(The Center Square) – Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee greenlit $1.3 billion in tax cuts to the Wisconsin biennial budget Thursday night.
The income tax cuts would primarily benefit retirees as well as deduct 1% of the income tax of married-joint filers making between $38,000 and $67,000.
Committee cochairman Mark Born, Republican senator from Beaver Dam, said the tax cuts are a way to give back to people who have contributed to Wisconsin’s economy and incentivize them to stay in the state rather than move to other states with more generous tax laws.
“While we’ve done all these things to make it a great place to live, work, and raise a family, so I also want to make it a great place for all those people who worked hard for that to happen, to stay and watch their grandkids grow up,” Born said. “That’s the kind of impact this stuff can have.”
Under the adopted motion, retirees who are at least 67 years old would benefit from a tax exclusion for the first $24,000 of retirement income, or $48,000 for married-joint filers where both spouses are at least 67 years old.
The tax cuts for retirees and residents in the second income tax bracket would save Wisconsinites up to $1.3 billion, according to the motion’s estimate.
Additionally, another Republican motion would raise the tax deduction for child adoption fees from $5,000 to $15,000.
Republicans also voted to adopt a $229 million investment in special education targeting mental health and sparsity aid, which is additional state funding provided to small, rural school districts that meet specific criteria based on enrollment and population density.
Some Democrats on the committee seemed begrudged that the investments Republicans adopted were much less than those proposed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
“This is woefully small in terms of investment, and the governor’s budget would have helped the parents, the kids, the educators,” said Rep. Tip McGuire, D-Kenosha.
However, Republicans said their motions were much more realistic than those proposed by Evers.
Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, said just because Republicans propose lesser investments than Democrats does not mean Republicans are “cutting” programs or investments.
“This is what I always find fascinating about Madison math,” Testin said. “Any decrease to a proposed increase is considered a ‘cut’ by some of our colleagues. That’s not what we’re doing.
“Any conversations that these are cuts is just unrealistic. These are critical investments.”
All of the Republican-backed motions passed 12–4 on party lines.
