Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says his caucus will take up a child care plan this fall, but not the one that Dem Gov. Tony Evers proposed.
The guv called a special session Sept. 20 to take up a host of workforce development proposals, including putting state money into subsidies for child care providers.
Vos, R-Rochester, said yesterday the Assembly GOP plan will be focused on regulatory reform to aid the creation of a more sustainable system, not an infusion of one-time cash that he said wouldn’t solve the problem long-term. Vos didn’t offer specifics of the GOP proposal other than it would seek to repeal some regulations and improve the licensing process.
He said putting more state money into subsidies isn’t sustainable and compared it to giving every worker in a grocery store an extra $5 an hour in the hopes it would bring down the cost of meat.
“It’s kind of preposterous that we would say we’re going to take taxpayer dollars from everyone to subsidize one specific industry like child care,” Vos said. “We are not going to increase wages for child care workers by having everyone else pay more.”
Vos made his comments during a news conference in Milwaukee on Assembly Republican’s $2.9 tax cut plan.
The plan would reduce the third-highest tax bracket to 4.4 percent from 5.3 percent. The reduction in that bracket, which covers income between $36,840 to $405,550 for married couples filing jointly, would account for about $2 billion of the price tag.
The other piece is a proposed expansion of an existing break on retirement income. It would allow married couples to subtract up to $150,000 in payments from qualified retirement plans from their taxable income if they’re 67 and older.
The guv’s administration has raised concerns the Assembly GOP plan could jeopardize some $2.5 billion in federal COVID-19 funds the state and local governments have received. That’s because the U.S. Treasury Department bars states that accepted American Rescue Plan Act dollars to use the funds to directly or indirectly offset a reduction in net tax revenue.
Read more on the tax cut plan at WisPolitics.
