Laura SchulteHope Karnopp
MADISON - A new Assembly committee will focus in the next session on government efficiency, inspired by a similar federal department to be run in part by Elon Musk.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said in a Wednesday interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the new committee will be known as GOAT: Governmental Oversight, Accountability and Transparency Committee.
"That's going to focus on kind of returning to our roots. Republicans have always been reformers. We are the ones who invented workers compensation all the way up until school choice," he said. "But we have more work to do."
Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, will chair the new committee. Vos said using technology such as artificial intelligence, the committee will explore ways to improve services for Wisconsinites in more cost-effective ways.
"I think that we can look at a lot of ideas and try to find ways to make government do a better job than we currently are," he said. "I'm super excited that we're going to now kind of focus on, not just how do we layer more things on, but how do we make the things that we already have work better."
Trump Administration's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is to be led by Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Vos unworried about Democratic seats gained this year
Vos weighed in on several other topics in an interview recapping 2024 in Wisconsin, including the 10 seats Democrats gained in the Assembly in November.
Vos said he wasn't worried about the gains, and said the narrower majority may lead to more disagreements between Republicans and Democrats.
"I mean, the challenge that we see — and take Congress as an example — the narrower the margin, the less that gets accomplished. And I'm fearful that that's the way it'll be here," he said. "But the good news for Republicans is that we've had wide margins and narrow margins. We've always focused on generating consensus."
More:A more evenly split state Legislature will convene next year. Will it lead to compromise?
Vos said that while many of the newer Democratic members will need to get their feet under them and learn about how the Assembly works, Republicans will hit the ground running.
"Most of our people are returning. They've been here for a while. They know how the place works," he said. "So we're going to keep working on doing the good things for the state of Wisconsin."
Democrats see their gains in 2024 as putting them in a position to gain the Assembly majority in 2026. Vos said he doesn't see that happening.
Twelve seats are seen as competitive, evenly between the two parties, in 2026.
"In order to get the majority, they'd have to win five of the six. I don't think that's going to happen," he said.
In an interview with the Journal Sentinel earlier this month, Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer expressed confidence Democrats would pick up a majority in the Assembly in 2026.
"In a difficult year for Democrats, I think we did pretty well," Neubauer said. "We really built infrastructure in parts of the state where we had not had competitive legislative races in quite some time."
Tax cuts, especially for retirees, will be a focus for Republicans
When asked about top priorities for the Assembly in the upcoming year, Vos said finding ways to return the $4 billion surplus to taxpayers is No. 1.
Vos said Republicans would focus on passing tax cuts into law at the beginning of the session, before budget work begins. Vos indicated his party would again propose exempting up to $75,000 of retirees' income, which Evers vetoed last year.
"We're not going to begin spending money until we know how much is in the till," Vos said. "In my mind, all tax cuts are good. There's none that are bad. I think the one that would have the best, most positive impact would be that retiree income tax reduction."
Asked on WISN-TV's "Upfront" earlier this month if he'd consider signing a Republican tax cut plan, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said he's focused on crafting his state budget proposal. He said it's "hard to say" if he'd sign something similar to Republicans' tax cut bill that he vetoed last year.
"If (Republicans') idea is that we're going to send every dollar back and run a deficit, that's obviously stupid," Evers said when asked if the state's $4 billion surplus should be returned to taxpayers.
Neubauer expressed a similar stance, referencing a recent nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum report that found the state is in strong financial shape but cautioned lawmakers against big moves, especially large tax cuts or spending increases.
"(We) need to be thinking about the long-term and making sure that any decisions we make — for example, a tax cut — do not undermine our long-term ability as a state to fund essential services," Neubauer said.
At a virtual WisPolitics forum this week, Neubauer said Democrats are "very open to considering a tax cut that is targeted, that is focused on middle class and working families." But she said Democrats would oppose a plan that cuts taxes for the state's wealthiest residents.
New Senate President Mary Felzkowski, a Republican from Tomahawk, noted during the forum that Evers rejected Republicans' attempts to pass tax cuts for retirees and families making up to $150,000 per year.
"If Gov. Evers continues to move the needle on what middle class is, then we're kind of at a loss," Felzkowski said. "I'm hoping that that needle doesn't move again."
A few Democrats voted for the portion that would have exempted up to $75,000 in retirement income. Evers said the tax cut package would have likely forced the state to partially or fully drain its rainy day fund.
More:Has Evers vetoed multiple GOP middle-class tax cut proposals this year? Here’s what we found.
Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X @SchulteLaura.
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