Gov. Tony Evers urged Wisconsin lawmakers to work through the rest of this year during his final State of the State address Tuesday evening — rejecting a Republican tax cut and school funding proposal and calling for lawmakers to invest in schools. 

Evers, who decided not to run for a third term in office, told lawmakers that the people of Wisconsin are expecting them to get more done this year. The Assembly plans on wrapping up its work for the session by the end of the week. The state Senate plans to work into March, but with the Assembly’s self-imposed deadline, this month is the last chance to pass bills that could get to Evers’ desk before the next legislative session.

“I know many lawmakers are antsy to end the legislative session and pack up to get back on the campaign trail — by the way, if anyone running wants advice from someone who’s won five statewide elections, let me know,” Evers said. “I know many of you are up for election, but here’s the deal: after years of delivering historic, bipartisan wins for our state, Wisconsinites have high expectations for the work we can do together over the next 10 months.” 

Wisconsin’s upcoming 2026 November elections will produce a new governor and could lead to new leadership in the state Assembly and Senate where the balance of power is at stake.

Republican lawmakers were not enthralled by Evers’ address, shaking their heads when they disagreed, making side comments to their fellow lawmakers and pulling their phones out during portions of the address. Democratic lawmakers stood to applaud throughout the address with some Republican lawmakers joining the applause at times while remaining seated. 

Evers touted a number of his accomplishments in the more than 800 bills he has signed throughout his last seven years in office. He noted that 97% of those bills were bipartisan. 

Some of the accomplishments he highlighted included $2 billion in tax cuts, securing $360 million to support child care in the state improving and repairing over 9,600 miles of roads and over 2,400 bridges across Wisconsin, bolstering support for public defenders and district attorneys and passing a law to ensure education about Hmong and Asian American history in school. 

Evers added that he is not done yet.

At the top of Evers’ to-do list for his final year in office is getting a deal to reduce property taxes and provide schools with additional funding.

Over the last couple of weeks, Evers has been negotiating with lawmakers on how to use the state’s projected $2.5 billion budget surplus.

“I’m hopeful we can continue building upon those efforts this session, including reaching bipartisan agreement on a plan to get meaningful resources to K-12 schools and provide property tax relief, and it must balance these important obligations a heck of a lot better than the plan Republican leaders sent me this week,” Evers said. 

The most recent proposal put together by Republican leaders and delivered to Evers on Sunday included funding for special education and the school levy tax credit to reduce property taxes for local communities. It did not include funding for general school aid.

In the recent state budget, Republican lawmakers did not provide additional state funding to general school aid in part because of their frustration with Evers’ 400-year veto, which extended an annual $325 per pupil school revenue limit increase well beyond the last budget cycle. Without state funding, schools in Wisconsin can only use the authority Evers gave them to increase property taxes. 

“I get Republicans want to blame my 400-year veto for property taxes going up. Why? Politics, of course. Republicans running under fair maps need someone else to blame for failing to fund our schools at the levels I’ve asked them to for about two decades of my life,” Evers said. “Here’s the truth: funding our schools is a responsibility that the state and local partners share. Local property taxes go up when the state fails to do its part to meet its obligation.” 

Evers also noted that his 400-year veto is not an automatic property tax increase, but rather schools opt into exercising the additional authority and if there was additional state aid, then districts would not raise property taxes.

“The Legislature has rejected over $7 billion for K-12 schools that I requested over the last four state budgets,” he said. “If lawmakers want to have an honest conversation about property taxes, start there.”

“We have a constitutional obligation to fund our schools in this state,” Evers said. “The Legislature must approve the level of funding necessary to meet the percentages our kids and our schools were promised in the last budget. We can’t afford for lawmakers to lose focus on the future we’ve been working hard to build together just because it’s an election year. I know the Legislature would rather hit the road and take the rest of the year off, but I’m going to ask lawmakers to stick around until our work here is finished.” 

GOP leader wants sit down negotiations

After Evers’ address, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) told reporters that Evers was taking credit for bipartisan work that was only possible because of the Republican-led Legislature. 

Ahead of the address, Vos made similar comments to reporters, saying that “every success that Gov. Evers has had on policy has only been because the Legislature worked with him on the vast majority of those things to get them done.” Evers’ two terms in office have been marked by an often contentious relationship with Republicans, who have held the majority in the state Senate and Assembly during his entire tenure. Still, lawmakers and Evers have been able to pass four state budgets and get various bipartisan bills signed into law.

Vos said lawmakers had received a reply from Evers to their property tax  proposal that evening. 

“It sounds like he is willing to draw bright lines in the sand. That is not something I’ve ever found to be productive. You need to be able to sit down and talk about things that are important to both the Legislature, the taxpayers and the governor,” Vos said. “It should not be a ‘my way or the highway’ type negotiation.”

Vos said he was disappointed that Evers hadn’t reached out to speak with lawmakers on Monday or Tuesday, but is optimistic that lawmakers can speak with Evers Wednesday.

“It seems to me we tried very hard to reach in the middle. Now, it’s the governor’s job after a pretty partisan speech to actually figure out how he’s going to get to the middle like we did,” Vos said. 

Vos claimed the GOP plan invests more money into public education than Evers proposed. The GOP plan includes $500 million for property tax relief through the school levy tax credit and $200 million for special education reimbursement. It does not include any money for general school aids.

Evers’ proposal included $200 million for special education funding, $450 million for general school aids to buy out the projected statewide school property tax levy and in exchange, he proposed that Republicans would get $550 million towards the school levy tax credit.

Asked to clarify, Vos said Republicans had not asked for the $550 million for the school levy tax credit.

“We didn’t ask for that. It’s like me saying, you want money for child care? Well, that’s not even part of the discussion,” Vos said.

Democratic lawmakers also called on the Legislature to keep working this year. 

Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) criticized Republican lawmakers at a press conference Tuesday morning for planning to “gavel out of session for the next 10 months” at the end of this week, saying they were giving “themselves a vacation while folks in our districts are left wondering how they are going to make ends meet.” She said Evers and Democrats were planning to continue working hard to deliver for the people of Wisconsin.

Other issues on Evers’ to-do list

Evers also laid out several other issues areas he wants addressed in his final year. 

Evers urged lawmakers to send him bills that would codify the Office of Violence Prevention into state law and provide $66 million for the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) programs. 

“Do the right thing and get this done,” Evers said. 

He also announced that the state has plans to partner with the Milwaukee Bucks, the state’s professional basketball team, on a campaign to combat domestic violence. 

Evers also noted his previous attempts to advance gun control measures but didn’t urge Republican lawmakers to do anything this year. 

“There’s no issue Republicans have done less about than guns,” he said. “This much is clear: If Wisconsinites want to get something — anything — done about gun violence, we must elect legislators who will do a damn thing to change it.” 

Evers said that he is also hoping that lawmakers will work to pass a bill to close the Green Bay Correctional Institution. 

“It’s been over a year now, and Republicans have neither enacted my plan nor proposed a plan of their own,” Evers said. “I’m still hopeful we can work together to pass a bipartisan bill this year on comprehensive corrections reform to set an achievable goal for GBCI to close, convert Lincoln Hills, and revamp Waupun.”

On artificial intelligence and data centers, Evers said Wisconsin must “embrace a future where we don’t have to choose between mitigating climate change and protecting our environment or creating good-paying jobs and having a strong economy.”

Evers also urged lawmakers to pass a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program that “both supports land acquisition and management of Wisconsin’s valuable natural resources and public lands,” as well as a bill combating PFAS so the $125 million that was approved over two years ago can be released to Wisconsinites. 

Federal government concerns

The outgoing governor also spoke to “what worries me about our future and keeps me up at night,” focusing on his concerns about actions by the Trump administration. 

Evers said he is worried about the “reckless decisions being made in Washington,” saying he thinks they “will have disastrous consequences for Wisconsinites, taxpayers and our state budget moving forward.” He said he is also worried about federal workers who have been laid off. 

According to WPR, 2,4000 federal workers in Wisconsin have lost their jobs under the Trump administration. 

“I’m also angry when I think about our neighbors — young kids and families across our state — who aren’t going to school or work or anywhere else, because they’re scared leaving their home may mean their family will be torn apart,” Evers said, referring to fears about aggressive federal immigration enforcement. “I worry about our kids who are being traumatized by violence on social media, in the news, on our streets and in our neighborhoods, and I worry about what all of this means for America’s Dairyland, which has depended on the hard work of immigrants for generations.”

“Wisconsinites are feeling the squeeze due to tariff taxes and erratic trade wars,” Evers continued. “Prices are going up on things like school supplies, groceries, clothes, gas and more.” 

Evers also said he is worried about the effects of the federal tax and spending bill signed by Trump last year. He noted that Wisconsin could face penalties if the state’s payment error rate for the SNAP program doesn’t remain below 6%. 

The Evers administration has estimated that a penalty could cost the state up to $205 million, and that $69 million and 56 additional administrative positions for DHS are needed to ensure that the state’s error rate remains below 6%.

“The sooner the Legislature invests in FoodShare quality control efforts, the more time the state has to keep FoodShare error rates down. It’s pretty simple,” Evers said. “We can save Wisconsin taxpayers potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in penalty fees a year we could have to pay the Trump administration if we don’t. I’m not negotiating with Republicans about a $70 million investment the state must make right now to save Wisconsin taxpayers as much as $200 million in penalty fees later. We’ve been asking for this for months, and it has to get done. If the Legislature fails to provide the funding the state needs, Republicans will be to blame for the penalty fees taxpayers will be forced to pay.”

Evers also announced that he plans to sign an executive order to have Wisconsin join the World Health Organization’s Global Response Network. 

Wants constitutional amendment on nonpartisan redistricting 

Evers said he plans to call a special session in the spring to pass a constitutional amendment banning partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin. 

Wisconsin’s current legislative maps were adopted by the Republican-led Legislature and Evers after a state Supreme Court decision found that the previous maps were unconstitutional. The maps have made  Wisconsin’s legislative races newly competitive. However, lawmakers did not change the map drawing process. 

“Wisconsin is as purple as ever, but we’ve shown we can put politics aside and work together to get good things done… A big part of that is the fact that, today, lawmakers are elected under the fair maps I signed into law.  But here’s the problem, Wisconsin: New maps are redrawn every 10 years,” Evers said, adding that without a nonpartisan redistricting process there is “no guarantee Wisconsinites will still have fair maps after the next U.S. Census.” 

Evers noted that Republican states, under pressure from the Trump administration, have adopted election maps that seek to further favor Republicans. He said that “as a result, Democratic legislatures have been put in the unthinkable position of having to respond by trying to restore balance to our elections.” 

“Politics could get in the way of creating a nonpartisan redistricting commission that everyone can support, but there’s one thing that we should all be able to agree on, which is that politics should stay out of redistricting from start to finish,” Evers said. 

Constitutional amendments in Wisconsin must pass two consecutive sessions of the Legislature before going to voters for a final vote that decides whether a change is made. They do not require a signature from the governor. 

Vos said he is open to proposals for nonpartisan redistricting, but noted the failure of a previous GOP proposal to implement a nonpartisan redistricting commission.

“Frankly, all the Democrats across the country are rushing the gerrymander. I hope he’s sincere in saying he doesn’t want that, but call me skeptical,” Vos said. 

Evers added that he “won’t hesitate to bring the Legislature into special session later this year in August or September or October.” 

“Heck, I’m old enough to remember when the Legislature was willing to meet in December,” he said. 

“Year of the Neighbor” 

Each year during his State of the State address, Evers has declared an overall theme for the year. For his final year he announced the “Year of the Neighbor.”

“I want us to focus on our Wisconsin values of kindness, respect, empathy, and compassion,” Evers said. “We could all use a good neighbor, and we could all be better neighbors, and we’re going to spend the next year celebrating the neighbors who make Wisconsin the great place it is to call home.” 

Some of the “neighbors” Evers highlighted in his address included “the first responders who answer our call in our darkest hour,” “the librarians who help us find our new favorite book,” “the teachers who comfort, inspire and educate our kids,” “the state worker who helped us find and apply for health care or job training” and the “veteran who served our country.” 

“Wisconsinites are helpers by nature; it’s in our DNA. When things are tough, we roll up our sleeves and get to work. We shovel a driveway or bake a casserole, and we show up for our neighbors,” Evers said. “Whether it’s unpredictable weather or the unpredictable nature of politics, we’re all in this together, and we’re going to get through it together, not by alienating our neighbors, but by getting to know them, by looking out for one another and by maintaining our Wisconsin values of kindness, empathy, compassion and respect.”

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Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) are proposing a $2.3 billion package to Gov. Tony Evers Monday that would provide one-time tax rebates and raise special education funding, but wouldn’t deliver any general school aid increases.

“We actually accepted the governor’s challenge where he said, make sure that we have money for schools and we wanted to make sure that there is money for the residents of Wisconsin,” Vos said during a press conference on Tuesday. Vos said lawmakers sent their letter to Evers on Sunday and had yet to hear from Evers as of Tuesday afternoon but they hope to “hear from him today so we could be in negotiations to have a bill passed before we adjourn Friday.”

The proposal comes after LeMahieu said last week he was being left out of negotiations with Vos and Evers. Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback suggested the leaders sit down to discuss the plan. She has also previously said that any bipartisan agreement needs “investments to ensure our K-12 schools receive the resources they need and were promised in the state budget.”

The Assembly plans to meet in a series of marathon floor sessions this week with the goal of wrapping up its work for the session by the end of the week. The state Senate plans to work during March as well, but with the Assembly’s self-imposed deadline, this month is the last chance to pass bills that could get to Evers’ desk before the next legislative session.

Vos said the end of the week deadline could help ensure that Wisconsin politicians act and said it is a “perfect time for us to engage in the good faith negotiations.”

“There’s no reason for the money to sit at Madison longer than necessary so we can have it actually out the door,” Vos said. 

The back and forth on the property tax reduction and school funding package came as Evers, who opted not to run for a third term in office this year, prepared to deliver his final State of the State address Tuesday night.

“I think we’re right on track… I’m happy to meet this afternoon. I mean, I’m sure the governor is practicing his speech for tonight. There’s probably some time in between,” Vos said. “There’s a lot of opportunities to discuss.”

One major piece of the GOP proposal is an income tax rebate of $500 per person and $1,000 for married joint filers at a cost of nearly $1.5 billion in 2026-27. Senate Republicans first proposed the idea last week.

Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Weston) said the surplus is proof that “we’ve over taxed our citizens in Wisconsin” and that the rebate checks could help provide some relief to Wisconsinites.

In response to Evers’ priorities, Republican lawmakers in their letter proposed $200 million for special education costs — including $80 million to bring the special education reimbursement rate to 42% in 2026 and $120 million to bring it to 45% in 2027 — in keeping with Evers’ proposal. 

The state budget committed to reimburse school districts for their special education costs at a rate of 42% in 2025-26 and 45% in 2026-27. However, recent estimates have found that the money that lawmakers and Evers set aside in the budget will not be enough to make good on those promises.

Lawmakers did not provide any additional funding for general school aids in the budget, disappointing school leaders and advocates who said schools will continue to struggle with funding difficulties. Republican lawmakers left out increases to general school aid in part because of their frustration with Evers’ 400-year veto, extending an annual $325 per pupil school revenue limit increase well beyond the last budget cycle. Without state funding, however, schools in Wisconsin only have the option to use the authority Evers extended to increase property taxes to the revenue limit increase amount. 

Evers had proposed $450 million in 2027 for general school aid to backfill the $325 per pupil increase school districts will have the option of using — alleviating the potential property tax increases that communities across the state would see again at the end of this year.

Republicans excluded that request from their proposal and instead suggested $500 million for property tax relief through the school levy tax credit. Evers had suggested $550 million for property tax relief through the school levy tax credit. 

The Wisconsin Public Education Network has called putting state money toward the school levy tax credit as opposed to general school aids “irresponsible and unacceptable.” The credit works by using state funds to reduce property tax bills by making payments to counties and municipalities. It does not provide additional revenue to school districts for operations.

In their letter, GOP leaders expressed concerns about the school revenue limit increases, saying that additional state aid would lead to less responsible spending by school districts.

“While we know you believe that your 400-year veto was a way to permanently send increases to schools for the next 400 years, the truth is it creates a strong disincentive for school districts to find efficiencies while creating an increased property tax burden on taxpayers,” the lawmakers said. 

LeMahieu and Vos said that “no amount of funding increase can address the root causes of the education funding problem” and that leaders should be focused on “reform” as opposed to “guaranteed funding to prop up a broken system.” Republican lawmakers have advocated for bills that would encourage school districts to consolidate this session, which Democratic lawmakers and school advocates have criticized.

Lawmakers said they would also support an individual income tax reduction of up to $300 for teacher expenses at an estimated cost of $1.4 million in 2026-27.

Republicans are also seeking to tie the tax relief package to other priority areas. 

Changes made to the Supplemental Nutrition Aid Program (SNAP) — known as FoodShare in Wisconsin — in the massive tax cut and spending bill signed by President Donald Trump last year included a penalty, requiring states to pick up some costs if the state’s payment error rate exceeds 6%. Wisconsin officials have estimated a penalty could cost the state up to $205 million.

The Evers administration has said $69 million and 56 additional administrative positions for DHS are needed to ensure that the state’s error rate remains below the 6% error rate.

The lawmakers said they would agree to funding for FoodShare to help keep the error rate low, but asked that positions that have been vacant for 18 months be used instead of providing new positions to the agency. 

In addition to the GOP request related to the positions, Republican lawmakers are also seeking to tie a ban on using SNAP benefits to purchase soda and candy to the legislation.

Rep. Clint Moses (R-Menomonie) said the change would ensure SNAP is “utilized for healthy, nutritious foods” and will help make sure that “some of the soda, junk food, and other stuff that our kids and our adults are filling their bodies with” isn’t purchased with the benefits.

The proposal also includes funding to the Department of Military Affairs for disaster assistance including $10 million in 2025-26 for awards no greater than $25,000 per household and $20 million in 2025-26 for grants of up to $50,000 to businesses. 

The money is meant to help Wisconsinites affected by record floods last year after a recent request for disaster assistance was denied by the federal government. 

“We feel that the states have a position here that should have some funds available particularly for businesses where they have no relief available to them at all,” Rep. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown) said. 

The total price tag of the proposed package is about $2.3 billion — nearly the amount of the state’s entire estimated budget surplus.

“This is a generous, good-faith attempt to achieve our mutual goals of limiting the property tax impact caused by your misguided 400-year veto, helping families address rising costs and ultimately doing what is best for the people of Wisconsin,” the lawmakers stated in their letter. “Majority caucuses in both houses have agreed to this plan in principle. With the legislative session soon ending, time is of the essence. We both stand ready to meet at your earliest convenience.”

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It’s the last year of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ final term, and activity at the Capitol since January reflects much of how the last eight years have gone with the Republican Legislature. 

GOP lawmakers continue to send conservative bills to Evers’ desk for a likely veto. such as a proposal to allow people to seek legal action for injuries from gender transition procedures when they were a minor. Evers in January called for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, to allow a bipartisan bill that would extend postpartum Medicaid to new moms to “finally” reach the governor’s desk, while Vos last week told reporters it wouldn’t advance. 

As the political world turns to who might be Wisconsin’s next governor, Evers and Republicans are attempting to negotiate a tax cut in the wake of a projected $2.4 billion state surplus reported in January. The last time there was an open governor’s seat the state faced a multibillion-dollar deficit. Surpluses have been a regular feature of the last eight years of split government.

“There have been plenty of times in the last eight years where we have had a disagreement and we had a public argument with Gov. Evers,” Vos said last week. “I think there’s a long list of things where I think he’s just wrong on the issue. But on this one, considering the fact that he came out and sincerely said he wants to do something on property taxes. We feel the same. I don’t know why we wouldn’t negotiate in good faith to try to find something that can actually get across the finish line.” 

Evers, who is not seeking reelection in 2026, will give his final State of the State address before the Legislature at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Part of Evers’ legacy during his two terms as governor is his navigation of split government and the oftentimes contentious relationship between his administration and the legislative branch.

Asked to reflect on his own legacy, Evers highlighted for Wisconsin Watch three specific achievements: a deal that kept the Brewers in Milwaukee through 2050, a shared revenue deal that boosted state support for local municipalities and the replacement of heavily gerrymandered GOP maps with “fair maps.” But he also criticized the often contentious relationship with the Legislature.

“There’s something wrong when lawmakers are spending more time thinking of new and creative ways to circumvent the governor and the executive branch than working to address pressing challenges facing our state. So, for the last seven years, we’ve been hard at work to restore the separation of powers and hold the Legislature accountable to the will of the people that elected us,” Evers said in a statement to Wisconsin Watch. “My promise to the people of Wisconsin was — and is — that I will always work to do the right thing and get things done. Now, today, thanks in part to the fair maps we enacted, we’re seeing more collaboration and more compromise than seven years ago, and I believe most Wisconsinites would say that is a good thing because that is how government is supposed to work. So, while we haven’t agreed on 100 percent of the issues 100 percent of the time, I’m proud of the good bipartisan work we’ve accomplished together over the last seven years.”

Evers’ defeat of Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2018 marked a change in the Legislature’s relationship with the governor’s office. For eight years prior, a Republican governor and Legislature meant conservative ideas — slashing the power of public sector unions, strict voter ID, concealed carry, corporate tax cuts — became law with ease. Evers, a moderate Democrat, became a check on that power. 

In the weeks before Evers officially took office, Walker and the Republican-led Senate and Assembly enacted laws in the lame duck session limiting the power of the incoming Democratic administration.

Since then, and despite Evers’ frequent calls for bipartisanship, the governor and legislative Republicans have been engaged in a yearslong tug-of-war over their powers. It’s a relationship that has been marked by court cases, record-breaking numbers of gubernatorial vetoes and the Legislature advancing numerous constitutional amendments that don’t need Evers’ signature. While Evers has served as a check on far right legislation, Republicans have shrugged at Evers’ calls for special sessions on Democratic issues such as abortion rights and gun safety. 

“I think the most telling was the 2020 COVID experience,” said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center and political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The state was facing a bunch of crises that year. … There were so many things the state needed to address and there was not a single bill passed in the Legislature and sent to his desk that year. Instead, the two branches were mostly pointing fingers at each other.” 

Despite the partisan battles, every other year a compromise between the two sides has brought the biennial state budget across the finish line on schedule and with billions of dollars in unspent tax revenue that has shored up the state’s fiscal health. 

“The governor is open to meeting with anybody to try and get things done,” said Rep. Christine Sinicki, D-Milwaukee, who was first elected to the Assembly in 1998. 

His easygoing demeanor has helped that relationship with the Legislature, Sinicki said. Republicans seem to recognize that, too. 

“When you talk to Gov. Evers, you realize he’s sincere,” Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, told the audience at a recent WisPolitics event. “I think he’s a sincere person, but (there’s) obviously a lot of things we don’t necessarily agree on.” 

Conflict and the courts

Several power disputes between Evers and the Legislature have ended up before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which transitioned from a conservative to liberal majority during Evers’ two terms. They include: 

• In 2020, the court’s conservative majority sided with Republican lawmakers who challenged the Evers administration’s powers when the governor’s office extended the “Safer at Home” order during the coronavirus pandemic. 
• In late 2023, the court’s new liberal majority struck down the Republican legislative maps, ruling they were unconstitutional. Evers in 2024 signed the current maps into law. 
• In 2025, the liberal majority upheld the governor’s veto powers after Evers used his veto pen to raise school district revenue limits annually for the next 400 years. 

Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, is leading a constitutional amendment to prevent the governor from using veto powers to increase taxes or fees. 

“The state Supreme Court has given the executive branch unprecedented power,” Kapenga said in a statement to Wisconsin Watch. “Nowhere is this more apparent than in the use of the partial veto pen.” 

One of the other significant disagreements of the Evers era that reached the Supreme Court has been the oversight of administrative rules, or policy changes sought by executive agencies like the Department of Natural Resources. 

Republicans have long criticized these policies as red tape for Wisconsin businesses. The 2018 lame duck legislation gave the Legislature the ability to delay the implementation of policies from state agencies, such as a ban on conversion therapy or updating surface water quality standards. 

Evers sued the Legislature on the issue. In 2025, the Supreme Court’s liberal majority last summer ruled that a key legislative committee that oversees administrative rules could not block the Evers administration’s policies from going into effect. The Legislature is essentially in an advisory role now, said Rep. Adam Neylon, R-Pewaukee, one of the co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Review of Administrative Rules. 

“I think that people are expecting more from an executive role or from the governor and it’s in some ways disrupted the balance of the co-equal branches of government,” Neylon said. “I think, especially a lot of the court decisions upholding the 400-year veto or Evers v. Marklein, which took away our oversight of the rulemaking process, I think we’re in an era now that the power has been slowly drifting into the executive and I think real people do feel that.” 

The balance of power is a legitimate concern for the Legislature to have, but Republicans prior to the Supreme Court’s decision asserted control over the process in ways that often negatively affected public health issues, said Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, one of the Democrats running for governor and a member of the administrative rules committee. 

“The most important legacy is the court decision, Evers v. Marklein, that says, basically, the Legislature can’t be judge, jury and executioner,” Roys said.

What’s next

Whether the partisan battles of split government continue depends on where Wisconsin voters take the state during the 2026 elections later this year. Evers’ departure leaves an open governor’s race. New legislative maps and Democratic gains in both chambers in 2024 set up real competition for control of the Legislature in 2026. 

A unified government with one-party control of the executive and legislative branches could bring a burst of new laws starting in 2027, Burden said. 

But more split government conflicts are also possible, and none of the candidates for governor appears as interested in bipartisan negotiations as Evers, Burden said. Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany cleared the GOP primary field in January. Seven major Democrats are running for governor, including Roys, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong, former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. 

“He has a more conciliatory tone, I think, than Democrats would like to see,” Burden said. “So if we get divided government again next year in some form, whether it’s a Tiffany governorship or a Democratic governorship and the Legislature at least partly divided, I think the kind of stalemate that we’ve seen will continue and the option to go to the courts or to use constitutional amendments to get around the governor will still be a popular method.”

As Tony Evers delivers his final State of the State, he remains crosswise with the GOP Legislature is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) says he is being left out of negotiations on property tax relief between Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester).

Rising property taxes, a quickly approaching self-imposed deadline to wrap up work in the Legislature this year and a projected state budget surplus of over $2.5 billion formed the backdrop to disagreements between leaders of the Senate and Assembly on a potential tax relief package that broke out into the public this week. 

“What I’m hearing right now is the governor and the speaker are still negotiating, and I have not been invited to those negotiations,” LeMahieu said during a WisPolitics luncheon on Thursday afternoon. “I just feel, at this point, if the governor and the speaker are actually serious about accomplishing something, shouldn’t they include both houses?”

In response to LeMahieu saying he wasn’t included, Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback wrote on social media that “actually, yesterday our office suggested that Republican leaders should try talking to each other since they’re clearly not on the same page.”

Vos, speaking at a press conference at the same time LeMahieu appeared at the WisPolitics event, said he texted LeMahieu Thursday morning asking to meet. He told reporters that he is open to any idea, but the public’s biggest concern is rising property taxes.

“There’s no bad cake, and I feel that same way about tax cuts. There are no bad tax cuts… We have not ruled anything out,” Vos said. “But when we have talked to folks, the thing that has most impacted them is the massive property tax increases they saw last December. My own property tax bill went up 24.7%. That’s the highest that I can ever remember being a homeowner.”

Wisconsin property taxpayers recently absorbed the highest tax hike since 2018 — an increase caused by a state budget that raised school revenue limits while keeping state general aid flat, pushing costs onto local property taxpayers, some of whom also voted to approve additional school district referendum requests.

LeMahieu said the projected $2.5 billion budget surplus led to conversations in his caucus about what to do to provide relief to Wisconsinites as well as a Zoom call between the Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Tony Evers a little over a week ago.

“It’s not just property taxes. People are struggling buying groceries… their utility bills,” LeMahieu said.

The Senate Republican caucus discussions led to the introduction of a pair of bills this week that would use about $1.5 billion in state funds to provide one-time tax rebates of $1,000 to married joint filers and $500 to individual filers. Under SB 1 and SB 995, the Department of Administration would need to send the rebates by Sept. 1. 

LeMahieu said his caucus thought the rebates were “the best way to use this surplus” and $1.5 billion, the cost for the rebates, is a “responsible number.”

The package announcement came just a day after Vos said he was in negotiations with Evers. According to emails, Evers had proposed to the Republican lawmakers a $1.3 billion package that would provide $200 million, including $80 million to bring the special education reimbursement rate to 42% in 2026 and $120 million to bring it to 45% in 2027, as well as $450 million in 2027 in general school aids to buy out the projected statewide school property tax levy. In exchange, Republicans would get $550 million for the school levy tax credit to help with property tax relief and $97.3 million in 2027 for tax-exempt cash tips. 

Cudaback has said that any compromise on property taxes needs to include “investments to ensure our K-12 schools receive the resources they need and were promised in the state budget.”

Vos said he thinks Evers “sincerely” wants to do something about property taxes.

“There have been plenty of times in the last eight years where we have had a disagreement and we had a public argument with Gov. Evers, but on this one… we feel the same,” Vos said. “I don’t know why we wouldn’t negotiate in good faith to try to find something that can actually get across the finish line.”

Vos said Evers’ point about special education funding is a “legitimate” one, noting that leaders said during the state budget that they would fund it at 42% and 45% but the available revenue will not cover those amounts. 

Senate Republicans, however, are not happy with Evers’ suggestions. 

LeMahieu called the proposal “ridiculous” and said it was only a “BandAid” on the issue that would “saddle the next Legislature with a huge ongoing commitment.” He is referring to the 400-year partial veto exercised by Evers on the 2023-24 budget that has allowed school districts to continue an  annual $325 per pupil increase. 

“Your property taxes are still going to go up because the 400-year veto is still there?” LeMahieu said incredulously.

LeMahieu said he thought the negotiation “seems like a purely political stunt” or an effort to get something through the Assembly, adjourn and put pressure on the Senate to pass it. He noted that the Assembly is less than a week away from its planned final adjournment for the year. 

Vos has said the Assembly plans to be done Feb. 19. The Senate could still pass bills after then, but the same bills must pass the Assembly to make it to Evers’ desk. 

“There is no vehicle for whatever plan they come up with… What’s the time frame for all of this to get done?” LeMahieu asked, referring to the process by which a bill must be introduced, have a public hearing and get a vote on the floor of the both Assembly and the Senate.

LeMahieu pointed out that his bill has support from 16 out of 18 Senate Republican caucus members. He added that several Assembly members have reached out with support for the proposal and said the Senate plan “actually makes sense.”

“There has been no communication between offices… Hopefully we are here past next week,” LeMahieu said, adding that there are session days scheduled for March, when the Senate plans to meet, and lawmakers could also work in April.

No action would likely leave decisions about the budget surplus until after the November elections when the makeup of the next Legislature could look quite different with control up for grabs and the next governor, could be either a Republican or a Democrat and will be new to the office.

Vos said rebates are “less easy” and “more expensive,” but he said his caucus believes that negotiating “to find an answer that gets across the finish line is the best answer for Wisconsinites” and he thinks they need to sit down to do so.

“I don’t think [Evers’] idea is a bad one, but I would say it has to be paired with some reductions,” Vos said. “Based on where the Senate is, it looks like they want to have something that’s way bigger than what we were looking at. Bigger is not necessarily better, but it’s not necessarily worse, so I think that’s part of sitting down and understanding what the perspectives are, and finding something that, again, can pass the Assembly, pass the Senate, and get signed by the governor and not just have an argument.”

The Senate bills received a public hearing in the afternoon. Democratic lawmakers questioned whether the rebates would place the state in a precarious position in the future.

After the state budget was completed in July, but before the recent projections, the Wisconsin Policy Forum warned that Wisconsin is spending more than it brings in through taxes which creates a projected structural deficit.

“Why wouldn’t we just put this money in the bank to help us cover the structural deficit?” Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) asked.

“I think we’ll be fine,” LeMahieu said.

Under the bill, the rebate checks would need to be delivered to Wisconsinites by Sept. 15, 2026.

Spreitzer said he thought the proposal could place the state budget in a “bad situation” going into future budgets and suggested that the timing of the rebate payments are suspicious, coming just ahead of the November election. 

Wisconsin’s fall elections take place Nov. 3, and many legislators are eager to return to their districts to start campaigning.

LeMahieu on WisconsinEye and other issues

A tax relief package is among several bills Wisconsin lawmakers are trying to get across the finish line. LeMahieu spoke to the chances for action on several issues. He said the issue that is the closest to getting done is a bill that would extend the state’s stewardship program. 

State funds will run out for the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program on June 30, 2026, without action. A bill that the Assembly passed and that recently received a public hearing in the  Senate would extend the program, but drastically cut the land acquisition portions of the program. 

“We don’t want to give a blank check to our bureaucrats to go buy a bunch of land across the state of Wisconsin, however, we do own a lot of land in Wisconsin and our caucus feels it’s very important to maintain that,” LeMahieu said. 

Another issue that has received a lot of attention in the Capitol is the livestreaming of government proceedings. LeMahieu said he thought there has been mismanagement at WisconsinEye, the state’s version of C-SPAN, and his caucus wants to see other alternatives  before providing funding for WisconsinEye. 

“Is there some other company out there? Do we need five full-time employees when we aren’t doing a whole lot of work after Feb. 17 in the Assembly and March… outside of interviews of candidates who are running for office? We’re using taxpayer money for that?” LeMahieu said. 

A Senate bill to solicit bids for livestreaming received a public hearing Thursday, though LeMahieu said he thinks lawmakers could also start the process through a vote on the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization.

LeMahieu said Senate Republicans have not spent a lot of time discussing efforts to legalize online sports betting and he wasn’t sure if that proposal would get through the Senate or Assembly by the end of session. He said he thought that “from a policy standpoint it makes sense.”

The Assembly delayed a vote on a bill to legalize online sports betting at the end of last year. 

Sports betting has been allowed in Wisconsin since 2021, but bets have to be made in person at tribal casinos. Lawmakers are seeking to legalize online sports betting by implementing a “hub and spoke” model that would allow servers running betting websites and apps to be housed on tribal land. The state Constitution requires gambling to be managed by the state’s federally recognized Native American tribes.

LeMahieu said he hopes the Legislature takes some action on data centers, though he said he hadn’t looked closely at the bill that passed the Assembly in January. He said he thought data centers are good for local communities, though there are some concerns about ensuring that ratepayers don’t see their utility bills go up. 

“Hopefully we can take action and provide some framework around it. I don’t know if the bill that the Assembly passed needs to be amended,” LeMahieu said.

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Senate Republicans are not on the same page as Assembly Republicans and Gov. Tony Evers when it comes to how to use the projected $2.5 billion state surplus to provide tax relief to Wisconsinites. 

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) told reporters on Wednesday ahead of a floor session that he hadn’t spoken recently with Evers or Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) about property tax relief proposals. Vos told reporters on Tuesday that he was negotiating with Evers on a property tax proposal and was backing off a demand to repeal the partial veto that extended school revenue limit increases for 400 years. 

LeMahieu said his caucus was working on fine tuning its own proposal.

“When you have a surplus, you want to give it back to the people who are paying taxes in Wisconsin, the hard working families of Wisconsin,” LeMahieu said.

Hours later, LeMahieu announced the introduction of SB 1, which would provide rebate payments of up to $1,000 to taxpayers, and SB 995, which would provide a sum sufficient appropriation for the proposal. 

“You and your family know how to spend your hard-earned dollars best, not the state government,” LeMahieu said in a statement. “So, whether you need more room in your budget for groceries, or if Governor Evers’ 400-year veto sent your property tax bill through the roof, the State Senate intends to vote next week to return the surplus to the people who created it in the first place: you, the taxpayers.”

Wisconsin leaders are debating ways to provide some financial relief to residents in the aftermath of a significant jump in property tax bills in December. The hikes were fueled by a state budget that increases school revenue limits while keeping state general aid flat — pushing education costs onto local taxpayers — as well as voter approval of school district referendum requests. Further property tax hikes are expected if there is no action from policymakers.

The Senate bill would provide a one-time rebate to taxpayers who filed a Wisconsin individual income tax return in tax year 2024 and owed for that year. It would provide a rebate of $1,000 for joint married filers and a $500 rebate for other individuals. 

The Department of Revenue (DOR) would make the payments without the taxpayers having to take any further action and they would need to be made by Sept. 15, 2026. The rebate would not exceed the amount of the taxpayer’s 2024 net income tax liability.

The bill will receive a public hearing Thursday afternoon in the Senate Agriculture and Revenue committee. The committee chair, Sen. Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point), called the 400-year veto “irresponsible” and said Republicans “know that many families across Wisconsin are struggling financially” and they believe their proposal “will go a long way toward reducing the tax burden on our residents.”

Asked about the new proposal, Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback referred the Wisconsin Examiner back to a statement she made on Tuesday. 

“The governor’s been clear that any bipartisan bill on property taxes must include investments to ensure our K-12 schools receive the resources they need and were promised in the state budget,” Cudaback said. “We look forward to hearing back from Republican leaders regarding whether they will support the governor’s plan that both addresses property taxes and invests in our kids and our schools.” 

According to emails shared by Cudaback, Evers has proposed to Republican lawmakers a bill that would pair funding for schools with tax relief. The proposal would include $200 million, including $80 million to bring the special education reimbursement rate to 42% in 2026 and $120 million to bring it to 45% in 2027, as well as $450 million in 2027 in general school aids to buy out the projected statewide school property tax levy.

In exchange, Republicans would get $550 million for the school levy tax credit to help with property tax relief and $97.3 million in 2027 for tax exempt cash tips. 

According to the email, Evers was willing to discuss changes to the 400-year veto but only if Republicans would “approve a significant and ongoing state investment in K-12 schools, including, at minimum, closing the gap in special education funding from the 2025-27 Biennial Budget and making special education aid a sum sufficient appropriation,” meaning it would cover all special ed costs at the set rate, unlike a “sum certain” appropriation which is a limited pot of money regardless of increased expenses.

“However, we understand from our conversation that neither of the two leaders would like to have discussions about the 400-year veto,” Madden wrote in the email. 

While Vos may not be set on eliminating the partial veto, LeMahieu told CBS58 on Wednesday that the veto would need to be repealed to do anything on property tax relief. 

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Senate Republicans are proposing that Wisconsin solicit bids for parties interested in taking over livestream coverage of the state government — making WisconsinEye, the nonprofit that has done the job since 2007, compete for the job. 

The introduction of SB 994 follows the state Assembly unanimously passing a proposal Tuesday that would eliminate match requirements for $10 million that was set aside in the state budget for WisconsinEye, and place it in a trust fund from which the organization could draw interest.

WisconsinEye had to halt its coverage for about a month due to financial difficulties and has turned to state lawmakers for a long-term funding solution, and while the Assembly has been on the same page, the Senate has expressed skepticism about providing help.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) told reporters Wednesday that his caucus wants to see whether there is another party that could do the job for less. He said his local county board livestreams its meetings and it “doesn’t seem like it’s rocket science.”

LeMahieu said his caucus has been frustrated trying to get answers from WisconsinEye and with the lack of fundraising by the nonprofit since state funds were first set aside in 2023.

“There was a promise to raise funds to keep going over the last three years with state matching funds. That has not worked, so we think there is a different path,” LeMahieu said. “Maybe, we are getting the best value currently with WisconsinEye, but we don’t know… We want to be responsible with taxpayer money.”

WisconsinEye’s current annual operating budget is nearly $1 million. The Assembly proposal would allow the organization to use the interest on the trust fund for its operating expenses, though it is expected the organization would still need to fundraise hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to meet its annual costs. 

The coauthors on the Senate bill include 15 of the 18 Republicans; those not on the bill include Sens. John Jagler, Chris Kapenga and Eric Wimberger. The Assembly lawmakers coauthoring the Senate bill are Reps. Lindee Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls) and Chuck Wichgers (R-Muskego). Both voted in favor of the Assembly bill this week. 

Under the Senate proposal, the state Department of Administration would solicit bids for the operation of a statewide public affairs network that would provide unedited live video and audio coverage of state government proceedings.

Those proceedings would include Senate and Assembly floor sessions, legislative committee meetings, state agency meetings, state Supreme Court and other judicial meetings. The bill states that if “practicable,” the network can also cover eligible news conferences and civic events. 

Lawmakers said in a cosponsorship memo that the bill would ensure “high-quality, secure, and cost-effective coverage of legislative, executive and judicial proceedings while maintaining strict nonpartisanship.”

“For years, the state has relied on a single public affairs network model without a competitive procurement process that ensures taxpayers receive the best return on their investment,” the cosponsorship memo on the bill states. “As technology evolves and expectations for public access increase, it is time to modernize how Wisconsin provides live coverage and archives of government proceedings.”

The bill also requires the network to prohibit coverage from being used for campaign purposes. 

The Senate proposal would prohibit fees from being charged to access live and archived coverage of floor sessions and Joint Finance Committee meetings. Other meetings are not covered under this part of the bill.

The Assembly bill, in contrast, would generally require WisconsinEye to provide free online public access to all of its live broadcasts and archives. That bill would have WisconsinEye focus its coverage primarily on official state government meetings and business. 

Assembly lawmakers also wanted to implement some additional accountability measures, requiring WisconsinEye to submit an annual financial report to the Legislature and place additional members on its board of directors who would be appointed by legislative leaders.

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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer announced the agreement on WisconsinEye during a joint press conference on Thursday. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) announced a tentative agreement on providing state funding to WisconsinEye, the nonprofit that provides livestream coverage of state government. 

It’s been a little over a month since WisconsinEye, which launched in 2007, halted its coverage of legislative hearings, floor sessions and other state government business due to financial difficulties. Since WisEye shut down, the state Capitol has held dozens of committee hearings without any being livestreamed and archived, and members of the public have been prohibited from recording or livestreaming. Only credentialed media has been allowed to record activity. 

Vos and Neubauer announced the agreement during a joint press conference on Thursday. According to Neubauer, the agreement will include an endowment, funded with the $10 million that lawmakers first set aside for WisconsinEye in 2023, as well as requirements that WisconsinEye fundraise to cover some operational costs. 

“The interest will go to WisconsinEye each year so that they can fund the majority of their Capitol operations,” Neubauer said. “This is a really good start. It’s very important for the public to have access, and so we’re optimistic that we’re going to reach a bipartisan solution here soon.” 

Vos said legislators also want to sign a short-term contract with WisconsinEye so the organization can broadcast the February floor period. 

“We’ll hopefully turn that into a longer term contract where we provide them limited funding,” Vos said. “I think it’s a win-win for all.”

As of Thursday, the Assembly will have met four times on the floor without livestreamed or  archived coverage of the sessions. The Senate has met once with a livestream facilitated by the Legislative Technology Services Bureau. 

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has announced plans to livestream its upcoming oral arguments on the Wisconsin Court System’s website.

“The idea of having one network and one operation for the courts and another for the Legislature, another for the executive branch, certainly is going to cost more than any amount we would give WisconsinEye,” Vos said. “They’ve already done a pretty good job. We’re going to make sure that they’re financially stable, and hopefully they continue doing the work that they’ve already done.”

Vos said that under the tentative agreement, $10 million in state funds would go into a trust fund and the interest accrued from it would be given to a “revamped” board of directors. He said it would be “still transparent and private.”

The $10 million in state funds was initially set aside in the state budget for the organization to use to build a permanent endowment, but it came with a requirement that WisconsinEye raise equivalent matching funds. The organization hasn’t raised enough money to access the funds. In the weeks since shutting down, WisconsinEye launched a GoFundMe that has raised nearly $50,000 from more than 260 donations.

Neubauer said that the interest from the trust fund is not expected to cover the organization’s nearly $1 million annual budget, so there is an expectation that it would raise a few hundred thousand dollars each year.  

“They have said they are able to do [that] and are optimistic,” Neubauer said. 

Neubauer said there will also be a few other provisions related to additional transparency in the organization’s operations and reporting to the Legislature. 

The agreement would also need support from the state Senate. Vos said there was a good discussion on Thursday morning, that Assembly leaders “probably are more in sync” than their counterparts in the other house of the Legislature.

“I think they’re still working through some of the details of how they’d like to work, and that’s why we don’t have a finalized agreement,” Vos said. “We wanted to get the bill out there, start the idea. If they have a different concept, we’ll certainly go through to finalize it, but I think at least based on my discussions this morning, I feel like all four of us are in a similar place. I think our caucuses, we’d like to have some kind of access, it’s just what’s the best vehicle to do it.”

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) told reporters on Wednesday that his caucus believes “that giving the public access to see what we’re doing is important, but… just blindly giving money to an organization that’s asking us for money, but not giving us any answers, is certainly not the solution at this time.” Lawmakers had sent questions to WisconsinEye requesting information on its operations and didn’t receive answers until about 12 days after the deadline. 

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Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said she hopes her "fellow assemblymen continue to put pressure on their leadership" to pass postpartum Medicaid expansion. Felzkowski spoke at a Republican press conference about postpartum Medicaid expansion in April. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said in a year-end interview with the Wisconsin Examiner that the year has been one of “very steady growth” and top priorities for her in the remaining legislative session include passing legislation to help bring down the cost of health care, advancing medical cannabis legislation and passing additional tax cuts. 

Felzkowski pointed to the state budget in which lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers increased funding for roads and transportation costs, cut taxes including for retirees, increased special education funding and dedicated funding to mental health initiatives. She was one of four Senate Republicans to vote against the state budget, a vote she said she took because of her opposition to increasing the state’s hospital assessment without health care reforms. 

A slimmed down, 18-member Republican majority in the Senate this session and several GOP senators who took a stand against a compromise budget deal gave Senate Democrats an opening to come to the budget negotiating table, and to win compromises on school funding as well as stop cuts to the University of Wisconsin system.

Felzkowski said the slimmer margins this year have been normal. 

“If you look back for the last 30 years, when the Republicans are in control, we are normally at 18-15 margin in the Senate,” Felzkowski said. “When we were up to like 22, that was kind of a gift, so we are a very strong Republican majority right now.”

Felzskowski said working on health care affordability will be her top priority when lawmakers return in January. This includes working on health care price transparency and working to advance her legislation that would make changes to the regulation of pharmacy benefit managers — third-party companies that manage prescription drug benefits between health plans, employers and government programs.

Health care and prescription drugs

Felzkowski’s bill would allow patients to use any licensed pharmacy in the state without facing penalties and require benefit managers to pay pharmacy claims within 30 days. 

“Our neighbors to the south in Illinois just passed their version of PBM reform,” Felzkowski said, adding that her bill has passed out of committee and lawmakers are now discussing whether it will receive a full Senate vote. 

Felzkowski’s health care price transparency legislation would require hospitals to make publicly available to consumers the standard costs of “shoppable services,” which would be defined as those that can be scheduled in advance such as x-rays, MRIs and knee replacements. 

“What is one thing that you buy that you have no idea what it’s going to cost? It’s health care. That’s absolutely ridiculous,” Felzkowski said. “Other states have passed it. They’re starting to see the fruition of it and it does work. There’s a reason we have the fifth highest health care costs. It’s because our Legislature has not done anything to help bring those costs down and it’s time that we actually start doing that.” 

Felzkowski, who has been a longtime advocate for legalizing medical cannabis, said the Senate is “closer than ever” to having a vote on the floor on a proposal to do so, but she believes the chances of the Assembly advancing legislation remain “slim.”

Felzskowski said she hopes legislation to extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum women from 60 days after giving birth to one year isn’t dead this session. Wisconsin is one of two states in the U.S. that haven’t accepted the federal extension.

“I hope that my fellow assemblymen continue to put pressure on their leadership… Deep red states, blue states as well as purple states across the nation have postpartum care for 12 months and they’ve done it because it’s the return on investments for taxpayers as well as being the right thing to do,” Felzskowski said. “We see baby thrive, we see mom thrive, and it actually lowers the cost down the road.”

Fate of WisconsinEye

Felzkowski said Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos are having discussions about solutions to the shutdown of WisconsinEye, the nonprofit service that provides video coverage of legislative hearings, floor sessions and Wisconsin state government business. WisconsinEye halted its livestream and pulled down its video archive last week due to a lack of funding.

“Even if we do something temporary to get us through a session… just get through until April and then do a really deep dive on what should be the next step,” Felzkowski said, adding that that includes looking at how other states cover their state government.

“The transparency is important,” she said, adding they want to ensure people still have access to government proceedings and a record is still being kept of it all.

Felzkowski said she hopes Republicans can get one more tax cut done before the end of the legislative session next year. 

New tax cuts in the works

A few of the ideas legislators are considering include eliminating taxes on tips and overtime. 

“Anytime we can return money to our citizens is a good thing,” Felzkowski said, adding that state Republicans would like to align Wisconsin tax cuts with federal policy. The federal megabill approved in July included a tax deduction on tips and overtime that will be available from 2025 through 2028.

This December, Wisconsin residents are experiencing the highest property tax hikes since 2018, according to a recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report. The report explained that state budget decisions including Evers’ veto that allows school districts an annual $325 per pupil increase for the next 400 years as well as lawmakers’ decision to not provide any increase to state general aid this year have led to the hikes. 

Asked whether lawmakers will look to solutions for lowering property taxes, Felzkowski said it would take a new governor. 

“We have given [Evers] numerous chances to reverse that 400-year veto and he keeps vetoing the bill, so it’s on the governor’s plate right now,” Felzkowski said. “Until we get a different governor in the East Wing and we can start seriously addressing education and all the things that are wrong with it, I don’t know what to say.” 

Felzkowski said that even with the state budget surplus there wasn’t enough state money for the general aid increase.

“There were a lot of mouths to feed on that budget,” Felzkowski said. “With increasing revenues all over, there was not enough money out there to backfill that $325… We would have had to have raised taxes dramatically to do that. The dollars didn’t exist.”

Felzkowski said on education that she hopes Wisconsin will opt into the new federal education tax credit program. The program would provide a dollar-to-dollar tax credit of up to $1,700 to people who donate to a qualifying “scholarship granting program” to support taxpayer-financed private-school vouchers. Evers would need to opt the state into the program by Jan. 1, 2027, but so far has said he won’t. 

Confident GOP will hold Senate in 2026 

Wisconsin Republicans have held control of the state Assembly and Senate since 2010, and next year will test the strength of that majority when the state’s 17 odd-numbered Senate seats will be up for election for the first time under new legislative maps adopted in 2024. 

Last year when the maps were in place for the 16 even-numbered seats, Democrats were able to flip four seats. In 2026, Republicans will need to make sure Democrats cannot flip two additional Senate seats to hold control of the body.

Felzkowski expressed confidence that they will do so. 

“We will come back with a strong Republican majority. We have better policies, we have better ideas and we run great candidates,” Felzkowski said.

There will be several key, competitive districts in 2026 including Senate District 5, which is currently held by Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield), Senate District 17, which is currently held by Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Senate District 31, currently represented by incumbent Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) who will face a challenge from Sen. Jesse James (R-Thorp). 

“We’re going to run on the same policies we’ve always run on: lower taxes, strong freedoms, strong economies, strong education and government getting out of your way so that you can live the American dream,” Felzkowski said. “The Democrats are going to run on an anti-Donald Trump policy, more government, more influence in your life. It’s all they’ve ever run for.”

Some Democrats have taken election results in 2025 as a sign that people are unhappy with the Trump administration and are ready to elect Democrats. 

Felzkowski said she didn’t think that 2025 election results in other states were going to be applicable in Wisconsin, though she said the new maps could be challenging for Republican candidates. 

“Wisconsin is kind of a unique state. We’re a very purple state,” Felzkowski said. “We knew those candidates in Virginia were going to win, I mean, it’s a blue state so I mean you can’t really base us on what happened in Virginia and New Jersey… We’re going to be running in Democratic-gerrymandered seats, so we’re going to have to work very hard, but we will win.”

Wisconsin also has an open race for governor on the ballot next year. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is considered the frontrunner in the GOP primary, and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, are the current Republican hopefuls.

Felzkowski said she probably won’t endorse in the Republican primary for governor, but she is looking for a candidate who is a “conservative reformer who’s willing to take on the tough issues from health care, education, and corrections, lowering taxes” as well as someone who will do “a deep dive into our agencies,” adding that she hopes they’ll work to root out “waste, fraud and abuse.” 

The Democratic field of candidates is much larger including Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison), state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), Milwaukee County Exec. David Crowley, former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan and former state Rep. Brett Hulsey.

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