Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers speaks to reporters on March 3. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed Republican bills that would eliminate income taxes on tips and overtime, require counties to cooperate with federal immigration agents and overturn his 400-year veto that provided school revenue limit increases.

In July 2025, President Donald Trump signed a tax and spending bill that included provisions allowing tipped workers making less than $150,000 to deduct up to $25,000 in tips annually from their federal taxable income and allowing certain employees who work overtime and make less than $150,000 to claim a tax deduction. Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin introduced proposals to align state income tax policy with those measures.

SB 36 would have given tipped employees a state income tax exemption for cash tips, with a sunset date in 2028.

Evers supported eliminating taxes on tips in his 2025-27 state budget proposal, but GOP lawmakers rejected the provision and instead advanced their bill. Evers’ proposal would have been a permanent change, unlike the Republican proposal.

“We should not be at the whims of a Republican-controlled Congress that has no problem gutting basic necessities and services like food and access to healthcare just to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires,” Evers wrote in his veto message.

Wisconsin Republicans have sent Evers a number of proposals influenced by the Trump administration and Republican-led Congress to varying success. He signed a SNAP bill with funding for DHS that also included a policy to prohibit SNAP participants from being able to use their benefits to buy candy and soda, while vetoing a bill to opt the state into a federal school choice tax credit program.

Evers wrote that his “expectation” when providing tax relief is to pass proposals that are “real, responsible, and targeted to the middle class.” Evers has signed a number of tax cuts given to him by Republican lawmakers throughout his time in office. As a result of cuts, a 2024 Wisconsin Policy Forum report found that the state and local tax burden on residents had hit a record low in 2024. In 2025, another report found that the tax burdens remained low as incomes rose.

Evers said that the state must also “stay well within our means by still ensuring our tax policy changes are sustainable and will not force us to cut services or raise taxes down the road. Therefore, I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to adopting a temporary income tax provision instead of working to provide comprehensive and lasting relief to Wisconsin taxpayers.”

Evers had a similar message in vetoing AB 461, which would have provided an income tax deduction for overtime. Under the bill, single filers would have been able to claim up to $12,500 per year under the subtraction, while joint filers would have been able to claim up to $25,000. Unlike the “no tax on tips” bill, the change would have been permanent.

“I object to this bill changing the tax code in a way that will treat Wisconsin workers who earn similar wages differently just because of their classification as salaried or hourly workers. A salaried worker who earns $35,000 (and is not eligible to earn overtime compensation) should not pay a different amount in taxes from an hourly worker who earns $35,000 through working overtime,” Evers wrote in his veto message. “We should focus on creating a fairer tax code that provides real, responsible tax relief that supports rather than divides working Wisconsinites.”

Evers vetoed AB 24, which would have required local law enforcement in Wisconsin to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The bill would have required sheriffs to check the citizenship status of people being held in jail on felony charges and notify federal immigration enforcement officials if citizenship cannot be verified.

Counties failing to comply would be at risk of losing 15% of their shared revenue payments from the state, which help cover the cost of fire, law enforcement and other services.

Evers did not make any specific mention of ICE in his veto message, instead focusing on the potential penalty that local communities could face.

“Republican lawmakers are trying to micromanage local law enforcement decisions by threatening to gut state aid by 15% for our local communities — that’s a non-starter,” Evers wrote. “We shouldn’t be threatening law enforcement with deep budget cuts; we should be working together with local law enforcement to improve public safety, reduce crime and keep dangerous drugs and violent criminals off of our street.”

Evers also vetoed another attempt by Republican lawmakers to repeal his 400-year veto, which extended school districts’ ability to bring in an additional $325 per pupil annually through funding from the state or through property taxes. Lawmakers rejected calls to provide an increase to schools’ general aid in the most recent state budget, meaning most schools have raised property taxes to make use of the revenue authority.

Evers signed two bills introduced by lawmakers to address concerns about investigations into grooming allegations against teachers. The concerns were prompted after a CapTimes news report that found over 200 investigations into teacher licenses due to allegations of sexual misconduct or grooming from 2018 to 2023.

SB 785, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 185, requires the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to maintain an online licensing portal that is searchable by the public at no cost. The portal will need to include information on license holders under investigation and the name of individuals who have had their licenses revoked.

AB 1004, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 186, prohibits public and private schools from entering agreements that would suppress information on the immoral conduct of an employee, would affect the report of immoral conduct by an employer or employees or require an education employer to expunge information about allegations of findings or immoral conduct.

Evers also signed AB 530, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 189, which prohibits the operation of drones over schools in Wisconsin unless there is authorization by the school’s governing body or by a sheriff or a chief of a local public protection service agency.

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