Republican Senate President Defends Vote Against Widely Backed Wisconsin Surplus Plan
Kapenga says the $2.5 billion package was not fiscally sound despite 80% public support in a new poll.
Wisconsin Senate President Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, during a state Senate session on June 7, 2023, in the Wisconsin State Capitol.. Drake White-Bergey / Wisconsin Watch
Republican state Sen. Chris Kapenga is defending his vote against a popular bipartisan surplus spending package as the fiscally responsible move.
A new Marquette University Law School Poll out this week found that 80 percent of Wisconsin adults supported the bill.
The Delafield lawmaker represents the state Senate’s 33rd District. On WPR’s “Wisconsin Today,” Kapenga said he doesn’t govern based on polls, but rather on what he believes is best for constituents.
“It does not make good financial sense to make perpetual ongoing financial commitments when we have a one-time situation here, and that’s what I had to go back to,” Kapenga said. “That’s why myself and two others voted against this, because it’s not good for the taxpayers.”
The bill negotiated between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican leadership in the state Legislature would’ve delivered about $850 million in payments to tax filers, as well as lowered property taxes, provided special education funding for schools and eliminated taxes on cash tips and overtime pay.
The state’s projected $2.5 billion budget surplus has been sitting in state coffers since 2020 without lawmakers able to agree on how to spend it.
The surplus spending package passed the state Assembly earlier this month, but then failed in the state Senate after three Republicans, Kaepenga included, joined all 15 state Senate Democrats in opposition.
“They always say in politics you just never know who your next ally is going to be. And this one is pretty unusual, but it just proves that saying is correct,” Kapenga said.
Democratic members of the Wisconsin State Assembly gather around as Rep. Lisa Subeck, center, explains that the Republicans are caucusing Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Charles Franklin directs the Marquette University Law School Poll. He joked on “Wisconsin Today” that he wasn’t sure there would be as much agreement on whether the sky is blue as there was on the spending deal.
“There’s almost nothing we survey on that gets that level of agreement across all three partisan categories,” Franklin said.
The poll found that 77 percent of Republicans, 81 percent of independents and 82 percent of Democrats believed the surplus money should be spent now.
While legislative support for the bill was bipartisan, opposition was also bipartisan, as Franklin noted.
In a statement to WPR, Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said she voted against the bill because she believed it would’ve caused a nearly $3 billion deficit in the next biennial budget.
“Senate Democrats remain open to sound and financially sustainable solutions to lower property taxes, invest in public schools, and lower costs for all Wisconsinites,” Hesselbein said. “That’s what we will focus on when we are in the majority in 2027.”
The governor’s mansion and the balance of power in the state Legislature are up for grabs in elections this November. The Marquette poll found over 70 percent of all adults believe the budget surplus will be at least somewhat important during the campaign season.
State senator who helped tank popular surplus bill says it didn’t make ‘financial sense’ was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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