Walker vows to restore funding twothirds of school costs.

“Maintaining our transportation system is a top priority, and our plan will help ensure we have a safe and reliable system for families and businesses across the state.” Gov. Scott Walker

Gov. Scott Walker on Monday vowed to restore the state’s commitment to cover two-thirds of school costs — a plan his opponent proposed two months ago.

Walker told conservative radio show host Jay Weber on WISN-AM (1130) he would put back in place the two-thirds funding for schools first made by former GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson without raising property taxes. Hours later, Walker made campaign appearances in Milwaukee and Green Bay with Thompson by his side.

The proposal comes three weeks before the Nov. 6 election and months after Walker’s Democratic opponent Tony Evers, the state’s schools chief, promised the same in the next state budget should he be elected.

Walker didn’t say how much his plan would cost and provided generalities on how he would pay for it.

“The way we do it is simple,” he said at a stop at Pro Engineering & Manufacturing in Milwaukee. “It’s the way we have done it every year that I have been governor. We have been able to balance our budgets with good fiscal management . ... ”

Evers discounted Walker’s proposal, saying Walker had given too few details to know how it would work.

“He released no plan,” Evers told reporters at a Democratic office in Madison. “He just said the words ‘two-thirds.’ That doesn’t mean anything until we see a plan.”

Also Monday, Walker pledged to give towns a big boost in road funding if he is re-elected. The plan is similar to one for counties he unveiled last month that would cost the state $57 million a year.

Walker did not say what his proposal for towns would cost or how he would come up with the money, but the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau said it could cost more than $53 million a year.

“Maintaining our transportation system is a top priority, and our plan will help ensure we have a safe and reliable system for families and businesses across the state,” Walker said in a statement.

Said Evers: “Waiting until the eighth year of your two terms to tell the townships and municipalities of Wisconsin, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re going to fund your roads, even though for the last eight years we have not, even though we used to be rated much higher .... ’ — it’s a joke.”

Few details on school funding

This year, the state is covering 65.4% of the cost of K-12 education, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Bringing it to two-thirds this year would have cost about $130 million more, but figures for the next state budget have not yet been calculated.

Evers has said he wants to increase state funding for schools by $1.4 billion over two years. That’s far more than Walker, but like Walker, Evers has not said how he would fund his plan.

Walker accused Evers of restoring the funding by raising property taxes to pay for it, but Evers said in August he would make the commitment “without any gimmicks while holding the line on taxes.”

Education has emerged as a central issue in the campaign for governor, and voters have repeatedly told Marquette University Law School pollsters they would rather increase spending on public schools than cut taxes if given the choice.

Thompson began funding two-thirds of K-12 in the 1995-97 state budget. The commitment went away under Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and was not restored during Walker’s two terms.

Evers’ running mate, former state Rep. Mandela Barnes, said Walker was trying to copy Evers’ plan.

“He didn’t even pick a different fraction,” he said. “He’s trying to win on our ideas.”

Monday’s proposals from Walker came a day after Evers said he would cut income taxes by 10 percent for individuals making up to $100,000 and families making up to $150,000. Evers said he would fund that $340 million tax break by greatly scaling back a tax credit for farmers and manufacturers.

“We think it’s the only fair thing to do,” Evers said Monday. “The middleclass people of Wisconsin have not advanced under Scott Walker.”

Walker dismissed Evers’ plan in his radio interview, saying overall taxes would go up under Evers.

“This is just shifting money around,” Walker said. “This is not an outright tax cut.”

He will still raise your property taxes. He will raise your gas tax,” he said. “Hold onto your purses. Hold onto your wallet. It’s going to cost you a lot of tax money.”