Voters, politicians argue over failed surplus deal

QUOTE OF THE DAY
“What happened was there were a couple of leaders in both the Assembly and in the Senate, along with the governor, who said we’ll just get it done and we’ll just push it to the floor and they’ll vote for it without talking to their caucus, which was really upsetting for me. … I think it was failed leadership on all three fronts.“

– Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield), speaking on WISN-12 about the failed budget surplus deal

A new Marquette Law School poll found 80% of Wisconsinites say the Legislature should have passed a budget surplus bill that ultimately failed. Gov. Tony Evers and Republican leaders announced the deal earlier this month, which would have tapped the state’s projected budget surplus to reduce property taxes, increase special education funding and provide rebates to taxpayers. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau found the state would have faced a $2.95 billion budget deficit at the end of the 2027-29 biennium had the bill been enacted. Baylor Spears reports on the continuing political fallout from the failed deal.

More than 800 nurses at a Madison hospital owned by a national nonprofit group will vote in the coming weeks on whether to join a union. The organizing campaign at St. Mary’s Hospital is one of the largest in recent memory in Wisconsin. SSM Health, the hospital’s parent organization, says it “respects the right of its employees” to freely choose union representation. Nurses and the Service Employees International Union say the hospital’s management has responded with stiff opposition. Erik Gunn has the story.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany said at an event Tuesday in Madison that if elected governor he’d return the state’s current budget surplus to taxpayers while also cutting property taxes, eliminating taxes on tips and overtime and overturning Gov. Tony Evers’ 400-year school funding increase while also increasing the rate at which public schools are reimbursed for special education services. Henry Redman reports.

A handful of Democratic state attorneys general including Wisconsin’s Josh Kaul said Tuesday that expert officials from their offices were denied access to a major White House anti-fraud meeting convened by Vice President JD Vance and attended by Republican AGs. Shauneen Miranda reports from Washington.

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