by Benjamin Yount
The top Republican in the Wisconsin Senate says there are not enough Republican votes to change the plan for a Milwaukee sales tax increase.
State Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said on UPFRONT over the weekend that he doesn’t have the 17 votes needed to pass a plan that would allow Milwaukee and Milwaukee County leaders to raise taxes, as opposed to putting the question to voters.
“We are working on getting the 17 votes to do that. don’t have them at this point,” LeMahieu said.
LeMahieu has been one of the most vocal Republican critics of the shared revenue plan from Assembly Republicans, mainly because of the tax hike specifics.
LeMahieu said if voters get a say on the tax hike, they will likely say ‘No.’
“I think having the challenge with having a referendum is we don’t have any fall elections this year, so it would be a standalone referendum just on people raising their own, their own going out to vote to raise taxes on themselves, which is sort of a tough thing to try to convince them to do,” LeMahieu added. “So I think, you know, the city council over the last couple of decades or a long time has created the pension mess that they’re in. and so i think it’s incumbent on them to vote to fix it themselves.
LeMahieu planned to meet with Gov. Tony Evers and Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Monday to talk about the next steps for the tax increases and Wisconsin’s shared revenue proposal.
It’s not clear what those talks will produce. The Assembly last month approved its version of the share revenue plan, and Vos said he was “done negotiating.”
Still LeMahieu offered some hope on UPFRONT.
“We’re willing to work with the speaker, and the governor, and my caucus, and all the stakeholders involved to make sure that we get a bill that we can garner votes, that everybody can get behind and that we can pass. Hopefully it’s a bipartisan bill. I know there’s an interest with some democrats in the senate who want to get there and vote for it, and hopefully we can do that,” LeMahieu said.
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Benjamin Yount is a regular contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Devin LeMahieu” by Senator Devin LeMahieu. Background Photo “Wisconsin State Capitol” by Teemu008. CC BY-SA 2.0.
