Residents favor cooperation with ICE, favor mother over inseminated person, and support elimination of state tax on seniors

By State Rep. Brent Jacobson

Earlier this year, I sent out my spring survey to help me determine your priorities for this legislative session. Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out a survey! I enjoyed reading all your responses, and the priorities you listed were very helpful as my colleagues and I debated the 2025-2027 State Budget. My office has compiled all of the responses we received, and I want to share the results with you!

In my survey, nearly 3/4 of respondents said they support local law enforcement working with ICE to detain violent illegal immigrants. Across our state, most county sheriff’s offices do work with federal authorities to remove dangerous illegal aliens from our country. However, a minority of county sheriffs have chosen not to cooperate.

This issue is receiving renewed attention thanks to a recent tragedy, when two teens were killed in a crash caused by an illegal immigrant who was driving drunk. My colleagues and I are outraged by the sanctuary policies that allow dangerous illegal immigrants to remain in our communities, and I am proud to co-sponsor AB 24, a bill that would require Wisconsin sheriffs to work with federal immigration enforcement to deport illegal immigrants who are charged with felonies.

Governor Evers sparked outrage earlier this session when he introduced a budget proposal that would replace words like “mother” in our state statute with demeaning terms like “inseminated person”. Governor Evers is far from alone in pushing this agenda. In May, Democrats in the legislature doubled down and introduced a bill that replaces the word “mother” in state law over 370 times with terms like “pregnant person”.

Over 77% of the constituents who filled out a survey said they oppose these efforts to put far-left wokeness in our state laws. My colleagues and I stand firmly with them. Governor Evers’ attempt through the budget was one of the first items we removed, and the bill introduced in May is dead on arrival. 

Across Wisconsin, senior citizens and retirees are moving away from their families and the communities they worked their whole life in to states with more favorable taxes. Halting this flight is just one of the benefits we stand to gain by lowering tax burdens, and nearly 77% of people who responded to my survey said they supported eliminating income taxes on senior citizens.

This session, my colleagues and I successfully delivered a massive $1.5 billion tax cut, including exempting up to $48,000 of retirement income for married joint filers from taxation. This is a massive victory, but it’s just the first step. I will continue to advocate to lower your taxes, and for the complete elimination of income taxation for retirees!

As part of my survey, I asked you to rank your top priorities for funding in the 2025-27 State Budget. The following were the top four things listed by respondents:

• 70% of respondents said they prioritized fixing roads and bridges.
• 56% said they prioritized tax cuts.
• 44% said they prioritized public safety.
• 41% said they prioritized investing in K-12 education.

Your responses were very helpful when my colleagues and I were working on the State Budget. Among the many investments we made in critical areas, we delivered a budget that:

• Invested $100 million in the Local Roads Improvement Program, $150 million in the Agricultural Roads Improvement Program, and increased annual funding for municipal and county road aids.
• Cut taxes by $1.5 billion.
• Provided funding for law enforcement and EMS training, and increased staff for district attorneys and public defenders to reduce court backlog.
• Provided the largest special education investment in Wisconsin history, helping our schools shift funding to other priorities.

Thank you again to everyone who completed my survey, and everyone else who has reached out to my office with feedback. I continue to welcome your comments and feedback as I strive to represent your voice in Madison. Please don’t hesitate to contact my office with any issues, concerns, or insights you may have!