Governor Tony Evers signed the Legislature’s budget on Thursday, July 8, 2021 with 50 vetoes. The Governor had no choice but to sign our budget because it funded our priorities, cut taxes and guaranteed billions of Federal funds for our schools.

I am very happy that the Governor signed the legislature’s budget into law. We crafted a great budget for rural Wisconsin that includes $100 million for local, rural roads, increased reimbursements for hospitals and nursing homes and support for the workers who care for us. Our bi-partisan budget, which was supported by seven democrats, including the Senate Minority leader, is good for Wisconsin.

While the Governor is taking credit for the tax cuts in our budget, it is important to remember that his original budget proposal would have increased taxes by $1 billion! Only six months ago, he wanted to take more from taxpayers. But the Republican Legislature has consistently pushed back, especially when times are good. When we have a surplus, we will always fight to return your tax dollars to you. And this is what we did.

I am very proud of this because we are sending $3.5 billion back to you while still funding all of our priorities – education, roads, health care, broadband and more!

The Governor took some liberties with his veto pen. He made 50 changes to the legislature’s budget. Some of these vetoes are to remove legislative oversight of agency operations. He also vetoed some funding for the Agricultural Export initiative. He vetoed all of the $550 million we wanted to transfer to the state’s Rainy-Day Fund. This will force us to exercise very good fiscal discipline since these funds are now in the checking account, rather than our savings account.

Overall, I continue to be very proud of our work on the state budget. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle have praised the smoothness and transparency of the process this year. We kept our word and focused on funding strategic priorities. We did not incorporate extraneous policy, nor did we end our work with a hodge-podge 999 motion. We met our deadlines and delivered a budget bill to the Governor that he had no choice but to sign for the people of Wisconsin.

As always, please do not hesitate to connect with me: Sen.Marklein@legis.wisconsin.gov, 608-266-0703, PO Box 7882, Madison, WI 53708, www.legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/17/marklein.

— Sen. Howard Marklein represents Wisconsin’s 17th Senate District. He can be reached at 800-978-8008 or email Sen.Marklein@legis.wisconsin.gov.