addition, Evers would provide $611 million for K-12 education, $111 million for the University of Wisconsin System and $28 million for the state's technical colleges.

Evers said lawmakers should not wait to act given that inflation is high and the state has the most it's ever had in its rainy-day fund.

He said he's backing tax rebates now because conditions have changed since Walker offered them in 2018.

"We weren't in a pandemic back then and we didn't have people that were struggling mightily at home especially with some inflationary costs," Evers said.

"This is not a reelection thing for me," he said. "We have a rainy-day fund that is full. We have in the general fund over $3 billion. We should be bringing that back to the people of Wisconsin."

Evers said he did not think the rebates would exacerbate inflation, saying the government spending he is proposing is small compared with the trillions of dollars Congress has injected into the economy in response to the pandemic. 

Anna Kelly, a spokeswoman for the state Republican Party, accused Evers of flip-flopping because he proposed tax increases last year but ultimately signed income tax cuts that GOP lawmakers drafted.

"Tony Evers can't keep his re-election pitch straight," Kelly said in a written statement. "One minute he's opposing the Legislature, the next he's running on their accomplishments, and now, he's running on policy issues that he opposed during his 2018 campaign."

Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.