MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed off on a two-year spending plan Wednesday after dramatically scaling back the size of a Republican income tax cut that would have moved the state closer to a flat rate. Evers, a Democrat, also used his partial veto power to increase funding for K-12 public schools for more than 400 years unless undone by a future Legislature and governor. The move will increase how much revenue schools can raise per student by $325 a year until 2425. Evers, a former state education secretary and teacher, had proposed allowing revenue limits to increase with inflation. Under his veto, which he achieved by striking a hyphen and two numbers, Evers said schools will now have “predictable long-term spending authority.” “There are lots of wins here,” Evers said of the budget at a signing ceremony surrounded by Democratic lawmakers, local leaders, members of his Cabinet and others. Republicans blasted the vetoes, accusing Evers of breaking deals he had reached with them. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said allowing the school revenue limit to increase effectively forever move would result in “massive property tax increases” because schools will have the authority to raise those taxes if state aid isn’t enough to meet the per-pupil cost. He also said scaling back the tax cut put Wisconsin at an economic disadvantage to neighboring states with lower rates. “Legislative Republicans worked tirelessly over the last few months to block Governor Evers’ liberal tax and spending agenda,” Vos said in a statement. “Unfortunately, because of his powerful veto authority, he reinstated some of it today.” Vos did not say if Republicans would attempt veto overrides, an effort that is almost certain to fail because they would need Democratic votes in the Assembly to get the two-thirds majority required by state law.
