GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
GOV. EVERS CALLS FOR TAXPAYER REFUND IN ANNUAL STATE ADDRESS Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D) delivered his fourth annual State of the State address this month before a joint session of the Republican controlled state Legislature. In the Governor’s address, he called on the Legislature to convene a special session to take up his plan to return a portion of the state’s $3.8 billion projected revenue surplus back to taxpayers this year. Evers’ proposal would direct about $1.7 billion of the surplus towards tax relief, as well as additional education and childcare spending. Republicans quickly pushed back labeling it an election year gimmick from the Governor. Governor Evers’ annual address was delivered in-person in the State Assembly Chambers of the Wisconsin Capitol as has been the longstanding tradition prior to the start of the pandemic. It was the final official address of Governor Evers’ first four-year term in office as he gears up to run for a tough reelection fight this November. In January, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) announced some positive economic news that Wisconsin is looking at a projected revenue surplus of $3.8 billion at the end of the 2021-23 biennium - which is nearly $2.9 billion more than was expected just several months ago. Much of this is attributed to large increases in sales, income, and corporate tax collections. The LFB periodically conducts an 28 | MARCH 2022 |
wisconsin INDEPENDENT AGENT
analysis of the state’s general fund forecast and presents its findings to the Legislature. The additional projected revenue is welcome news for Wisconsin taxpayers despite other not-so favorable economic news of ongoing supply chain slowdowns, rising fuel prices, and inflation hitting an all-time high in more than four decades. The federal Department of Labor recently reported that consumer prices jumped 7.5 percent last month compared with a year earlier, the steepest year-over-year increase since February 1982. Notwithstanding the challenging economic conditions at home and across the nation, Wisconsin has the highest-ever positive GAAP balance in state history at more than $1.1 billion, while the state’s rainy day reserve fund sits at the highest level in history at $1.7 billion. On the heels of the Governor’s state address, Evers wasted no time and issued Executive Order #156 calling for a special session of the Legislature to act on his plan to tap into the surplus revenues to provide immediate financial relief to Wisconsin families. As part of Evers’ plan, he is proposing using a portion of the projected surplus to: • Allocate $815.7 million toward a surplus refund of $150 for each Wisconsin resident • Allocate $102.5 million to create a nonrefundable caregiver tax credit for qualified expenses incurred by a family caregiver to
