Sen. LaTonya Johnson and Rep. Tip McGuire tapped to lead powerful budget committee

Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) and Rep. Tip McGuire (D-Kenosha) were named as the co-chairs of the state’s powerful Joint Finance Committee on Tuesday. 

The lawmakers will lead the 16-member committee, which is made up of eight senators  and eight Assembly members. It’s the latest announcement in Democratic leadership for the upcoming session. 

Democrats will hold a majority in the state Legislature for the first time in 16 years, and that means being responsible for writing the state’s next two-year budget, a process that falls majorly to the Joint Finance Committee.

The last time the state budget was written by Democrats was the 2009-2011 legislative session, and lawmakers entered that situation in a much different financial position — the state had a $6 billion budget deficit. Wisconsin will enter 2027 with a $3 billion budget surplus. 

In a statement, incoming Senate Majority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton), who is responsible for deciding committee assignments, said Johnson had “demonstrated her ability to connect with people across the state and fight for their needs during her time on JFC.”

Johnson, who was first elected to the Senate in 2016 and previously operated an in-home childcare center, has served on the budget committee since the 2018 session. Hesselbein said that she has the “judgment and leadership to deliver a budget that reflects the needs of this moment in our state’s history.” 

Johnson said it’s been a privilege to listen to people from across the state  and she promises to “keep listening and to carry your stories with me into the Capitol as we write a responsible budget investing in the people because I know what having opportunity means to a family, and how much can change when people have a fair shot to build a better life.”

Incoming Assembly Speaker Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) named McGuire as the Assembly co-chair. She said in a statement that he has “spent his career fighting for working families” and has “deep experience in the budget process.”

“I know that he is going to make sure that the next state budget truly reflects the will of the people,” Neubauer said. “He understands that every appropriation and every line item affect people in communities across Wisconsin.”

McGuire, who previously worked as a Kenosha County special prosecutor and Milwaukee County assistant district attorney, was first elected to the state Assembly in an April 2019 special election. He has served on the state budget committee since the 2023-24 legislative session. 

McGuire said in a statement that he is “humbled” to have the chance to craft a budget. 

“For nearly fifty years in America, working men and women have struggled while the rich get richer and corporations get bigger. When I first ran for office, I made it my No. 1 priority to fight to restore the middle class and advocate for the working people of our state,” McGuire said. “I am more committed than ever to that mission.”