State budget talks again break down; Senate Republicans seeking cuts willing to hold up budget

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Negotiations on the next two-year state budget broke down Thursday with both Gov. Tony Evers and the Assembly GOP pointing to Senate Republicans as the reason talks are at a dead end.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) said in a statement talks between legislative leaders and the Evers administration had resumed this week. On June 4, LeMahieu said negotiations had "reached an impasse."

"These discussions are heading in a direction that taxpayers cannot afford," LeMahieu said.

The budget-writing Joint Finance Committee was set to take up a number of key areas, including child care through the Department of Children and Families, as well as the Department of Justice. The JFC could have also revisited the University of Wisconsin System budget after taking UW funding off the agenda for its meeting Tuesday.

Instead, JFC leaders announced Thursday's session was canceled 20 minutes before it was set to begin. At a press conference nearly two hours later, Democrats accused a group of Republicans of causing the delay.

"This is ultimately what happens when you allow extremists to hijack the budget process and go against the will of Wisconsinites," State Rep. Tip McGuire (D-Kenosha) said.

Republicans have slim majority in the Senate. With an 18-15 margin, they can only afford to have one member of their caucus vote against the budget without needing Democratic support.

On Wednesday, State Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) told CBS 58 he was willing to hold up the state budget if it meant getting the cuts he seeks, particularly to the UW System.

"[Evers and Democrats] like to spend money, and they think the university system should be one of the sacred cows, generally speaking," Nass said. "If [the budget] doesn't get done 'til August, life goes on. It'll be fine."

Earlier this week, State Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) posted on X he preferred allowing the current budget to carry over as opposed to supporting the budget his colleagues are currently putting together.

"This version also appears to be adding unnecessary spending without any reforms that would improve the budget process or dig into wasteful spending currently in place," Kapenga wrote.

The current budget cycle ends June 30. If there is no new budget in place by then, spending will continue at current levels.

"If the finger's pointed at Kapenga and myself, I'm still gonna do what's right," Nass said. "Structural deficit, excessive spending -- we can't have that."

Joint Finance Democrats argued that's an unacceptable outcome because it would cause uncertainty for school districts and local governments planning their 2026 budgets.

They blamed a handful of Republicans for past Joint Finance decisions, such as last week's vote to raise K-12 special education reimbursement from 33% to 37.5%, instead of the 60% Democrats and advocates had sought.

Democrats also want the next budget to guarantee state funding for child care providers. Republicans have rejected that call, instead pushing for deregulation as a way to lower costs for families and providers.

"Ultimately, what we really need is for Republicans to pick up the phone," State Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) said "For the Senate majority leader to decide that he is not willing to risk his majority and his more vulnerable members to kowtow to the most extreme voices that have clearly said they're not actually interested in a budget."

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said Republicans in his chamber were demanding tax cuts and won't commit to a budget without assurances from Evers he'd sign a budget with tax cuts. Evers has previously signed Republican-written budgets that included tax cuts.

However, Vos also singled out Senate Republicans for their role in resuming budget talks.

"This budget is on a trajectory to have a more conservative growth rate than the budget that was passed by the Assembly and the Senate two years ago," Vos said. "We hope Senate Republicans will come back to the table to finish fighting for these reforms and complete the budget on time."

Britt Cudaback, a spokesperson for Evers, said a post she made on X would serve as the administration's response to the latest budget delay. Like Vos, her statement also singled out the Senate GOP.

"Ultimately, the Senate needs to decide whether they were elected to govern and get things done or not," Cudaback wrote.