This piece criticizes outgoing Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers for using a line-item veto to lock in massive property tax increases tied to school funding, argues that the move shows contempt for voters, points to poll numbers showing public concern about taxes, and warns the political fallout could be severe for Democrats statewide.
Does Tony Evers want Democrats to lose statewide elections this fall? His behavior makes that question hard to ignore, because the moves he has made look like open contempt for voters who are hurting. Where some politicians try to mask disdain, Evers’ parting actions are blunt and costly.
A couple of years ago he used his line-item veto power to enshrine in Wisconsin’s budget four hundred years of tax increases to “fund schools.” At the same time, too many classrooms still struggle: roughly one-third of students can’t read and do math at grade level, and Black students in Milwaukee Public Schools test at the bottom nationally. That contrast between spending and outcomes sharpens the outrage.
Property taxes are already climbing and homeowners are feeling the squeeze. If controversial labor and pension changes are reversed, the burden will only get worse for ordinary families and retirees. For voters who see taxes as the top pocketbook issue, this is not abstract policy talk — it’s real cash leaving their accounts.
Politically, the governor’s parting move hands opponents a simple, explosive message about priorities and consequences.
Deal with it? DEAL WITH IT?
People are losing homes because of this veto and voters are rightfully angry. The tone of the message feels indifferent at best and vindictive at worst, and that matters when voters are deciding whether a party respects their financial well-being.
Public polling underlines the risk. A Marquette University Law School poll last month found 58 percent of voters say they are more concerned about property taxes than funding schools, and those concerns are likely to grow now that the outgoing governor has shrugged at the pain. Separate reporting shows Wisconsin Democrats hovering at roughly a 30 percent approval rating with 57 percent disapproval, numbers that leave little room for error this fall.
The optics here are brutal: a governor who signs off on heavy, long-term tax increases while performance in parts of the school system lags badly. That fuels the narrative that the party in power is insulated from consequences and willing to trade household stability for an ideological agenda. For many voters, that will feel less like governance and more like punishment.
There’s also a deeper argument about the incentives being created. If the system rewards higher spending without clear accountability for learning, the result is predictable: more money flows into structures that don’t fix core problems while families pay more and see little improvement. Critics argue this dynamic produces dependence rather than opportunity.
If state politics hinge on pocketbook issues, this episode hands opponents a coherent theme: the party that talks about affordability made life more expensive and then shrugged. That framing will be hard to neutralize when people are balancing budgets, mortgages, and college bills.
And then there’s accountability in public discourse. If journalists were doing their jobs in some places, the people running for office would be forced to explain whether they agree with the governor’s parting message to voters. Silence or evasions on those questions will itself be an answer to many voters.
For voters watching this play out, the choice is simple to see even if it’s complicated to fix: do you reward the people who drove your taxes up while the schools underperform, or do you demand a different approach? My guess is we’re not just going to “deal with it.”
