The Wisconsin Senate passed a $100 million property tax relief plan in a special session Tuesday despite strained dialogue, claims of blatant electioneering and references to cake.
The plan, which Gov. Scott Walker announced Thursday, would use the state’s current surplus to finance the $100 million plan that is designed to be facilitated through state school districts. If the plan is approved, the money will go to public school districts, which in turn will cause the property taxes on local residences to decrease, according to the plan.
State senators passed the bill 28 to 5 but debated for much of the session on partisan lines about the motives behind the bill.
Democrats said the plan represented a re-election “gimmick” that would only give small benefits to individual state homeowners, approximately $33 over two years. Republicans refuted the claim, saying the plan would help the middle class more than state Democrats have in the past.
During a speech on the Senate floor, state Sen. Mike Ellis, R-Neenah, compared the tax cut to “frosting” on top of a cake that represents the tax cuts passed in the most recent state budget.
“[Democrats] gave [citizens] a cake tray and forgot to put a cake on it,” Ellis said. “We built a double decker [cake].”
State Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, said “no one should be fooled” about the election-based motives behind the Republican bill but that Democrats would support the bill because “nobody wants to be seen voting against a tax cut.”
The state Assembly will discuss the bill Thursday.
