Bipartisan Deal Between the Governor and Republican Legislative Leaders Fails to Pass the State Senate

Friday, May 15th, 2026 -- 12:00 PM

(Shawn Johnson and Rich Kremer, Wisconsin Public Radio) A bipartisan deal between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and GOP leaders blew up Wednesday night in the Wisconsin Legislature, following days of attacks from lawmakers and gubernatorial candidates from both parties.

According to Shawn Johnson and Rich Kremer with the Wisconsin Public Radio, the measure, which would have spent $1.8 billion on a combination of tax cuts and special education funding, was the product of months of talks between Evers, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg.

All three are set to retire after this term, a status that gave them more leeway to negotiate. But rank-and-file members of the Legislature were less willing to go along with the plan, particularly in the Senate, where Democrats were openly frustrated that they were frozen out of negotiations.

Most of the candidates for governor also came out against the deal, including U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the GOP frontrunner. Tiffany was in contact with Senate Republicans, WisPolitics reported, voicing his opposition to the bipartisan deal.

The bill initially proceeded as planned in the state Assembly, where lawmakers met to debate in the morning before breaking for roughly eight hours. It would have reduced the state’s projected $2.5 billion surplus by about $1.8 billion, with the bulk of it going to tax relief.

The measure passed the Assembly on a bipartisan 61-32 vote. But in the Senate, the votes simply were not there. All Democrats voted against the bill, along with three Republicans, Sens. Steve Nass of Whitewater, Chris Kapenga of Delafield and Rob Hutton of Brookfield. It failed 15-18.

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