New Republican JFC Members Looking at Low-tax, Conservative State Budget

Two of the new Republican members of Wisconsin’s budget-writing panel are using the words “reality” and “responsible” to describe their plan for the next state budget.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu on Wednesday named Senators Julian Bradley, Romaine Quinn, and Rob Stafsholt to the Joint Finance Committee.

Bradley, who’s made it clear that his top priority is returning Wisconsin’s $4 billion surplus to the taxpayers, said that's just part of his push to help Wisconsinites keep their money.

“Gov. Evers has been holding your money, the surplus, hostage for too long and it needs to change,” Bradley said. “Even though Gov. Evers is a tax-and-spend liberal who always tries to raise taxes to fund his unrealistic spending plans, the last time he ran for election, the Republican Legislature forced him to sign a large and comprehensive tax cut. We can hope that Gov. Evers will need to pretend again he is not the fiscally irresponsible liberal that he is as he runs, once again, for reelection.”

Bradley also drew a hard line on the billions of dollars in new funding requests from Evers’ state government agencies. Specifically the nearly $3 billion in requests from State Superintendent Jill Underly.

"Superintendent Underly is simply trying to hide her failures in educating our children by trying to blame everyone but herself and her department for the disappointing state of K12 education in Wisconsin. The Republican Legislature has increased K12 funding the last several budgets and, yet, too many of our children continue to struggle academically," Bradley added. "Underly’s budget request is a cynical political ploy to deflect and place blame elsewhere,” Bradley added. “The problem with every government agency in state government is that it is never enough. Never. Doesn’t matter how much their funding increased last budget or over the last several budgets, they always want more of the taxpayer’s money. That’s why the Republican Legislature is needed – to bring reality and fiscal sanity to the budget conversation."

Stafsholt, R-New Richmond, echoed Bradley's focus on lower taxes, lower spending, and returning the surplus.

“I was happy to vote in favor of the previous budget. It was a truly conservative budget that responsibly funded the state’s priorities, provided tax cuts, invested in K-12 education and healthcare, paid down debt to save millions on interest and left the state with a surplus balance to ensure Wisconsin is set up for the future. We must continue to hold the line on taxes in this upcoming budget," Stafsholt said. “With a projected $4 billion surplus, the state is again in position to return more money back to the taxpayers and make further investments in our local roads, workforce development, and schools. I look forward to getting to work.”

The Senate Democratic leader Dianne Hesselbein also named her team. She appointed Senators LaTonya Johnson and Kelda Roys to the Joint Finance Committee.