Here & Now

The 2021 Budget and more Legislative Business

Frederica Freyberg:

For some political analysis as well as how the fraught state budget is shaping up, let’s talk with Senior Political Reporter Zac Schultz. Hi Zac.

Zac Schultz:

Hello Fred.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what stands out on the timing of the Tony Evers’ announcement on running for reelection?

Zac Schultz:

Well, historically it’s a little bit ahead of schedule. When you look at incumbent governors, so we have to go back to Scott Walker, Jim Doyle or Tommy Thompson, traditionally they like to wait until after that last budget is signed before they transition into the campaign, just to separate the last piece of big state policy from the next election and also there used to be a sense of impropriety around fund-raising while the budget was going on. Evers moving this up either sends a message about he may not think the budget is going to be signed anytime soon, but also the idea of starting to get that fund-raising going right now.

Frederica Freyberg:

So on the U.S. Senate race what happens to the field of Republicans lining up to run against Evers for governor if Ron Johnson doesn’t run for Senate?

Zac Schultz:

Well, you’ll definitely see a much larger field in the U.S. Senate race, one would think, just on its face. The idea of running for an open seat is a lot easier than running against Tony Evers, who would be a popular incumbent seeking reelection. And there’s a lot of the people, the names we’ve seen out there, seem to have more experience already in Washington or with military background or foreign policy experience. And that all fills into the lane of a U.S. Senator as opposed to a governor.

Frederica Freyberg:

So turning to legislative state business, the big deal right now, I don’t have to tell you, is the two-year state budget and this newly projected big revenue surplus, $4.4 billion more than expected. But there are different ideas about what to do with that cash. Let’s take a listen.

Robin Vos:

And a vast majority, if not all of the money should really go toward paying down people’s taxes so that we reduce income taxes.

Gordon Hintz:

A tax cut, these guys are too focused on 2022 and not focused enough on actually improving people’s lives in our state.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what do Dems want to do with it?

Zac Schultz:

I think they’d love to see Governor Evers’ budget request fully funded. That would be their main priority. The Republicans on Joint Finance have trimmed down a lot of spending requests, the main one being education funding. They’ve shorted that by such a large amount that there is a genuine risk that some of the schools don’t capture some of that federal COVID dollars that are supposed to be coming in. Republicans say don’t worry, it will all get worked out in the end, but definitely that traditional debate over tax relief versus putting money into education or other places.

Frederica Freyberg:

So is handing out tax cuts something that people like to do during an election campaign?

Zac Schultz:

Oh, absolutely. It’s a politician’s favorite thing, is to give a big tax break right before they go back to ask them to reelect them. Scott Walker sought to do that in his last big budget. Remember there were those attempts at sending special checks home. I think Tommy Thompson did it way back when. It’s definitely a popular thing to give rebates or tax cuts and trump up I’m saving you money. That’s not a new thing by any stretch. Traditionally Republicans always want to lower taxes. That’s part of their core mission.

Frederica Freyberg:

So back to Vos and Hintz. The sides fight regardless of whether the state is in a big deficit or a big surplus.

Zac Schultz:

Yeah. That’s just the nature of where politics is right now. Not only are there diametrical — philosophical differences between where the two parties are but next election is always around the corner and the concept of winning is so important to both sides, more specifically not letting the other side win, that both sides are determined to make it seem like their priorities are what’s good for the state and the other side’s priorities are only self-interests.

Frederica Freyberg:

So legislative bills making their way through right now, so many are expected to be vetoed, like particular voting restrictions or ending enhanced unemployment to not enforcing federal gun restrictions. But what is the point of not even trying here to reach consensus?

Zac Schultz:

Well, the idea that if they can’t reach a consensus, they’re at least going to speak to their voters, their core constituencies, their donors. Republicans have the ability to pass these bills to send a message to say this is what we would do if we had complete control. Democrats don’t really have that ability to pass their own bills, but they could have Governor Evers come in and order a special session on Medicaid expansion and say these are what we would do if we had complete control. So a lot of signaling voters and donors.

Frederica Freyberg:

Zac Schultz, we leave it there. There’s a lot more fun to come with all of this stuff. Thanks very much.

Zac Schultz:

Thank you.