On July 8, the same day he signed the 2021-2023 state budget into law, Governor Tony Evers (D) vetoed four bills sent to him by the Legislature:
- Assembly Bill 191: Exempts all remaining business and manufacturing personal property from personal property tax assessments, effective January 1, 2022. Veto message
- Assembly Bill 367: Requires the governor to allocate funds from the American Rescue Plan Act for loans to purchase and rehabilitate paper mill properties in Wisconsin Rapids and Park Falls; authorizes the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to award the loans and set their terms and conditions. Veto message
- Assembly Bill 407: Establishes a Legislative Human Resources Office to oversee complaints and allegations against legislators and staff and to manage employment records. Veto message
- Assembly Bill 383: Requires an interscholastic athletic association to allow an exception to its transfer rules for the 2021-22 school year based on the method of educational instruction used at schools in the 2020-21 or 2021-22 school years. Veto message
With respect to AB 191, Gov. Evers has said he still supports repealing the personal property tax, and the state budget as signed by the governor sets aside money to reimburse local taxing jurisdictions for lost revenue if the tax is repealed. His partial vetoes did not affect the appropriation to reimburse local governments. Gov. Evers has called on the Legislature to pass a new bill to repeal the personal property tax, while also addressing his concerns that AB 191 could have created an unintended expansion of the manufacturing and agriculture tax credit and did not resolve an issue with the fees that railroad companies pay in lieu of property taxes.
Click here to read more about the state budget signed by the governor and here to read more about other bills that the governor signed into law recently.