Here & Now

Governor Scott Walker Signs Biennial Budget With 57 Vetoes

Frederica Freyberg:

But first, signed, sealed delivered and vetoed. Governor Walker signed the $68 billion biannual budget on Sunday at a Pleasant Prairie ceremony. The governor used his veto pen 57 times and touted the bill’s tax cuts and education reform.

Scott Walker:

This budget provides nearly $1 billion in tax relief for Wisconsin families and businesses, including one of the largest income tax cuts in Wisconsin history. This means you get to keep more of your money in your own pocket. Everyone who pays income taxes will get a cut, and those who make between $15,000 and $50,000 a year will see the largest rate cuts. We’re also holding the line on property taxes. With this budget, we invest hundreds of millions of dollars in new state funds into public education, including an additional $300 per student for public schools. We also know that every school doesn’t fit every student, which is why this budget includes a statewide expansion of school choice.

Frederica Freyberg:

Again, the governor vetoed 57 items in the budget as passed by the state legislature. Those vetoes included eliminating millions of dollars that would have been used to demolish foreclosed homes in Milwaukee. He vetoed a provision that would have allowed bounty hunters to set up operation in the state. Another veto will keep the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism in operation on the UW-Madison campus. The non-partisan legislative fiscal bureau reports that the budget will produce a $505 million shortfall or structural deficit heading into the next biennium. That's is tax revenues and current expenditures don't change.