ELECTIONS

Scott Walker touts tax breaks as he and Tony Evers joust over road funding

Patrick Marley and Molly Beck

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - A day after Wisconsin's primary, GOP Gov. Scott Walker called for tax breaks Wednesday and floated the notion that Democrat Tony Evers supports quadrupling the gas tax — a notion Evers initially didn't rule out but later called a lie.

The dispute came just hours after Evers secured his party's nomination and the state Republican Party launched an ad torching him. By the afternoon, a group backing Evers unveiled plans to spend $1.8 million over three weeks on an ad campaign that includes a spot calling Walker someone "who cares only about politics."

In a third ad Wednesday, Walker said — without providing many details — that he would forgive up to $5,000 in student loan debt for those who stay in Wisconsin and work in high-demand jobs.

He also said he would provide tax breaks to parents who pay for child care and senior citizens who stay in their homes, suggesting some seniors could save hundreds of dollars a year. He didn't say what his tax plan would cost or how he could get it through the Legislature.

In a morning appearance on WISN-AM (1130), Walker went on the attack, suggesting to conservative host Jay Weber that Evers might be willing to more than quadruple the gas tax because he hasn't said how much he would be willing to increase it.

"If Tony Evers wants to talk about jacking up the tax on gas, you know, a buck, I think people deserve to know that," Walker said. "If he’s not, then he needs to tell us what that (tax increase) is. But so far he just keeps implying he’s going to raise the gas tax without telling (people) what it is."

At a stop outside Mickies Dairy Bar in Madison, Evers didn't say how much he was willing to raise the gas tax and didn't reject the idea of a $1 increase.

"I would support looking at anything," Evers said. "Whether it’s removing tax credits, whether it’s slimming down state government, whether it’s gas taxes. Everything is on the table. All I know is what he’s done has failed."

By the afternoon, during a stop at Copper Rock Coffee Co. in Appleton, Evers said Walker was lying about his views.

"That's a lie," he said of Walker's WISN comments. "They're not even insinuating something. They're just making stuff up."

"The only thing I ever said about that is that every possible revenue source is on the table," he said. "The bottom line is we cannot do what Scott Walker has done."

The gas tax is 32.9 cents per gallon and Walker has fought efforts from within his own party to raise it. Walker provided no clues Wednesday on how he would pay for roads as his fellow Republicans in the Legislature raise alarms about the rising debt load for highways.

Hitting the airwaves

Evers has gone after Walker for not putting more money toward roads and has said he's willing to raise the gas tax to address the issue. But he's never said how much of an increase he could back.

Craig Thompson, director of the Transportation Development Association of Wisconsin, said most advocates for raising the gas tax have talked about increasing it by 5 to 10 cents. Having it go up by $1 is not part of the debate, said Thompson, whose group backs putting more money toward roads.

“Nobody’s proposed anywhere near a dollar increase,” he said.

Also Wednesday, Walker released an upbeat ad that hinted at his plans if he wins re-election in November.

His plan to forgive up to $5,000 in student loans would create a new program aimed at keeping college graduates in Wisconsin. Graduates would get $1,000 a year for five years if they lived and worked in Wisconsin, he said on WISN.

"It’s one more incentive to be a brain-gain state, not a brain-drain state," he said.

He and his aides didn't say how much it would cost or who would qualify.

Walker floated the plan as Evers and other Democrats have pushed for a broader plan that would set up a state entity to allow people to refinance their student loan debt.

On WISN, Walker said under his plans a senior citizen who meets certain criteria and receives $300 in property tax relief now would get $1,100 of tax relief. He didn't provide further details about how that part of the plan would work or what it would cost the state.

Walker said he would also provide apprenticeships to students in seventh and eighth grades.

Walker's latest ideas would require approval from the Legislature. Republicans control both houses now, but Democrats have a shot at winning the Senate in November.

“Senate Republicans have supported billions of dollars of tax relief over the past eight years, and further reform of the tax code will definitely be on the table next year," said a statement from Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau). "I look forward to seeing the details of the Governor’s proposals."

"Speaker (Robin) Vos is supportive of these proposals but hasn’t seen the specifics and hasn’t had a caucus discussion on them," said Kit Beyer, a spokeswoman for the Rochester Republican.

Scot Ross, director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, said Walker was responding to polls that show voters aren't happy with Walker's performance in some areas.

"Instead of running on his record, he's running on what he didn't do," Ross said by email.

Evers spent most of his campaign money to get through Tuesday but got help immediately after the primary from A Stronger Wisconsin, a new group run by the Democratic Governors Association.

The ad, which will begin airing Thursday, describes Evers' career as a teacher, principal and superintendent and contrasts it with Walker's time in office.

"You can forget the lobbyists and their politicians," a narrator says over footage of Walker. "They'll never change, but Tony Evers won't play their game. He'll keep working until our roads, health care and schools work for you and families like yours."

Evers finished the primary with 42% of the vote, according to unofficial returns.

He was followed by firefighters union president Mahlon Mitchell (16%); former state Rep. Kelda Roys (13%); state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (8%); campaign finance reform activist Mike McCabe (7%); former state Democratic Party head Matt Flynn (6%); Madison Mayor Paul Soglin (5%); and political newcomer Josh Pade (0%), who came in behind two candidates who dropped out of the race in June but were still on the ballot.

The move into the general election campaign comes as Walker warns his supporters that a "blue wave" could hit Wisconsin this fall. Over the weekend, Walker said he could be behind in the next Marquette University Law School poll and Democrats are so fired up that Daffy Duck would automatically start with at least 48% support if he were the party's nominee.

DATA ON DEMAND: Contributions to the 2018 candidates for governor

The Republican Party ad — also to begin airing Thursday — goes after Evers for not using his power as state schools superintendent to revoke the license of Andrew Harris, a Middleton middle school teacher who had used his work computer to look at emails from his sister that included photos of naked women and crude jokes.

"As superintendent of public instruction, Tony Evers is supposed to keep our children safe. But he didn’t," the ad says.

ELECTION RESULTS:Wisconsin and Milwaukee-area fall primary election

FULL COVERAGE: 2018 Wisconsin Elections

POLITIFACT WISCONSIN: Fact tracking the 2018 candidates for Wisconsin governor

The party is spending nearly $500,000 on the ad over the next week.

Evers has said that he wanted to suspend Harris' license but couldn't under state law because students did not see the pornography. At the time of the incident, licenses could be suspended for immoral conduct if the teacher's activity endangered "the health, safety, welfare or education of any pupil."

Walker and lawmakers later changed the law — in part because of the Harris case, and with Evers' support — so that licenses could be suspended for teachers who use school equipment "to download, view, solicit, seek, display or distribute pornographic material."

That means cases like Harris' would now result in license suspensions, according to the state Department of Public Instruction that Evers oversees.

"I was doing my job," Evers said Tuesday night. "Any decisions I made around revocations were made on the basis of what the law was at the time. I have nothing to hide about that. It’s a bogus complaint."

POLITIFACT WISCONSIN:Closer look at the big primary winners: Tony Evers and Leah Vukmir

Walker, who asked Evers in 2014 to revoke Harris' license, dismissed that notion in his WISN appearance.

"He fell back on some bureaucratic excuse," Walker said. "And I gotta tell you, leadership is not looking for reasons not to do your job. Leadership is stepping up and saying I will always do my job. I would have pushed it with the courts. He failed to do that."

Max Bayer of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.