State Rep. Warren Petryk

It must be Groundhog Day again in Madison. Only instead of anticipating spring, we are caught in a loop where local Democrats and Gov. Evers keep voting against and vetoing necessary tax relief for the middle class in the Chippewa Valley area. Last year the governor said cutting taxes would be part of his agenda and that “If there’s some way to make sure the middle class gets a large tax cut, bring it on.” That's why I was shocked to learn that the governor had vetoed returning this money to you on a Friday afternoon in order to keep his actions out of the public eye.

With our region still being negatively impacted by inflation, the legislature has repeatedly worked to give you back your hard-earned tax money. With over 60% of people listing tax cuts as a priority on my constituent survey, I continue to believe you know best how to spend your money, not bureaucrats down in Madison.

The Republican Legislature has reduced our state's tax burden by more than $22 billion since 2011. In addition, you were overtaxed by the state $3 billion during the past two years, and these funds should be returned back to you. That is why I voted to ensure that the tax cuts were directed towards the middle class in our area.  The bill ensured that families earning less than $150,000 would have been given broad tax relief in the first section of the package. By itself, this would have resulted in a $454 average tax reduction for each tax filer. 

Second, as a result of this veto, Wisconsin will lose more retirees and seniors in the future. Democrats and the governor opposed a bill which would have made retirement savings for seniors on fixed incomes tax-free up to $75,000 ($150,000 married). We are already at a disadvantage because two of our neighboring states have already implemented some sort of tax relief for seniors. We simply cannot afford to lose our senior citizens to other states. The fastest-growing age group in the workforce is people over 75, whose numbers have more than quadrupled since 1964. If we can retain this labor force in Wisconsin, they will be able to impart their knowledge to the state's future workforce rather than taking their skills elsewhere.

In another stroke of his pen the governor used his veto power to eliminate any statutory guarantee that the $15 million allocated by the legislature to support emergency room capacity following the exit of HSHS would truly help our community. After intense lobbying by local Democrats, who voted against the allocation of these funds, the governor used his veto pen to expand the scope of the funding so it can be used for any purpose, anywhere (including outside of Wisconsin), provided that it is deemed a "Hospital Service." It is very disappointing that there is such a political lack of concern for ensuring that these funds benefit our community.

Despite these setbacks, I'll keep working with my fellow legislators to make sure we take the necessary steps to guarantee that the funds allocated for the Chippewa Valley are retained in order to support the health care community's efforts to restore emergency room capacity. Additionally, I'll keep working to remove excess state monies from the Madison bureaucracy and put them back in your pocket.