MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday proposed cutting taxes by nearly $2 billion, echoing a priority of Republicans, while also outlining a plan to fight water pollution and push back on President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Evers will deliver his two-year spending plan to the Republican-controlled Legislature on Tuesday night. Republicans have promised to dramatically rewrite the plan, as they have done on his three previous budgets, before passing it later this year.
Here are highlights of Evers’ budget based on excerpts that he released ahead of his address to the Legislature:
Evers has clashed with Republicans over tax cuts in the past, gutting a $3.5 billion tax cut in the last budget, while approving a $2 billion tax cut in 2021. In his new budget, Evers said he will call for cutting taxes by nearly $2 billion — equal to about half of the state’s roughly $4 billion budget surplus.
Republicans have said they want to use all the state’s surplus to cut taxes.
The Evers plan includes eliminating the income tax on tips and creating a new incentive for local governments not to increase property taxes. Local governments that agree not to raise property taxes would get a payment from the state, Evers said.
Evers did not release details about his tax cut plan ahead of his address but said it would also cut income taxes for the middle class and eliminate the sales tax on several everyday expenses.
Evers said that Trump’s tariffs — or import taxes — could spark trade wars with Wisconsin’s largest exporters and hurt the state’s $116 billion agriculture industry.
Trump has imposed 10% tariffs on China and threatened, then delayed for 30 days, 25% taxes on goods from Canada and Mexico.
Evers’ plan calls for creating a new agriculture economist position in state government to help farmers navigate market disruptions caused by tariffs. He’s also calling for increasing funding to help farmers find and increase markets for their products.
Republicans have said they will oppose creating or expanding state government programs.
Tariffs are just one issue where Evers has fought back against the Trump agenda.
Evers also previously called for a bipartisan solution to immigration, while criticizing Trump’s move to deport people here illegally.
Evers and Republicans have long been at odds over how to battle PFAS pollution, even as numerous Wisconsin communities struggle with contamination from the so-called forever chemicals and are forced to drink only bottled water.
Evers is calling for spending $145 million to fight the pollution through additional testing to find the pollution and researching ways to combat it.
Evers announced earlier this month that he has again directed the state Department of Natural Resources to develop restrictions on PFAS in groundwater. Agency officials announced in December that they had given up developing such restrictions because they would be too expensive.
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are man-made chemicals that don’t easily break down in nature. The chemicals have been linked to health problems including low birth weight, cancer and liver disease, and have been shown to make vaccines less effective.
Evers also called for spending more than $300 million to fight lead poisoning in service lines, drinking fountains, schools, homes and day care centers.
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Associated Press writer Todd Richmond contributed to this report.
