Over the past several weeks, my Republican colleagues on the Joint Finance Committee have been hard at work crafting the next state budget. And since April, we’ve engaged in good faith negotiations with Governor Evers and his staff to try and build a bipartisan framework.
Unfortunately, those talks have reached an impasse.
Both sides came to the table willing to find compromise—but at the end of the day, the Governor’s spending priorities go far beyond what taxpayers can afford.
Even so, we’re moving forward. Republicans have crafted three consecutive budgets that were signed into law by this governor, and we’re confident we’ll deliver another one that’s responsible and that he will sign.
Our focus remains the same: delivering a budget that respects taxpayers, funds our obligations, and works for all Wisconsinites.
That includes investing in long-overdue technology upgrades and ensuring agencies are actually responsive to the people they serve.
At the same time, we’re cutting waste—eliminating vacant positions and rejecting efforts to grow government with temporary roles that should have ended years ago.
While our goal remains to have a budget presented to the governor by July 1st, the state government will not shut down if it is not ready by then. We will instead continue to operate at the base level until a budget bill is signed into law.
There’s still more work to do, but we’re committed to building a smaller, smarter, more efficient government—and this budget is a major step in that direction.
