Here & Now

Evers, LeMahieu Address Schools, Taxes at State of the State

Frederica Freyberg:
Governor Tony Evers’ last State of the State Address called 2026 the year of the neighbor, and asked Wisconsinites to be good neighbors to each other. The neighborly spirit was strained by week’s end, as Republican lawmakers and the governor were still working to reach accord on property tax relief before the Legislature adjourns for the session. Republicans blame a spike in taxes on the governor’s 400-year veto that enshrined a $325 per student annual school funding increase until 2425.
Here are Evers and Senate Republican Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu speaking on the matter.

Tony Evers:
A decade of Republicans consistently failing to meaningful invest — meaningfully to invest in our kids and our K-12 schools has consequences. Wisconsinites — Wisconsinites have been going to referendum in high numbers in years, raising their own property taxes just to keep the school lights on. It started long before I became governor. I get Republicans want to blame my 400-year veto for property taxes going up. Why, of course, it’s politics, of course. Republicans running under fair maps need someone else to blame for, for failing to fund our schools at the levels I’ve asked them to for about two decades of my life.

Devin LeMahieu:
Thanks to strong Republican majorities here in the Legislature, Wisconsin families have only seen one example of what state government could look like with full Democratic control. Governor Evers’ disastrous 400-year veto that is driving property taxes through the roof. The — if the Democrats were in charge in Madison, Wisconsin would be a very different place.