Madison – Representative Bob Donovan (R-Greenfield) gave the following statement after voting for the taxpayer relief package—including Assembly Bills 1020, 1021, 1022, and 1023. Overall, these tax reform bills provide $2.1 billion in necessary relief for hard-working, middle class Wisconsinites. Rep. Donovan said:

“Unfortunately, our middle class has received the short end of the stick when it comes to tax relief with two vetoes from Governor Evers on this topic. As inflation has grown, the buying power of Wisconsinites shriveled up. It is impossible for the government to know the needs of every Wisconsinite. That is because it is not the role of government. I trust the citizens of Wisconsin to know how to spend their money. It is our duty to react accordingly by giving the state’s surplus back to them.”

Assembly Bill 1020 raises Wisconsin’s second tax bracket threshold from $38,190 to $150,000 for married joint-filers and from $28,640 to $112,500 for single filers. Assembly Bill 1021 allows residents who are at least 65 years old with retirement income up to $75,000 for single filers, and $150,000 for married income filers to be exempt from taxation.

Assembly Bill 1022 finally updates the Married Couple Credit for the first time since its implementation in 2001. Since then, the credit has been capped at $480, but this legislation would raise it to be $870. Assembly Bill 1023 expands the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to make childcare more affordable for working families in Wisconsin by expanding it to the full 100% of the federal tax credit.

“I understand the need to invest in Wisconsin’s state government and I personally advocated to use our surplus to accomplish that,” said Rep. Donovan. “We did that at historic levels and in bipartisan fashion. Now it is time to invest in our taxpayers who deserve this relief the most. I would even argue that we have a moral duty to send this money back and to not do so would be a failure to taxpayers.”