You're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 AM 975 FM.
I'm Melissa Kaye bringing you news in our community.
During this interview, I'm talking with Senator Patrick Teston on Friday, April 17th.
Thank you for joining me, Patrick, to bring the community an update from the 24th Senate District.
Happy to be on.
Glad to have you.
I'd like to start today with talking about taxes and tax breaks and some of the things that were included in this, the biennial budget for the next two years that are going to bring some relief to Wisconsin taxpayers.
Yeah, so this has been an ongoing point of emphasis for legislative Republicans going back to 2011 of trying to make Wisconsin more competitive.
with our tax climate.
And even in divided government, we've been able to work with Governor Tony Ebers to provide significant tax relief over his several budgets that he's submitted to the legislature.
And through the Republican legislature, we've made significant income tax cuts primarily to the middle class.
And even making sure a certain portion of retirement income is tax exempt and and even right now we are continuing to have conversations with the governor and very thoughtful in a very thoughtful dialogue on what to do with the two and a half billion dollar surplus.
And what we're proposing is to do a combination of property tax relief because I think everyone when they got their property tax bills back in December, there were some sticker shock and and rightfully so.
And so we recognize that we also want to make sure that
We're providing some relief in the form of rebates going back to individuals.
And then on top of that, making sure that overtime compensation as well as no tax on tips also is included in these conversations, which despite the fact that the governor had vetoed legislation that would make tax on tips tax exempt.
he's at least been willing to entertain this moving forward.
So we are continuing to push for more permanent tax cuts moving forward, because again, if we want to make Wisconsin competitive, we have to have a competitive tax climate compared to our neighbors, not just in the Midwest, but 49 other states.
Well, and with this legislation, it specifically expanded the second tax bracket, which is what is considered the middle class here in Wisconsin.
And it seems though that it's mainly benefiting the higher end of that tax bracket.
Well, we haven't touched the highest.
income tax bracket.
I would love to, to be honest with you.
I'd love to get to a point where we either have a flat tax here in the state, similar to what they do down in Illinois, which is hard to believe that there is something when it comes to taxes that Illinois does a little bit better than us.
They have a flat tax of 4.95%.
And in fact, Iowa is currently in the process of going to a flat tax over the next couple of years.
And so I think, again,
you know, anyone can go to the ballot box and elect their elected officials from president all the way down to school board.
But the most consequential boat anyone will ever take is with their feet.
And when you take a look at the census data from 2020, the states that saw the largest gains of people moving into their states were places that had either no income tax or they had a flat tax states like Tennessee, Florida, Texas, the Dakotas and other states are moving in that direction.
And I think Wisconsin Wisconsin should follow the suit.
Okay.
What would change for people with a flat tax?
I mean, because that would increase the tax for the poorest, wouldn't it?
Well, depending on how you structure it, but I think...
by and large everyone should have some skin in the game and again this is about making sure individuals keep more of their hard-earned paychecks and it's a great way because every time that we have cut taxes here at the state level we've actually seen an increase in revenues and that was evident when the new revenue estimates came out back in January from our nonpartisan fiscal bureau.
We saw a lot of one-time gains that have come in and that's in part due to the
the fiscal prudence and the tax cuts that we have been able to get the governor to agree to in his last several budgets.
So this second tax bracket expansion, it widens the margin for people who earn up to, what is it, $50,000 for single filers, $50,480 for single filers, $67,300 for joint filers.
I'm correct on that.
Yeah, that's
correct.
Trying to capture more people into that bracket to provide significant relief.
And so that's one of the things that we've had to get creative with in negotiations with the governor, because he had laid out some markers throughout the course of the budget negotiations last summer.
And, you know, initially what we had proposed, he had some concerns with and.
So, you know, we had to work within the confines of what he was willing to get behind with support.
And so, again, while we'd like to have more meaningful tax reform here in the state, you do the best that you can with, you know, with divided government.
And that's what we've been able to accomplish.
And there's still more work that needs to be done.
Okay.
So this means that there would be a reduction in state revenue, but Wisconsinites would get a tax break.
Is there any concern that
public services would be affected with that reduction in state revenue?
No, and it's kind of interesting when you take a look at how they score the budget counters at the state level, both within the Department of Administration as well as the Nonpartisan Fiscal Bureau.
You know, they view and how they score it is...
static and not dynamic.
And so they view any tax cut as a spend and essentially a drop in revenues potentially because they scored statically.
But in reality, every time that we have cut taxes going back to 2011, the amount of revenues have increased into the state treasury.
And so that just goes to show the more that you can empower individuals and allow them to keep more of their hard earned paychecks, it pays dividends because they have more than
disposable income.
Businesses have more money to invest into their businesses because many of our small businesses, they and LLCs, they follow their taxes just like anyone else through the income tax.
And so this is a great tool to again empower our economy, especially at a time when there's some uncertainty as we take a look to the future.
And so yeah, I don't have the concerns that this would
reduced services or the ability for communities to fund key and core principles of governments such as public safety and EMS.
Okay, well let's move on now to the retirement income exclusion which will benefit older Wisconsinites.
Yeah, this is a huge component and one that again, we would have loved to have done more, but making sure that a certain threshold of individuals retirement incomes as tax exempt.
We have heard this many of us have and I've heard it from constituents within the within the 24 Senate district to our like look in other states.
There is no tax on retirement income, but yet here in Wisconsin we do and as a result.
We are losing a lot of our retirees where they're going to states that don't tax retirement income and so We want
to not just to get away from the snow
Exactly And while we've had some wild weather here from a blizzard last month an ice storm a couple weeks ago to crazy thunderstorms Well, we can't control the weather what we can do is do what we can to try and keep our people here
So under this the benefit
is that the first $24,000 of your retirement income would be completely tax-free at the state level if you're 67 years or older.
Correct.
Yep.
And for married couples, they both have to be 67 years or older that doubles to $48,000.
That's correct.
Yep.
Okay.
But there are some things that people do need to watch out for with this, correct?
Yeah.
Without having all the details in front of me, I mean, there are some things that obviously you're always going to want to make sure and do your due diligence.
But, you know, I think from our standpoint, though, again, we just want to make sure that they're able to use those retirement incomes that they have invested and save for and work their entire adult lives for, that the government not take its share and that they get to keep more of what they've spent their life working towards.
Okay.
Well, and to my understanding and granted, I've done.
just very not deep enough research, but from what I could tell about one in four retiree filers would this would eliminate the state tax bill on their retirement income entirely.
Correct.
Yeah.
And then that they can't they can't claim this exclusion and other state tax credits in the same year.
So you need to figure out which one is going to benefit you more.
Yep, that's correct.
And that this
would cost the state an estimated 395 million.
This is the single largest tax cut package, if I'm correct.
Yeah, if it's not one of the largest with what we were able to get done with retirement income as well as income tax cuts in this last day budget, it's one of the largest tax cuts that we've been able to get across the finish line.
And again,
despite all the tax cuts we've done, we've continued to see revenues increase in the state.
So again, that just goes to show it's empowering consumers, it's empowering taxpayers, and more importantly, it's keeping the money within their own checkbooks and not out of Madison's.
So we'll pause here for a short moment to hear from our sponsors.
I'm Melissa K talking with Senator Patrick Teston and you're listening to Perspective on WFHR.
Welcome back.
You're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 AM, 975 FM.
I'm Melissa K bringing you news in our community.
I'm speaking with Senator Patrick Keston, and where we left off, we were talking about tax savings that will benefit, especially retirees, through this next biennial budget.
Now, I'd like to move on to talking about some of the retirements or the public servants who are not going to be running again for this next election cycle, so to speak, Assembly Speaker Robin Voss and Senate Majority Leader Devin Lemahue.
announce their retirements from public office, and then there's other state senators that are also not running.
Let's talk about that a little bit, because there's going to be some shake-up and leadership very soon here.
Yeah, there is.
At the end of every legislative session, there's always going to be some turnover.
What's unique about this, this is the first time since 2011 where you're
You're going to have, regardless of how the election shake out, a new governor, a new speaker, the assembly, and a new Senate majority leader.
And several other individuals have decided that they're ready to move on and start the next chapter of their lives.
And so first and foremost, I just owe my colleagues, regardless of what side of the aisle they sit on, these are thankless jobs at times.
And it is a huge commitment.
I have one of my former Senate colleagues who retired several years ago.
I think you summed it up the best by saying this is not a nine to five job.
This is a way of life job, and you get out of it when you put into it.
And so it means a lot of nights away from home.
It means long hours sometimes.
Sometimes you have to deal with some very difficult issues.
And you're always under the microscope of the public eye.
And so it does take its toll.
It's stressful at times.
But what I'm excited about is the prospects of new.
new voices coming into the legislature.
And so, you know, at the start of every session, we have a freshman class.
Some are bigger than others.
This going into January 2027, it's going to be a lot of new faces, particularly in the state Senate.
But again, this provides new perspectives, new voices, new opportunities.
And so I'm really excited at what the future holds for for the legislature in both houses.
And now obviously we're
going into the midst of what's probably going to be another very contentious election cycle.
But regardless of how things shake out when the dust settles, it's time to take off our helmets and take off our team jerseys and put on the policy caps and do what's best for the state of Wisconsin.
Well, that's a very good sentiment.
And I hope that everybody can come together and work together.
It's actually something I'd like to touch on briefly.
We talk now and then about bipartisan bills and bipartisanship and working together.
But there is a lot of contention during these races and for lack of a better word, mudslinging.
Do you have any hopes for the future of politics and that becoming less so?
You know, I hope so.
I mean, we're obviously, there are going to be moments where things get heated, you know, depending on what the issue of the day is.
But since I've been in the legislature, every session that I've had the privilege to be a part of anywhere from 90 to 95% of the bills that eventually get passed and signed into law have bipartisan support.
It's usually that 5% to 10% where you're going to have those expected pretty wide gaps and differences of opinion and approach.
And what I've always said, and I continue to believe this to be true to this day, is that regardless of what party you are, what your political affiliation is or ideology, I think Republicans and Democrats both want
what's best for our state, for our country and our communities, we just have different ways of getting there.
And so the approach that I've always taken is when I've worked with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle as we sit down at a time and they'll pitch an idea or I'll pitch an idea and we sort of go back and forth.
We do that, that word that is sometimes considered dirty in politics, which is called compromise.
That's not necessarily a bad thing.
And so my hope is, is that regardless of
all the animosity and all the dysfunction that we see play out on a daily basis out in places like Washington DC, that at least here in Wisconsin, while we have our fights, we have our disagreements, we're still able to get together at the end of the day, go grab a cold beer after a contentious floor session and try not make it be the politics of personal destruction that has seemed to consume the nation at
large.
Well, and earlier this week, I believe there's a special session that was left open.
Can we talk about that a little bit?
Yeah, absolutely.
So the governor called a special session to deal with non-partisan redistricting reform.
And so we left the session open in both houses.
So the way this works here is your regular four sessions, which get set and determined by.
the legislature, then there are special sessions that the governor can call on a specific issue that we don't necessarily have to act on in years past when the governor is called special sessions on things that he just knew we weren't ever going to get behind.
We would gavel in and gavel out.
But on this particular topic, we decided to keep it open just with all the uncertainty, especially now with the makeup of the current Supreme Court.
And also, we want to keep it open to see if there is a path forward or a model that we could take a look at that might be in the best interest for the state and try and take some of the venom out as it relates to redistricting where every 10 years they become a political bloodbath, so to speak, where we're in control and they try and put their thumb on the scale and to their advantage, which some people may disagree with that.
But that's how it's always operated.
That's been a role of the legislature.
You know, we're keeping an open mind to it to see if there's something that could shake out and maybe get some bipartisan support on while also leaving it open as we continue to negotiate with the governor on a tax cut proposal package with the two and a half billion dollar surplus.
We didn't want to just gavel in and gavel out and have that be the end of the conversation and then have all parties get up from the table and we don't get anything done.
I think there is a general interest from both sides within the legislature.
from leadership and conversations that we've been having the governor to get something done before the next property tax bill said everyone's mailboxes later this year.
And with the session being open, what does that mean?
What like what happens now?
Well, right now there are still conversations being had between the governor's office, the speaker and the majority of leaders office as well to see if there is a path forward.
We continue to have conversations with our
our respective caucuses in both houses to see where there's interest, what levers we can pull to maybe get something across the finish line.
So the good news is we have time.
There is no set timeline on when this has to get done or be closed.
So this allows us to do our due diligence and go through the process and make sure that we're vetting any and old proposal that get put forward.
And speaking of those property tax bills, I've been seeing more from
even local representatives saying make sure that you get your property tax bills into the mail in with enough time because with the US Postal Service situation being what it is and some things being delayed, you want to make sure that your property tax bills get to where they need to be on time.
Oh, absolutely.
Certainly don't want to get in trouble with the tax collectors.
That's usually always a bad time.
But there are ways that people can make sure they can pay them in person.
Then you know that it got there on time.
I believe another way is to actually go into the post office and ask them to stamp it right in front of you there.
Because things are being sent to regional centers before they're stamped, which is different than what we're used to with the postal service.
Exactly.
And hopefully everyone, now that we've passed that April 15th, everyone's least favorite holiday in America at tax day.
Hopefully everyone got their tax bills in and hopefully no one's going to get a call from the IRS or the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
Yes, let's hope not.
Anything else you want to want to talk about here in our last couple of minutes, Patrick?
Yeah, I would just say, you know, even though the brunt of the legislative session is now.
over when there's still some still work that's being done.
Really now is the time for individuals to reach out as we look forward to the next legislative session.
There are bill ideas or bills I think across the finish line for one reason or another.
Now is the time to start having those conversations with your elected officials and and you know that goes for me included.
So if anyone has thoughts or ideas.
My door is open.
Feel free to contact my office at 608-266-3123.
You can shoot us an email at sen.mylastnametestin at legis.wi.gov.
Follow us on social media, sign up for my e-update that we'll send out every Thursday.
And if you see me out and about in the district, feel free to pull me aside and have a chat.
Wonderful.
Well, I definitely appreciate you taking the time to talk with me today.
I'm Melissa Kay, speaking with Senator Patrick Keston, representing the 24th Senate District.
Thank you for today, Patrick.
Thanks for having me.
And thank you to listeners joining us for news in our community on Perspective 1320 AM, 975 FM WFHR.
