{"id":27681,"date":"2026-05-12T12:58:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T12:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/27681\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T12:58:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T12:58:23","slug":"evers-gop-leaders-announce-deal-on-tax-relief-and-school-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/27681\/","title":{"rendered":"Evers, GOP leaders announce deal on tax relief and school funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

After months of negotiation, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican leaders in the Legislature said Monday they\u2019ve reached a deal that would spend down the state\u2019s budget surplus on tax relief and education.<\/p>\n

But whether the deal would actually pass appeared uncertain after several lawmakers \u2014 including the state Senate\u2019s top Democrat \u2014 took issue with the agreement.<\/p>\n

The roughly $1.8 billion deal, which is expected to go before lawmakers for a vote this week, includes $850 million in direct payments to taxpayers, and the elimination of state income tax for overtime pay and tipped earnings. It would also boost spending on K-12 education by $600 million.<\/p>\n

Understanding Wisconsin, Together.<\/p>\n

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That school funding figure is split between general school aid and increasing the state\u2019s special education reimbursement rate, which has been a point of contention from Evers\u2019 team since the passage last summer of the two-year state budget. Since that time, higher-than-expected costs of special education<\/a> lowered the total amount received by school districts from the state.<\/p>\n

The deal would spend down much of the state\u2019s projected surplus \u2014 which the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau had previously estimated at roughly $2.5 billion<\/a> \u2014 but leave the state\u2019s rainy day fund untouched.<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Evers touted the deal as a win for schools, with compromises for Republican tax priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoney for schools is obviously the most important thing for me,\u201d Evers said. \u201cWe\u2019re in a position to actually compromise and have Republicans and Democrats \u2014 at least at the leadership level \u2014 getting something done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AnGov. Tony Evers addresses reporters during a school visit Monday, May 11, 2026, in Barneveld, Wis. Angela Major\/WPR<\/p>\n

In separate statements, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said the deal would put the state\u2019s surplus toward tax relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re sending (the surplus) back to help families with the pressure of increasing costs, reward hard work, and to continue investing in schools to help stabilize rising property taxes,\u201d said Vos.<\/p>\n

But Senate Democratic Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, issued a statement calling the deal \u201cexpensive,\u201d at a time of \u201csignificant economic uncertainty and upheaval.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my perspective, there is no deal,\u201d Hesselbein said. \u201cThree men who will not be in elected office next year have come up with this proposal which Senate Democrats will be reviewing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sen.Sen. Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) speaking on the Senate floor. Hesselbein was named Senate minority leader in December of 2023 and was reelected to that position in November of 2024. Photo courtesy of Sen. Dianne Hesselbein\u2019s office<\/p>\n

Hesselbein, who could be the Senate\u2019s majority leader next year if Democrats flip the chamber in November, was referencing plans by Evers<\/a>, Vos<\/a> and LeMahieu<\/a> to leave office after their current terms. <\/p>\n

Hesselbein wasn\u2019t the only lawmaker to criticize the agreement. Two Democratic candidates for governor, Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, and Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, said they would vote against it. So did Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, who has a long history of bucking GOP leadership.<\/p>\n

Despite the early \u2014 and outspoken \u2014 criticism, Evers told reporters he thought the votes would be there for the bill to pass.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be hard for anyone to say, \u2018I\u2019m not in favor of this, therefore I\u2019m going to be against it, and as a result, my local school district gets screwed,\u2019\u201d Evers said.<\/p>\n

Evers\u2019 office said that the direct payment checks, which would total $600 per married couple or $300 per individual, would be mailed out by November. Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback called that provision a central priority for Senate Republicans during negotiations. The governor\u2019s office says 3 million people are expected to receive those checks, for a total cost to the state of about $850 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis deal will provide immediate relief with\u00a0$600\u00a0in\u00a0surplus refund\u00a0payments and provide permanent property and income tax relief for Wisconsin families,\u201d\u00a0said LeMahieu in his statement.<\/p>\n

While the state Legislature has adjourned for the year, both the Senate and Assembly would need to pass this deal for it to become law. That means that a special session of the Legislature will be called. According to the governor\u2019s office, that path will be expedited, with the Legislature\u2019s budget committee expected to move it forward on Tuesday, and the full Legislature set to debate it as early as Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story was updated to include updated totals from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin Public Radio, \u00a9 Copyright 2026, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After months of negotiation, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican leaders in the Legislature said Monday they\u2019ve reached…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8,9,67,7636,7],"class_list":{"0":"post-27681","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-politics","11":"tag-state-capitol","12":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116561726867182907","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}