After Republicans held onto their majority in the Assembly, Speaker Robin Vos vowed the state’s projected $3.5 billion surplus would either go back to taxpayers as relief or stay in the state’s coffers.
“Because I am not going to support a plan which says that if (Gov. Tony) Evers vetoes tax cuts, we’re going to spend it on growing the side of the government,” Vos said yesterday. “It’s going to be a big priority for us to figure out how the money goes back as opposed to how it gets spent.”
Vos said the state has a surplus because Evers vetoed the tax cuts the Assembly passed where “money would have been in people’s pockets all summer and fall for them to spend on what they chose.”
Vos said, thanks to a memo from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, he knows how much money Wisconsinites would have gotten had the tax cuts gone into effect.
When reporters at a state GOP press conference yesterday asked Vos about working with Democrats next year under narrower margins at 54-45, he said Republicans are looking for “success” over compromise.
Vos said the Republicans would not compromise if the Democrats’ push is “expanding welfare, having boys play girls sports and all the craziness that the national Democratic Party stands for, which is echoed by the Democrats here in Madison.”
But they would if Democrats work with Republicans to get money back into the hands of taxpayers.
“We are disappointed that Tony Evers vetoed that retirement tax cut,” Vos said. “A whole lot of seniors would have had money in their pockets for Christmas this year. But instead it’s sitting in the treasury in Madison. That was a mistake.”
The press conference was part of a victory lap by Assembly Republicans, who maintained their majority under the new maps. They had a 64-35 majority to start the 2023-24 session. Vos and Majority Leader Tyler August knocked Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer for spending the last three months “telling everybody they were going to be in the majority.”
Vos added that he thinks there is a lot of potential for the Republicans to take more Assembly seats in two years, including Neubauer’s.
“If you look even at the minority leader, we had a candidate who basically did almost nothing against her, unfortunately, and he still got 46 or 47% of the vote against the minority leader,” Vos said. “I’ve never had a race that close.”
Minority Leader Greta Neubauer’s office didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.
