The property tax and school funding package negotiated between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) passed the Assembly Wednesday night in a bipartisan vote, but died in the Senate after three Republicans joined all the Democrats in voting against the measure.

After the failed Senate vote, Evers criticized the legislators, and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee, for killing his deal.

“Wisconsin’s kids and schools aren’t going to get the investments they desperately need this year because Tom Tiffany and a few Republican and Democratic lawmakers chose to blow up a bipartisan plan to invest in our K-12 schools, lower property taxes, and help working families afford rising costs, all because they’d rather do what’s best for the next election than what’s right for the people of our state,” Evers said. “So many Wisconsinites feel left behind, frustrated, and disillusioned by politics these days because they think a lot of politicians in the Capitol are only here to serve themselves. And, today, they’re right.”

But Senate Majority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) said that if her caucus wins a majority in November, they will work to deliver relief to Wisconsinites with a better process.

“If Democrats are in the majority, I promise we’re going to steer a course to a Wisconsin in which our economy works for everybody, where schools are sufficiently funded and health care is affordable and accessible, and those decisions will be made out in the open,” she said. “And we will have robust discussions, and let’s be honest, arguments. What’s happening today is so reckless, so completely reckless. If we are in the majority, we will lead with compassion, strength, tolerance, collaboration and fiscal responsibility that brings security, not bankruptcy, to future generations.”

The late Wednesday night votes followed more than nine hours of deliberation. Although Democrats in both chambers had panned the bill, 10 Assembly Democrats voted yes when the roll call arrived, after an amendment by Republicans that included disaster relief funds for parts of the state damaged during last year’s August floods and expanded a property tax cut for disabled veterans. The final Assembly tally was 61-32.

Despite the amendment, however, the Senate, meeting more than six hours after it was initially scheduled to convene, voted 18-15 against the bill. Republican Sens. Rob Hutton, Steve Nass and Chris Kapenga joined the entire Senate Democratic caucus in opposition.

Assembly Republicans talk up deal

The  funding package announced this week by Evers, Vos and LeMahieu, all of whom are retiring this year, was held up for hours Wednesday afternoon while lawmakers worked to get enough votes in the Senate. 

During hours of debate in the Assembly Wednesday morning, Republicans were self-congratulatory about their bipartisan deal-making and appeared poised to pass the bill on a largely party line vote. But in the Senate, where Republicans hold a slimmer majority, Kapenga (R-Delafield) and Nass (R-Whitewater) signaled their opposition to the bill from the start, forcing the authors to try to persuade the two Republican holdouts or peel off Democrats.

Tiffany also opposed the bill and was in contact with state lawmakers about their votes this week.

Democratic lawmakers, frustrated that they were left out of the negotiating process while Evers made a deal that could give a lifeline to an Assembly Republican caucus — which polls show could be on the cusp of losing their majority  next year — criticized the deal-making process and complained that it was a “Band-Aid” solution for the structural problems facing the state’s schools and homeowners. 

“I know you’re all standing up and congratulating yourselves on giving more money to schools, and yes, that is good, but you don’t get a prize for boarding up a window that you broke in the first place,” Rep. Deb Andraca (D-Whitefish Bay) said. “This proposal is a turducken. A turkey that was put together by a bunch of lame ducks, by a Republican Legislature that is too chicken to confront the structural affordability and education issues facing this state.”

Republicans meanwhile repeatedly touted the bipartisan nature of the deal, the special education funding and property tax relief that they say will return the state’s budget surplus to the people. Several of the chamber’s most vulnerable Republicans, including Reps. Todd Novak (R-Dodgeville), Pat Snyder (R-Weston), Bob Donovan (R-Greenfield), Benjamin Franklin (R-De Pere) and Shannon Zimmerman (R-River Falls), were repeatedly given the microphone to tout their support for the bill. 

“It is about compromise. It is about balance,” Zimmerman said. “This is balanced government that we’re witnessing here today. I applaud Gov. Evers for working with us to advance this, and what you’re hearing is, ‘but it’s not great.’ It’s not great today. I’ll take good.”

Republicans also frequently said the bills would help Wisconsinites manage the economic strains currently facing the state — without noting that the administration of President Donald Trump, through its tariffs and war in Iran, are largely the cause of that financial pressure. 

“I think that sometimes some of the arguments that I heard from the other side, people need to remember, we are not congressmen. We are not U.S. senators,” Franklin said. “We are state representatives. And the focus should maintain on the state of Wisconsin what we’re doing here.”

The legislation would have added $85 million to reimburse local school districts for the cost of special education in the current school year and $230 million for the 2026-27 school year. A Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo estimated the additional funding would raise the state’s reimbursement rate this year to 42.7% and for 2026-27 to 50%, but added that the actual rate “could be higher or lower,” depending on actual costs.

When Wisconsin’s 2025-27 budget was signed in July, schools were told they would get 42% of their special education costs reimbursed for the current year and 45% in 2026-27. But in November the Department of Public Instruction announced that special ed costs and enrollment had both increased, so the first round of payments would only cover 35%.

Along with the additional special ed funding, the bill increased state aid to public schools by $302.5 million. Because of state revenue limits on school districts, the new state aid “would provide property tax relief but not additional resources for school districts,” according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo.

The bill gave the state technical college system an additional $50 million in state aid starting in the 2026-27 school year, also to replace property tax revenue, not increase trade school budgets.

The legislation included a $300 state income tax rebate for individual taxpayers whose state tax bill was at least that much in 2024.

It also would have made tip income and overtime pay exempt from state income taxes, mirroring federal tax policies that have been enacted under President Donald Trump.

On the Assembly floor, Democrats argued that the package would turn the current surplus into a budget deficit within three years, that the tax rebates would barely be a drop in the bucket for struggling Wisconsinites and that the poorest residents of the state would get no relief. 

Rep. Angela Stroud (D-Ashland) noted that for the median homeowner in Wisconsin, the property tax relief would amount to just $8.91 per month. 

“That’s less than two gallons of gas today,” Stroud said. “Who knows how much gas will cost by then?”

Republicans repeatedly touted the bipartisan nature of the negotiations between Evers and Republican leadership, mocking the Assembly Democrats for not being kept in the loop while accusing them have having a “meltdown,” a “temper tantrum,” “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and putting a “knife” in Evers’ back for not supporting the deal. 

“Let’s find a consensus, because the people of Wisconsin expect us to do better than to just stand up and shake our fists,” Vos said. “Maybe today, some of [the Democrats] will be persuaded by their own governor. Believe it or not, I actually was, and I feel like I’m probably a more harsh critic than the people on the left. So if people on our side are willing to listen and compromise, why can’t you? Why can’t people on the left just one time put aside politics and say, ‘let’s do the right thing.’”

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Republican Rep. Jessie Rodriguez (R-Oak Creek) announced she will not run for reelection this year, creating another open seat in an Assembly district that will be decisive in determining partisan control of the chamber in 2027.

Rodriguez, 48, has represented the 21st Assembly District since 2013 when she was first elected in a special election. She noted in her announcement that her son was 3 years old when she first ran. During her time in office she has served on the powerful Joint Finance Committee, helping shape the state’s two-year budget as well as being an outspoken advocate for school choice.

“Throughout my time in office, I have tried to keep family first. But the truth is, it is difficult to do this job well without it affecting the people who care about you most. My family has given me patience, encouragement, and support through long days, busy weeks, and many moments when this work required more of me than they deserved to lose,” Rodriguez said in a Thursday statement. “After a great deal of reflection and many conversations with my family, I have decided that I will not seek reelection this fall.

Her district changed with the new maps adopted in 2024. It sits in Milwaukee County and includes Oak Creek and a portion of the city of Milwaukee around the Mitchell International Airport, and has a slight Democratic lean, according to the Marquette Law School analysis. 

Even under the new maps, Rodriguez won her most recent term in 2024 with 51.3% of the vote against her Democratic challenger. 

Her departure means that Republicans will lose the advantages that come with incumbency in a key district that will determine control of the state Assembly. Republican lawmakers currently hold 54 seats in the Assembly to Democrats’ 45 seats, meaning Democrats need to hold all their seats and win five additional seats in November to win the majority. 

Morgan Hess, the executive director for the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, said in a statement that “Rodriguez, like others in the Republican Assembly caucus, sees the writing on the wall.” 

“Rather than serve in the minority, they are calling it quits. Democrats have the momentum to win the majority this fall and today’s announcement brings us one step closer,” Hess said. 

Democrat Dan Bukiewicz, the mayor of Oak Creek, announced his campaign for the seat in January.

Hess said he is a “proven leader in this community and will make an excellent state representative.”

Rodriguez’s announcement adds to the wave of Republicans, including nine Assembly members and six Senate members, deciding not to seek election this fall, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Rep. Dean Kaufert (R-Neenah) who was the first Assembly Republican in one of eight key seats to decide against running. 

Donovan running

Rep. Bob Donovan (R-Greenfield) announced that he will run for a third term to represent Assembly District 61, which covers Greendale and Hales Corner in Milwaukee County. The district has a slight  Republican lean, according to the Marquette Law School analysis, but is one of eight districts that Democrats are targeting to flip. 

Donovan, 69, was first elected in 2022. He joins a handful of other Republican lawmakers from swing districts  seeking another term, including Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Weston), Rep. Shannon Zimmerman (R-River Falls), Rep. Todd Novak (R-Dodgeville) and Rep. Benjamin Franklin (R- De Pere). 

Democrat Ben Brist, a U.S. Army veteran announced he would run for the seat in March. His candidacy could mean Donovan would face someone other than Democrat LuAnn Bird, who he defeated in his first two runs for the Assembly. 

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker said in a statement that Republicans are “abandoning ship.” 

“To those like Bob Donovan and Shannon Zimmerman who have decided to run again, you have 23 days to retire or you will be fired by the voters in November. Your leaders and colleagues know what is coming and it is not the cavalry; it is only defeat,” Remiker said.

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