MADISON, WI (WRN) – A Republican-authored middle-class tax cut has passed the legislature’s finance committee.
“We have a reasonable, simple plan”, said Representative Mark Born, part of the Republican majority who advanced the plan over the objections of Democrats.
“We’ve collected too much money, we’re going to give some it back.
The Republican bill pays for a tax cut out of a state surplus. Democratic Governor Tony Evers has a tax cut plan as well. He pays for it by capping a tax credit for manufacturers, something opposed by Republicans.
Thursday’s Joint Finance Committee vote was 10-3, with three members absent. Republicans amended AB-10 with an “emergency clause.”
“I think it would have been better suited for us to table this, take a look at his (Evers’) budget, and then decide if this was necessary,” said Senator LaTonya Johnson, a Milwaukee Democrat.
Joint Finance Committee co-chair, Republican Representative John Nygren, said numbers from the Legislative Fiscal Bureal reveal that Evers’ plan is tilted more towards higher income households than that from Republicans.
“Somebody’s got to be spinning in their chair somewhere.”
The Republican plan, which calls for tapping a budget surplus to pay for a $340 million annual tax cut that would net an average reduction of $170, now heads to the Assembly for a vote next week.
A spokesman for Evers called the GOP plan “fiscally irresponsible.”
Evers will present his state budget proposal later this month.
