MILWAUKEE – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed off on a two-year spending plan Wednesday after gutting a Republican tax cut and using his broad veto powers to increase school funding for centuries. Evers reduced the GOP income tax cut from $3.5 billion to $175 million, and did away entirely with lower rates for the two highest earning brackets. Evers, who for months had been urging just a middle class tax cut, told a State Capitol news conference that remains his target.
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Evers’ partial veto reduces the size of the state tax cut from $3.5 billion to about $800 million. The state’s two lower tax rates would be trimmed, meaning all taxpayers could see some reductions in what they pay. But Nick Novak of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce says making most of the income tax cut disappear is the wrong move.
“That really puts a lot of concern into not only small and medium-sized businesses, who pay the individual income tax as pass-through entities, but you know, a lot of their employees who are paying these taxes. So, on a whole, there are some good things in this budget. But when you’re looking at vetoing such a large, transformational income tax cut, it’s really unfortunate to see the governor do that,” Novak said.
Novak said the state’s largest business group is glad Evers went along with a GOP effort to repeal the personal property tax paid by some business owners. Novak said WMC is also happy with an earlier deal between Evers and Republicans to financially boost taxpayer-funded voucher schools.
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