“Like pretty much everything else Scott Walker says, this claim is a distortion of reality that is a blatant attempt to distract from Walker’s real record of failure and dishonesty. Scott Walker’s phony and over-stated ‘savings’ don’t seem worth much when property owners saw their home values fall, our children have more kids and fewer teachers in their classrooms, seniors and working families saw their property taxes go up, and middle-class families are paying more to send their kids to college.”
FACTS:
-The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau says that Scott Walker’s budget raised taxes on seniors and working families: $14 million increase by reducing the Homestead Tax Credit, affecting 247,000 homeowners and renters, and a $56.2 million increase on low-wage workers with children as a result of cuts to the Earned Income Tax Credit.
– In addition to raising taxes, Walker’s budget also increased fees by more than $133 million, $106 million of which came in the form of UW System tuition increases.
-Scott Walker cut K-12 education by $1.6 billion. The Department of Public Instruction reports that nearly 1500 teachers lost their jobs, and 74 percent of school districts to cut staff, including the largest, exorbitant cuts made to reading, special education, career and technical education teachers.
-Several localities have reported that their estimated “savings” under Scott Walker were grossly overstated.
