Wisconsin lawmakers brief Mount Pleasant board on governor's budget, flagging cuts and new mandates

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer spoke to the Village of Mount Pleasant Board of Trustees on March 20 about the state's biennial budget and how its provisions could affect local governments and services.

Vos said Gov. Tony Evers's proposal starts with a roughly $4 billion surplus and ends with a roughly $4 billion deficit, increases spending by about 20 percent and adds roughly 1,300 state positions. Vos said the plan would create a new high-rate income tax bracket near 10 percent, repeal Act 10, and cap the manufacturing tax credit that he said has helped attract employers to Wisconsin. He also said the budget would require employers to provide 12 weeks of fully paid family and medical leave funded entirely by employers and would double an energy-related utility charge that…