BOOM: $1 Billion Surplus in Wisconsin…Gov. Scott Walker Returning It to Taxpayers

By MARY SPICUZZA and MATTHEW DeFOUR | Wisconsin State Journal

Gov. Scott Walker used his election-year State of the State address Wednesday to rally support for his plans to use the majority of Wisconsin’s $912 million in unexpected revenue for tax cuts.

“What do you do with a surplus?” he said. “Give it back to the people who earned it. It’s your money.”

He said he would call a special session of the Legislature to consider his income and property tax cut package — part of a broader fiscal plan called “A Blueprint for Prosperity” — which would save average Wisconsin families about $150 this year.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said there is support among Assembly Republicans for Walker’s proposal and it will likely be the first bill his chamber takes up when it convenes Feb. 11. The package, however, faces some opposition from Republicans in the Senate.

“I don’t have 17 votes for anything right now,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau.