Two state lawmakers, displeased with the controversial Taxpayer Protection Amendment, introduced their own plan Tuesday to implement more immediate tax relief.

The Tax Relief Today plan — introduced by state Sens. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, and Ron Brown, R-Eau Claire — aims to offer tax relief without amending the state Constitution, as TPA proposes to do.

"Sen. Harsdorf doesn't think we should be legislating in the Constitution. That's the bottom line," Harsdorf spokesman Jack Jablonski said.

Jablonski added the newly proposed plan contains five points, all of which do not require constitutional changes, but could rather be implemented through the law.

According to its proponents, the Tax Relief Today plan would give local governments the ability to reduce property taxes, limit state spending and ensure that tax dollars are spent wisely.

This would include redirecting $250 million to schools by requiring that 65 percent of education funding be spent on classroom instruction.

Backers of the proposal added it would also deliver property tax relief by shifting the funding burden from the Technical College System from local to state aid.

"This is an alternative that can be done on the state level today," Jablonski noted.

Additionally, the plan would reduce citizens' property tax burdens further by indefinitely extending a tax freeze, thus capping taxes at the rate of growth plus inflation.

While Tax Relief Today supporters lauded the plan as a responsible alternative to a constitutional amendment, its opponents questioned its long-term viability.

According to TPA co-author Rep. Jeff Wood, R-Chippewa Falls, it is necessary to amend the Constitution to see real change.

"I am extremely disappointed with the press release sent out [Tuesday] by Sens. Brown and Harsdorf," Wood said in a release. "I just hope they understand the need to put real limits on the state."

Wood added that according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, any statutory provision — including caps on spending — could be modified by the enactment of other legislation. This possibility, Wood said, means that the Tax Relief Today plan could be changed with future legislation.

"The Legislature has created statutory limits on state spending in the past, but they simply don't work," Wood said.

Proponents of Tax Relief Today, however, argued limits can be implemented immediately under the law without constitutional limits, as was done in New Hampshire and Virginia.

By avoiding changes to the Constitution, tax relief would be delivered sooner rather than later, Tax Relief Today supporters added.

But as Republican lawmakers continued to disagree about the best way to implement tax relief in Wisconsin, legislators on both sides of the new proposal agreed a change is necessary.

"I believe both senators were well intentioned and I know they support limits to local taxpayers, which is why all three of us have voted to put limits on local governments," Wood said.

While Gov. Jim Doyle has expressed strong opposition to TPA, he was unavailable for comment on the Tax Relief Today proposal.