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Devin LeMahieu: “We had a 7 billion dollar surplus.”

Featuring: Devin LeMahieu, Republican | Wisconsin State Senate, District 9

WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu

Published February 20, 2026 | Video Starts at 32:11

And frankly, having a two and a half billion dollar surplus at the end just shows how responsible we've been over the last eight years. You know, we started off after Covid when we got that shocking update from Bob Lang that We had a 7 billion dollar surplus. By the way, the person who was running my budget back then is in the room and I called him up after I got off the phone with Beavers and I'm like, you're not going to believe this. (32:11–32:14)

CLAIM

Asserts that there was a $7 billion surplus.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Devin LeMahieu

“There's only been one session in the Senate where every vote has had a majority vote by the party in control over the last 25 years.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 12:48-12:58
“There's no regulation over [sports betting apps] and they're betting on sports.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 24:12-24:17
“If you eliminate the income tax altogether, you have to increase sales tax by 4% or so.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 40:27-40:34
“Dane county has all their absentee ballots counted by 2pm in the afternoon and they probably have a higher percentage of absentee voters…”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 50:23-50:35
“We're going to have a projected two and a half billion dollar surplus at the end of the current budget.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 02:56-03:01
“We heard a lot from our constituents about property taxes going up last year.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 03:29-03:35
“If we don't eliminate the 400 year veto, [property taxes] are likely going to go up again.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 05:55-06:07
“The best way to use this surplus and to get it in the hands of taxpayers is through income tax rebates.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 06:38-06:46
“We chose a responsible number which is one and a half billion, just shy of 1.5 billion, which still leaves about a billion dollars going…”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 06:45-06:55
“The governor and the speaker are still negotiating and I have not been invited to those negotiations.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 08:02-08:09
“There's been no communication between offices this week.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 10:21-10:24
“If there is some compromise that eliminates the 400 year veto and can provide property tax early to Wisconsin families, I think we could…”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 13:38-13:53
“The Supreme Court took away legislative authority over the buying of private land in the state of Wisconsin.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 15:07-15:15
“There's nothing in state statute [about] THC at all since it's sort of a new product out there.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 15:47-15:56
“Nothing has passed either House. There's competing bills.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 16:58-17:03
“It has not gotten a committee in the assembly either bill, I believe the Senate. There's a Senate bill that got out of committee in the…”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 17:26-17:36
“I'd like to get the money back into the taxpayer's hands.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 18:09-18:13
“Two budgets ago, Wisconsin I came up to us and had a set aside $10 million in the supplemental fund used as matching grants.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 18:41-18:52
“They've proven over two years that they have no ability to raise money.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 19:25-19:29
“We have vacant state buildings all around the square. But yep, we're going to use taxpayer money to fund lease and office for $100,000 a…”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 20:25-20:37
“We figure, why don't they put it out for an rfp?”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 21:30-21:34
“My county board can live stream their county board hearings. They're not spending a million dollars a year.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 21:44-21:51
“We found that back in 1993, JCLO voted to do an RFP.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 22:56-23:06
“You can go to the casino right now, some of the grander or casinos in the state of Wisconsin and do it.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 24:16-24:24
“It makes sense to actually have regulations in Wisconsin [for online betting].”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 25:07-25:12
“I'm pretty sure the compacts would have to be open back then.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 25:28-25:33
“There's one [data center] being built just south of my district.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 26:30-26:33
“They're going to destroy roads. And in my county, just because trucks are. Trucks are running over. Over the roads.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 26:55-27:03
“A lot of the newer [data centers] they're building aren't using. Don't use the water that some of the previous ones done.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 27:39-27:47
“We're not producing enough power in Wisconsin to a massive use of power.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 28:17-28:24
“It's really good for the local economy to build them [data centers].”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 28:56-29:03
“There's a huge positive economic impact [from building data centers].”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 29:24-29:28
“The legislature's leadership has kept Wisconsin in good shape, unlike Minnesota, which raised taxes and went into a deficit.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 31:05-31:11
“We have 14 years of providing and reducing taxes in Wisconsin.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 31:05-31:11
“We've reduced your income taxes substantially over the last eight years in spite of Governor Ebers being in office.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 31:29-31:38
“We've invested into health care, we've invested into roads, we've invested into schools.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 31:40-31:46
“Having a two and a half billion dollar surplus at the end just shows how responsible we've been over the last eight years.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 31:56-32:04
“We've been very responsible since then, you know, not sticking $7 billion into ongoing expenses and causing shortfalls for the future.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 32:48-32:59
“We continue to reduce taxes and our revenues continue to go up because we're making a better economy here in Wisconsin.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 33:08-33:16
“We are competing with Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, which have lower income taxes than Wisconsin.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 37:59-38:03
“We lowered the second tax bracket in our previous budget to help retirees stay in the state.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 38:22-38:27
“There was a huge exodus from K12 into private schools because parents realized that, oh my goodness, this is what they're teaching our kids.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 43:08-43:19
“We need to continue to work on improving standards, why we tried to reinstate the cut scores or use that terminology.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 43:57-44:09
“Part of those federal funds were cut to the counties and they don't actually have to do this.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 45:49-45:55
“Their funding ends October of this year.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 45:55-46:01
“Currently the state's still under the 6%, but barely. It's quite marginal.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 46:51-46:57
“I think it was about 500 million of it was a result of capital gains tax.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 47:39-47:45
“When we passed our original budget we had a $800 million projected surplus.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 48:35-48:40
“Just because we don't have an elections committee doesn't make it hard to pass election bills. We have government ops committee, local…”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 51:01-51:15
“I think we do a fairly good job in Wisconsin. You know, we have 1800 different municipalities who have trade clerks. We have a lot of…”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 52:27-52:41
“Federalizing our elections, I think it's unconstitutional.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 52:53-52:59
“We could have all mail out ballots to everybody over the age of 18, which would be a nightmare and be all kinds of fraud.”
WisPolitics-State Affairs luncheon with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu | Uploaded February 20, 2026 | 53:24-53:35