(The Center Square) – Madison’s public school managers say they need $60 million just to keep up with special education requirements next year.
And they say they don’t know where they will find the money.
The Madison Metropolitan School Board this week began work on its 2026-2027 school budget.
“Our budget reflects what we value most as a school district,” Superintendent Joe Gothard said. “We are committed to uplifting the student experience, supporting our staff and making strategic investments that move our schools forward. At the same time, we must plan responsibly for financial realities that continue to challenge public education.”
Madison Metropolitan’s current school budget is $668 million – about 10% higher than the 2024-2025 school budget.
There is no proposed price tag for the next budget.
MMSD says it needs to find at least $30 million more for teacher pay raises and benefits. That includes:
● $4.7 million for compensation step increases
● $9.5 million for inflationary compensation increases
● 14 to $16 million for health insurance increases
● And the new costs for expanded parental leave benefits
“These increases reflect contractual obligations, market conditions and our responsibility to remain competitive as an employer,” Assistant Superintendent of Financial Services Bob Soldner said. “We begin planning early so we can evaluate multiple scenarios, manage risk and minimize disruption to schools and classrooms.”
Madison schools are also expecting less money from the state. MMSD officials say they could see $7 million less.
Voters in Madison agreed to give the city’s school district $600 million more in 2024. The school district proposed two referendum questions, one for $100 million to hire more teachers and staffers. The other was for more than $500 million for facility upgrades.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin is a leader in pushing for legislative authority over the authority of unelected bureaucrats, according to the Institute for Reforming Government’s Wisconsin Administrative Reform Toolbox.
The group highlighted 15 years worth of legislation pushing the state in the direction of legislative authority as many states and governmental entities have seen power shift in the other direction.
IRG is hoping to have explained to other states outside of Wisconsin how to simplify legislative authority, from the 2011 Act 21, which put in requirements before agencies could regulate to the 2017 REINS act requiring legislative approval for rules costing more than $10 million to this year’s Red Tape Reset bills, which would need the approval of Gov. Tony Evers before becoming law.
“Wisconsin has an amazing story to tell,” IRG General Counsel and Director of the Center for Investigative Oversight Jake Curtis told The Center Square. “We’ve laid that out for years, about how Wisconsin really has this amazing model for administrative reforms and, the reality is that there’s.a lot of states, even red states or very red states, that don’t have good administrative processes in place.”
The current bills include one addressing the 165,000 restrictions in state law with a sunsetting bill requiring all chapters of administrative code be reviewed, updated or allowed to expire every seven years.
The other is a bill requiring that if a new rule adds costs for businesses, families or local governments, those costs must be offset.
“Those are reforms that IRG has been calling for along with others for years,” Curtis said, pointing to a REINS Act report released last year.
Pitfalls in that process, however, can occur.
The report pointed to a ruling last year from the Wisconsin Supreme Court stating that legislators cannot indefinitely block rules, leading to an agency free-for-all on rulemaking that has led to more proposed legislation and a constitutional amendment.
“States seeking to replicate this tool should consider working closely with legal counsel to structure the committee’s power as a temporary suspension rather than a permanent veto, or consider pursuing a state constitutional amendment, to avoid a similar legal challenge,” the toolbox explains.

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Assembly approved a bill that would make the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association subject to open meetings and public records and now that bill will be sent to Gov. Tony Evers.
The Senate passed the legislation in November.
Former Gov. Scott Walker vetoed a similar bill in 2015 and Evers vetoed one in 2021. Evers could veto and block the legislation again.
The private organization that governs high school athletics for the state’s public and private schools has fought the legislation, saying it is private and does not accept tax money.
But lawmakers that passed the bill argue that the WIAA needs more transparency on its decision-making authority over public high school athletes and schools.
“WIAA’s membership is made up of schools whose boards are subject to open records and open meetings laws, but WIAA is not,” Sen. Cory Tomczyk, R-Mosinee, said in testimony on the bill. “When taxpayer dollars are involved, proceedings should be open and honest. While WIAA receives no taxpayer funds, it uses taxpayer funded facilities and is a fixture in our public school system. While exempting referee and pupil records to keep their personal information safe, SB 16 aims to bring to light what is going on behind the scenes at WIAA and increase transparency between the organization and its members, students, and parents.”
The WIAA’s Executive Director Stephanie Hauser told a committee that the group’s eligibility decisions can become controversial and “I think we’re going to get pummeled with them” regarding public records requests.
“This legislation advances even though the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the WIAA is not a government or quasi-government entity,” the WIAA said in a statement after the vote. “SB 16 imposes burdens typically meant for public offices, and we are concerned this will disrupt our ability to effectively serve our member schools and student-athletes.”
Those advocating for the law, however, argue that more transparency is needed in the WIAA’s decision-making authority over public high school athletes.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin voters are going to get to decide on the governor’s veto powers after lawmakers in Madison approved a constitutional amendment aimed at limiting what the governor can do with a veto.
“Shall section 10 (1) (c) of article V of the constitution be amended to prohibit the governor, in exercising his or her partial veto authority, from creating or increasing or authorizing the creation or increase of any tax or fee?” the ballot question will read.
The amendment comes after Gov. Tony Evers used a veto to order a 400-year school funding increase.
In that veto, Evers crossed out a few numbers and some punctuation to turn a two-year school funding increase into a four-century funding increase.
Evers’ veto touched off a wave of property tax increases this year.
Wisconsin’s governor has one of the most powerful vetoes in the country, and Evers has used it several times during his two terms in office.
The Republican-led legislature tried to ban future, similar vetoes, but the governor vetoed those efforts. That is why lawmakers chose to push a constitutional amendment.
It’s not the first time Republicans in Wisconsin have gone to voters with proposals that Evers blocked.
The legislature approved four other proposed constitutional amendments between 2023 and 2025. Voters approved all of them.

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Assembly passed a pair of bills on Friday aimed at combatting issues with teachers in the state who have faced accusations of sexual misconduct.
Assembly Bill 1003 would require any teacher that voluntarily surrenders a teaching license due to an investigation to be informed that the surrender is permanent, that their name will be listed on the Department of Public Instruction’s website as having their license suspended permanently after an investigation into immoral conduct and the personnel records will be subject to open records requests.
Assembly Bill 1004 prevents schools from entering into confidentiality agreements related to investigations into immoral conduct.
Both bills passed the Assembly and were sent to the Senate.
Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, said that the first bill addresses that “voluntary surrender” is not in state statute and that it will now be clear that the term is a permanent revocation of a teaching license while the ban on confidentiality agreements is aimed at allowing problem teachers to move from one school district to another after immoral conduct.
“Together, these bills also address the misuse of confidentiality agreements—both at the DPI level and at the local school district level,” Nedweski said.
She cited an investigation from the Capital Times into 200 cases of sexual misconduct that DPI had hidden from the public eye.
“These ‘pass the trash’ policies simply move problematic staff from one school to another, putting more students at risk of being preyed upon,” Nedweski said.
She noted that 10 states – including Michigan, Iowa and Illinois – have bans in place on confidentiality agreements.
“Taken together, these bills close dangerous loopholes, prevent quiet exits, and put student safety first by ensuring accountability and transparency at every level of the system,” Nedweski said.

(The Center Square) – The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is asking the Iron County Circuit Court for judicial review of a recent ruling from Administrative Law Judge Angela Chaput Foy, who allowed permits for a Line 5 reroute to move forward.
The petition is the latest attempt by the tribe to challenge a 41-mile Line 5 reroute in northern Wisconsin. This challenge relates to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources permits for the project.
The pipeline transports more than 500,000 barrels of crude oil and natural gas liquids each day through the Bad River Band reservation.
Proponents of the reroute say that energy and jobs throughout the state are dependent on the pipeline and reroute project. The Bad River Band has said that it believes the reroute could threaten water quality, habitats and rice beds on the reservation.
The group is also appealing permits issued for the project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a separate case.
“For generations, the Bad River — Mashkiiziibii — and the waters that flow into Lake Superior have nurtured our healthy walleye, sustained our wild rice beds, and kept our community vibrant and strong,” Bad River Band Chairwoman Elizabeth Arbuckle said in a statement. “The Band River watershed is not an oil pipeline corridor that exists to serve Enbridge’s profits. It is our homeland. We must protect it.”
The band is joined in the case by Clean Wisconsin, Earthjustice, Midwest Environmental Advocates, the Sierra Club, 350 Wisconsin and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.
Permit applications for the project were initially submitted in 2020.
“For five years, Wisconsin’s skilled trades workers have stood ready while this critical infrastructure project completed a rigorous approval process. Today, that wait ends,” Emily Pritzkow, executive director of the Wisconsin Building Trades Council, said in a statement. “Now, 700 union workers will soon get to work to construct the safest and best-built section of pipeline in the country.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s housing market is starting 2026 in the same place it ended 2025.
The latest Realtors Report shows houses became more expensive and harder to find in January.
“New listings fell significantly in January, leading to tighter inventory statewide. This resulted in fewer existing home sales and higher home prices relative to a year ago. Specifically, Wisconsin’s existing home sales fell 3.9% compared to January 2025, and the median price rose 7.9% over that same period to $315,000,” the Realtors wrote.
Wisconsin saw just 3,484 homes sold in January, and just 4,969 homes listed. The Realtors said those homes spent an average of 90 days on the market.
Wisconsin has faced a shortage of houses for sale for years, and 2026 is not looking to be any different.
One sign of hope, however, is that interest rates are falling.
“The spike in mortgage rates that began in 2022 saw rates topping out over 7%, and as a result, affordability fell to record-low levels. We really didn’t start seeing improvement until the middle of last year. Since June 2025, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate has fallen by nearly three quarters of a percent to 6.1%, and the Wisconsin Housing Affordability Index has increased nearly 16%,” Realtors President Tom Larson added. “Hopefully these improvements in affordability continue.”
As usual, Wisconsin’s housing market is skewed by regions.
Most of the homes that were sold were sold in either the Madison or Milwaukee areas. With 1,120 homes sold in southeast Wisconsin, and another 731 homes sold in south-central Wisconsin.
Those are also the places where homes are the most expensive. Houses in the Madison-area had the highest median price at $374,900. Southeast Wisconsin had the second highest median price in the state, with a price tag of $325,000. Northern Wisconsin remains the most affordable part of the state, with a median price of $239,450.

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Assembly approved a bill that would send $14.6 million in general purpose taxpayer funds to University of Wisconsin-Madison annually for maintenance and debt service on athletics facilities.
The bill was labeled a name, image and likeness bill that also would require athletes to disclose to the school any third-party NIL deals but would make those deals exempt from public records.
The athletic department is currently required to pay for 40% of the principal and interest costs on athletic facilities from athletics funds.
The Assembly approved the bill on a 95-1 vote Thursday, the final day the Assembly was scheduled to be in session. Rep. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, was the lone “no” vote.
It remains unclear if the Senate will take up the bill and send it to Gov. Tony Evers.
UW-Madison athletics operated with a $4.3 million surplus in its most recent annual NCAA financial report released last month covering the financial year that ended in June 2025.
UW-Madison Athletic Director Chris McIntosh told the Assembly Committee on State Affairs recently that football is responsible for 80% of the athletic department’s revenue. That was $113.6 million last fiscal year, according to the NCAA report, which showed the football program brought in $72 million in excess during the year.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, announced Thursday he won’t seek reelection in the fall.
Vos said he had a mild heart attack in mid-November and that doctors said he would be fine but “I do need to reduce my stress.”
Vos has been the assembly speaker since 2013 after first being elected in 2004. He was the Assembly Chair for the Joint Finance Committee before being elected speaker.
Vos made the announcement to begin Thursday’s Assembly floor session, which started nearly three hours after its scheduled time of 11 a.m., after session lasted until nearly midnight on Wednesday.
“The decision wasn’t easy,” Vos said, noting he had been thinking about it for a long time.
He joins Gov. Tony Evers in not seeking reelection in the fall.
“The Speaker’s retirement marks the end of an era in Wisconsin politics, and I’m grateful to have served as governor during Speaker Vos’ tenure,” Evers said in a statement. “Although we’ve disagreed more often than we didn’t, I respect his candor, his ability to navigate complex policies and conversations, and his unrivaled passion for politics.”
Vos said that he believes that the Legislature worked properly under his guidance, which was sometimes slower than others wanted it to work.
“What kept me grounded was the reminder that the gavel belongs to the institution, not an individual person,” Vos said. “Strong institutions matter and I believe I am leaving this institution stronger and ready to endure the road ahead. I have confidence in Wisconsin’s future and in those who will work to carry this work forward.”

(The Center Square) – A bill that would allow sports wagering in Wisconsin through the state’s tribes passed the Assembly on a unanimous voice vote Thursday, the final day the Assembly was scheduled to be in session.
It remains unclear if the Senate will take up the bill and send it to Gov. Tony Evers, who has voiced support for the plan.
The proposal would change the state’s definition of “bet” to allow the state’s tribes to offer mobile sports wagering if the bettor is in Wisconsin and the sportsbook servers are on tribal land, an amendment to current compacts allowing for casino gambling and sports wagering on tribal lands despite the state’s ban on betting.
The law would allow for a similar sports wagering model as Florida, where the state’s sportsbook operators have servers on federally recognized tribal lands while users can be in the state of Wisconsin.
The proposal cites the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision not to hear a challenge to the sports wagering pact between Florida and the Seminole tribe of the hub-and-spoke sports wagering model.
Wisconsin receives payments that are a portion of the net win from tribal casinos but does not separately report sports wagering payments.
In 2024, the state received more than $66 million in shared revenue payments with nearly $66 million in 2023 and nearly $57 million in 2022.
Sports wagering is legal in 39 states with 31 allowing mobile sports wagering.
The bill estimates it will bring hundreds of millions of illegal bets into legal sportsbooks in the state, stating the change “generates new revenue through tribal gaming compacts and reduces consumer risk from offshore operators.”
During committee discussion on the bill, Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Caledonia, pointed testimony from Sports Betting Alliance Counsel Damon Stewart, who said that a requirement that 60% of the gross revenue from mobile sports wagering under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act would be too high of a cost for top national brands such as DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Fanatics and Bet365.
“I think our citizens in Wisconsin are better served by keeping this new platform within our current gambling structure,” Wittke said.

(The Center Square) – The Republican running for governor in Wisconsin says he will pull the state out of the World Health Organization if he’s elected.
Gov. Tony Evers said in his State of the State speech earlier this week he is signing Wisconsin up for the WHO’s new global organization.
“Public health isn’t a partisan issue, and it isn’t up for debate. And real lives are at stake if we fail to listen,” Evers said during his speech. “It’s why, in the coming weeks, I’ll sign an executive order to have Wisconsin join the World Health Organization’s Global Response Network. We must do what we can to keep our kids, our families, and our communities healthy and safe.”
The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network is a collection of states and local health departments that share public health information. The governor’s office said joining the group will give Wisconsin “timely and direct access to global early-warning alerts, outbreak intelligence and data sharing.”
“I’m not a rocket scientist, but I did teach biology in Baraboo. Maybe if we want to make Americans and Wisconsinites ‘healthy’ again, making health care affordable and accessible would be a great place to start. We could also start by trusting the science, public health experts, and medical professionals who have eradicated diseases and found cures and kept us healthy and safe for decades,” the governor added.
Republican candidate Tom Tiffany immediately disagreed.
“So @GovEvers will share Wisconsin’s health data with the Communist China-corrupted World Health Organization. But he won’t allow the USDA to audit our food stamp rolls for fraud?” Tiffany wrote on X. “Talk about misplaced priorities.”
Evers wouldn’t be the only Democratic governor to join the WHO group. Illinois’ JB Pritzker recently signed his state up, as did the governors in California and New York.

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Senate passed a bill on a voice vote Wednesday afternoon that would fund WisconsinEye with more than $585,000 in taxpayer funds for the next year while collecting requests for proposal for a public affairs network.
The proposals must be submitted by June 30.
Sen. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, called the compromise between parties on Senate Bill 994 true bipartisan work that worked toward a solution after what he called a “breach of contract” when WisconsinEye took its archives off its website along with stopping production of new meeting coverage Dec. 15.
When asked for the reason WisEye was taking the archives off its site, WisEye President and CEO Jon Henkes told The Center Square that taking the more than 30,000 hours of archives offline is to show donors the value of WisconsinEye’s work and the fiscal situation for the company.
“We don’t know what the Assembly is going to do,” Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said. “We don’t know what the Assembly is going to do on so many things.”
The bill would have to be approved by the Assembly, which has a separate WisEye bill, and be signed by Gov. Tony Evers to go into effect.
It stipulates that the Joint Committee on Finance would also need to approve the request for 12 payments totaling $585,630 to WisconsinEye to provide ongoing video coverage with the payments set to end if a new public affairs network is selected to provide live broadcasts of state government proceedings and a digital archive.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin sports wagering bill sponsor Rep. Tyler August said Wednesday afternoon that he was “still confident” that he could get a bill passed in the state Assembly this session, with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos saying that Thursday will be the end of the session.
August said that the bill is currently on a delayed calendar in the Assembly and can be brought up any legislative day.
“We’re still having a few more conversations on that legislation,” August said. “We’re still working through some of our colleagues in the caucus just to make sure everybody’s comfortable with where it’s at.”
Bill sponsor Rep. Tyler August with an update on the sports gaming bill in Wisconsin. pic.twitter.com/kdQWLhSc36— Jon Styf (@JonStyf) February 18, 2026
August added that he confidence was related to the bill passing “in our house” and didn’t indicate if he knew that the Senate would also pass the bill, which would be a technical change to remove placing a bet as a criminal act in the state.
The proposal would change the state’s definition of “bet” to allow the state’s tribes to offer mobile sports wagering if the bettor is in Wisconsin and the sportsbook servers are on tribal land, an amendment to current compacts allowing for casino gambling and sports wagering on tribal lands despite the state’s ban on betting.
Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, has voiced his opposition to the bill.
86% of Wisconsin voters oppose GOP’s attempt to legalize online gambling, instead preferring to decide the issue through a constitutional amendment. Makes sense because the Constitution says, “the legislature may not authorize gambling in any form.”— Dan Lennington (@DanLennington) February 18, 2026
Since the bill was delayed, large operators such as Fanatics and DraftKings have opened prediction markets in the state with FanDuel saying it will as well.

(The Center Square) – Charlie Berens said he couldn’t be at a Madison committee hearing on non-disclosure agreements for data centers in person because he had to go to the casino with his grandma, but his video testimony began a public hearing on a Senate bill to ban NDAs for data centers.
“I looked at these things online and really what I saw was the sentiment of people feeling like they were cut out of the process of having this huge, huge building with unprecedented building size with power usage and they didn’t know it was happening until it was too late,” Berens said. “The more we can allow communities to decide for communities, I think that’s going to create some communities will want these and some communities won’t. But the answer shouldn’t be cutting them out of the process.”
Comedian Charlie Berens testified to start a Wisconsin public hearing on banning NDAs related to data centers (*except related to trade secrets) pic.twitter.com/eMohuiA9CY— Jon Styf (@JonStyf) February 18, 2026
Senate Bill 969 has an exception that allows trade secrets from being publicly disclosed without defining what a trade secret would entail.
Many data centers have claimed that it is a trade secret to divulge the amount of energy or water used on a project or the name of the company involved in the data center.
The bill says that if a prohibited NDA is used, a local government will not be allowed to approve the project.
Sen. Andre Jacque, R-New Franken, did specifically mention energy load, land use, infrastructure costs and water requirements as something that local officials would need to know before making a decision on a project.
“Unfortunately, we have witnessed a troubling pattern in Wisconsin and throughout our country, community leaders are signing secrecy deals with big tech companies and their agents to conceal material facts about the development of billion-dollar data centers from the public,” Jacque said. “They seek to hide vital information about the scope and impacts of their intended developments from the local officials charged with guarding their citizen’s welfare.”
Jacque specifically named projects in Beaver Dam, Menomonie, Kenosha and Janesville where NDAs were used to “hide information from local government.”
Jacque said that, if a data center deal is so good for a community, then an NDA shouldn’t need to be used because “that’s not a development strategy, it’s a gag order to hide the warts.”
Rep. Clint Moses, R-Menomonie, called it a “90-10 issue” with both far right and Democratic supporters who are engaged in the data center disclosure issue.
“It’s really brought some odd bedfellows together,” Moses said about the issue of a data center in his community.
Brad Tietz, the director of policy for the Data Center Coalition, said that the NDA bill would put Wisconsin at a “competitive disadvantage” related to attracting data center projects.
“NDAs are not tools to hide misconduct, they are standard business instruments used across virtually every industry to protect proprietary information and critical security details,” Tietz said.

(The Center Square) – There is not much of an appetite from Wisconsin’s Republican lawmakers for a summer session to draw a new congressional map for the state.
Gov. Tony Evers used his final State of The State speech on Tuesday to push lawmakers to agree to a new map for the state’s eight congressional districts.
“I’m announcing that I’ll be calling a special session of the Legislature this spring to take up a constitutional amendment to ban partisan gerrymandering once and for all in Wisconsin,” Evers said during his speech. “And let me be clear: I won’t hesitate to bring the Legislature into special session later this year in August. Or September. Or October. Heck, I’m old enough to remember when the Legislature was willing to meet in December!”
Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, said he doesn’t buy what the governor is selling.
“Purely political and downright hilarious that he’s calling for a special session to ban partisan gerrymandering after he gerrymandered our maps,” Bradley told The Center Square. “In 2023, the legislature passed a bill giving him a redistricting commission, and he vetoed it after nearly every Democrat voted against it.”
The Republican-controlled legislature did agree to redraw the state’s legislative maps in early 2024.
Lawmakers at the time said they feared the liberal-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court may have ordered something worse for them. It’s not clear if they will make the same calculation this year.
The state’s high court has already taken up a redistricting case. The court has asked a three-judge panel to come up with a new map for the state’s members of Congress.
It does not appear that those new maps will be ready in time to be used in November’s midterm elections.

(The Center Square) – A bill that will end the ability of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to raise fees for animal market licenses, animal dealer licenses, animal trucker licenses and animal transport vehicle registrations is now headed to Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.
Senate Bill 622 passed the Assembly with a 57-42 vote after the bill was passed 22-11 by the Senate a week earlier, both on partisan votes.
The bill came after DATCP had proposed increasing a livestock market fee from $420 to $7,430, trucker license fees from $60 to $370 and animal dealer fees from $220 to $670 last year before receiving significant pushback and later proposing smaller increases.
Those changes came after a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that blocked legislators from oversight on rulemaking with Evers telling agencies to bypass having rules heard in committee and instead simply enact them.
That leaves in question if Evers will sign or veto the bill.
The Wisconsin Farm Bureau and Americans for Prosperity–Wisconsin collected public feedback, sending it to DATCP after the rules were proposed.
DATCP said in a fiscal estimate that the bill would force the agency to operate with a negative cash balance unless the fees or a funding source are changed.
“This bill would remove DATCP’s ability to propose fee adjustments through the statutorily set administrative rulemaking process,” the fiscal estimate said. “Without revenue adjustments, the appropriation will operate in a negative cash balance until additional funding sources are identified.”
DATCP Secretary Randy Romanski said in testimony that the programs had a negative cash balance of $267,000 at the end of last fiscal year, which is expected to grow to more than $1.1 million by the end of this fiscal year and said that Evers’ last budget proposal asked for seven new full time positions while four were ultimately granted.