Despite the call for bipartisanship, Republican leaders promised to ditch governor Evers’ budget plan and start from scratch, just as they did with his two previous budgets. That means Evers’ ideas like legalizing marijuana, requiring background checks for gun purchases, accepting federal Medicaid expansion, spending $2.6 billion more on K-12 schools and automatic voter registration will almost certainly be jettisoned. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said the proposal would cause property taxes to rise and was “absolutely devoid of reality.” And Republican Sen. Howard Marklein, co-chair of the Legislature’s budget committee, called it a “liberal wish list.” Evers said that issues that should have bipartisan support include funding schools, recruiting and retaining workers, improving access to health care, cutting taxes, fighting pollution, reducing child care costs, improving mental health, expanding broadband internet access and fixing roads and bridges. “These aren’t Republican or Democratic priorities — they’re Wisconsin priorities, areas where we should be able to find common ground,” he said. Vos said that while Evers and Republicans may agree on what issues face the state, they differ on the solutions.
