(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers wants the public to concentrate on the bills and times that he had reached agreements with the Legislature as he is set to continue an interesting week of negotiations on a tax-cut proposal from legislative Republicans.
Evers announced he would call a special session this spring to ban partisan gerrymandering of legislative maps.
Earlier in his speech, Evers said that a plan for property tax relief and education spending must balance the two “a heck of a lot better” than the plan Republicans sent to him this week.
“I’m going to ask lawmakers to stick around until our work here is finished,” Evers said.
Tony Evers just said no to the Republican plan that puts this surplus back in your hands and addresses the ridiculous property tax increase he did via his veto plan. So much for bipartisanship.— Senator Julian Bradley (@SenBradley) February 18, 2026
“Tony Evers just said no to the Republican plan that puts this surplus back in your hands and addresses the ridiculous property tax increase he did via his veto plan,” Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, wrote during the speech. “So much for bipartisanship.”
In his rebuttal to the State of the State, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said that the state should not be sitting on $2.5 billion of projected surplus while Wisconsin families struggle to pay bills.
“We want to give that money back to you,” LeMahieu said.
Evers highlighted everything from justice system reform, adding circuit court branches, workers’ compensation for firefighters and law enforcement and paying down state debt.
“I’ve signed over 800 bills as governor, and more than 97% of the bills I’ve signed passed with bipartisan support,” Evers boasted in his State of the State speech.
He then pointed out that he is often criticized for his use of the veto, particularly when he used a partial veto and erased numbers and a hyphen to change “2024-25” to “2425” in the budget bill, locking in a $325 per student per year funding increase for 400 years.
Evers justified the action, saying he was using his veto pen to benefit kids.
He said that average wages went up 26% in the state in his first six years in office and that median income has reached an all-time high.
Evers announced that a new film tax credit and office would start this week.
