Madison: Taxpayers could see more money in their pockets thanks to a record $3.5 billion income tax cut in the state’s biennial budget that passed the Senate today. The Assembly is expected to pass the bill tomorrow, which also includes major investments in rural roads, K-12 education, and long-term care.

Senator Patrick Testin, who worked to craft the bill as a member of the legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance, noted that the budget builds on a tradition of responsible governance. 

“For more than a decade, legislative Republicans have written forward-looking budgets that invest in the people’s priorities,” said Testin. “That’s why we’re able to pass historic income tax cuts while also expanding funding for roads, increasing resources for K-12 education by $1 billion, and making significant investments in our health care system – including long-term care and mental health resources.” 

Especially notable is the legislature’s $1.55 billion transportation budget, which borrows nearly $90 million less for roads than Governor Evers’s initial transportation proposal while investing over $600 million more. This includes $150 million specifically for farm-to-market roads in rural communities.

“Our roads move the products we manufacture and the food we grow throughout our state and across the country,” said Testin. “This budget really goes the distance for Wisconsin roads and highways.”

Following Assembly passage, the budget’s future will be in the hands of the Governor, who has the option to sign the bill or use his veto pen to alter the bill significantly or reject it altogether.