Earlier this month, Wisconsin Republicans — who enjoy majorities in the state Senate and Assembly — struck a deal with Governor Tony Evers on property tax relief. That deal would have released more than $870 million in state revenue for tax relief, including $600 rebate checks to Wisconsin taxpayers. It would also have permanently codified President Trump's no tax on tips/overtime rule, and increased funding for choice and charter schools. In exchange, Republicans would have given Evers more money for special education initiatives.
Wisconsin Democrats, and a few misguided Republicans, killed the deal, however.
The question is: why?
Property taxes are one of the big issues in the 2026 gubernatorial race, thanks to Tony Evers, who abused his line-item veto power to enshrine four centuries of tax increases on Wisconsin homeowners. That's not a typo. During a previous biennial budget session, Evers changed school funding years from 2024-2025 to 2024-2425. He simply crossed out the zero and added a four. Because of that, property taxes have skyrocketed and will continue to do so unless Wisconsin elects Tom Tiffany as governor. Tiffany has vowed to repeal that and restore affordability to Wisconsin.
And that's why Democrats killed the surplus deal. They're trying to blame Tom Tiffany — who, currently, is a Wisconsin Congressman — and Republicans, in order to tip the election to the Democrats.
A new Marquette poll is reigniting the blame game over the failed surplus bill. Make no mistake: Democrats killed it. Not Republicans. Democrats. Here's the proof: pic.twitter.com/eCJXfgHiIV
— The Heartland Post (@HeartlandPostWI) May 26, 2026
"Let's get one thing perfectly clear: Democrats killed Governor Evers' surplus deal with Republicans," O'Donnell said. "Not Tom Tiffany, not any other Republicans. Democrats. Period."
"WISN TV's Matt Smith asked Tiffany whether he should get the credit for three Republican senators voting against the measure, dooming it in the upper chamber," O'Donnell continued.
When asked about it, Tiffany said, "I'm not, and I would urge you to go back and talk to those three Republicans. I mean, I didn't tell anybody how to vote. I just said if I were governor, I would not support this bill because it did not return all of the surplus to the people of the state of Wisconsin."
Tony Evers said he had the votes until Tiffany commented on the bill, and Smith asked Tiffany about that. "I would urge you and him to go to talk to those Senators that voted no," Tiffany replied.
"You'll notice it was only three Republican Senators who voted against the bill," O'Donnell said. "All 15 Democrat Senators voted against it after Senate Minority Leader Diane Hesselbein said last week, 'As far as I'm concerned, there is no deal.' She always intended to sink this agreement because she was so furious that Evers didn't include her or Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer."
"In fact, I crunched the numbers and found that 82 percent of all Democrats who voted on the bill in the state legislature, including 100 percent of Senators, voted against it. 96 percent of all Republicans, including 100 percent of all Assembly Republicans, voted for it," O'Donnell continued, "so you tell me: which party killed the measure? The one that voted nearly unanimously in favor of it? Or the one who spent a week blasting its own governor over it, signaled its opposition to it, and then almost unanimously voted it down? Again, Democrats killed the surplus deal. Period."
Democrats don't want affordability. If they win the governor's race or the state legislature, they will impose even more tax hikes on Wisconsin families, enact green legislation that will raise utility costs exponentially while forcing Wisconsin families to freeze in harsh Wisconsin winters when 'green' energy fails, and they will defund the police and make Wisconsin a haven for criminals and illegal aliens.
That's why they're lying about who killed the surplus deal. They're lying so that Wisconsinites vote them into power.