Overview
- A Marquette Law School poll found 80% of voters across parties say the Legislature should have passed the $1.8 billion plan, with similar support among Republicans, Democrats and independents.
- The negotiated package would have used part of a projected multi‑billion surplus to send one‑time rebate checks, permanently end state income tax on cash tips and overtime, and add hundreds of millions for K‑12 aid including special education and property tax relief.
- The bill won approval in the State Assembly but failed in the State Senate when all 15 Senate Democrats and three Republicans voted no, producing sharp intra‑party recriminations.
- Opponents cited a Legislative Fiscal Bureau projection that the plan could create a structural deficit under a no‑growth forecast and complained leaders negotiated the deal without fully winning buy‑in from rank‑and‑file senators.
- With the surplus still mostly unspent, school leaders warn of possible program cuts as districts finalize budgets and Republican leaders have sought another special session to try to revive the package while voters say candidate positions on the deal will matter in November.