(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is hoping to have $34 million sent to the state Department of Tourism, create a $10 million film incentive program, send $5.9 million to the Wisconsin Arts Board and more in his proposed budget.
This week, Evers touted those proposals along with repeating economic impact numbers related to the recent NFL draft and tourism in the state to justify the spending. But those numbers are repeatedly questioned by economists as those numbers are produced by marketing groups that does not follow economic study principals and are not reputable.
“Viewing what ‘economic impact’ consultants do to be economics is like considering horoscopes to be astronomy,” economist J.C. Bradbury of Georgia’s Kennesaw State University wrote. “Newspapers are smart enough to put horoscopes next to the comics and Dear Abby, while economic impact ‘studies’ get banner headlines on the front page.”
Evers’ office said the claimed 2024 economic impact numbers will be released next month. It also said that the $34 million spent in the last biennial budget on tourism was the “largest increase in marketing and advertising funds for the Wisconsin Department of Tourism in state history.”
One of the larger spending initiatives in the proposed budget is the film incentive program, which is included in Evers’ budget proposal and requires the creation of an Office of Film and Creative Industries in the Department of Tourism to disperse $10 million annually in credits.
The credits would be a 25% nonrefundable credit for wages related to film production and 25% of transferable credit for film-related expenses In the state.
“As governor, I’ve been proud to support Wisconsin’s travel and tourism industry, from creating the Office of Outdoor Recreation in 2019 to supporting capital projects in communities across the state to my new proposal to create an Office of Film and Creative Industries to bring creative endeavors to Wisconsin’s doorstep, and I look forward to continuing to support this critical industry in the years ahead,” Evers said in a statement.
Bradbury has extensively studied Georgia’s larger film credit program, writing in a peer-reviewed paper that the state spent $230 per household on foregone tax revenue because of the initiative, which has cost taxpayers the equivalent of $110,000 per full-time job in the industry without bringing the promised benefits from the program.
“While film production in Georgia may exceed other states, contrary to popular perception, the film industry is not a major driver of economic output or jobs in the state,” Bradbury concluded.
The film tax credit is similar to a proposal for a 30% video game production tax credit in the Wisconsin Legislature.

(The Center Square) – A Wisconsin Senate Republican has introduced a law to require contractors working with the state to verify its employees are in the country and able to legally work.
Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, introduced Legislative Reference Bill 0512, which would require contractors with more than $50,000 in total contracts with the state to use the federal E-Verify system to ensure that workers are allowed to work in the country.
“Congress failed to address a gap in our immigration law by making E-Verify use optional, rather than mandatory,” Wimberger said in a statement. “This means employers are not required to check their workers’ employment status beyond filling out an I-9 hiring form.
“Because of this, bad actors can plausibly deny their exploitation of illegally hired cheap immigrant labor, since the law does not compel them to do anything beyond the bare minimum to confirm the employment status of their workers.”
Wimberger said that the law would prevent Wisconsin companies from taking advantage of workers and lowering wages in the state.
The E-Verify program is administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, cross-checking information from an employee’s I-9 with Homeland Security and Social Security records. Wimberger said that Minnesota, Indiana and Pennsylvania have similar laws.
“Governor Evers expressed concern recently that he might be accused of violating federal immigration law,” Wimberger said. “This bill should ease his concerns, since employees and contractors will need to be pre-screened to be lawfully employed.”

(The Center Square) – The first official candidate in Wisconsin’s 2026’s race for governor says his plan is simple – keep young people in the state and stop retirees from moving out.
Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann officially announced his plans to run for governor over the weekend. On Monday, he spoke with News Talk 1130 WISN’s Jay Weber about what he plans to run on.
“I know a lot of folks that have left this state,” Schoemann explained. “They live in Florida or Arizona, some of them for six months and one day, just so they don’t have to live in the tax-hell that is Wisconsin under Tony Evers. And there’s plenty of kids who are graduating high school, graduating college or leaving and they’re never coming back.”
Schoemann said that means tax reform must be a part of his campaign.
“We have fundamental change. I think we start this conversation with the income tax,” Schoemann added. “To me it’s absolutely embarrassing that our income tax is not even lower than Illinois, who’s got a flat rate. I believe we got to flatten it, on a trajectory to eliminating it, eventually.”
Schoemann didn’t get into the specifics of how much that would cost or what other taxes would need to be raised to offset any losses.
He also said say smaller government is a must.
Schoemann said better leadership is a must as well and turned his criticism toward Evers.
“Whether it’s boys and girls sports, or the inseminated person commentary…I mean the list is long of all the embarrassing things that are going on in this administration,” Schoeman said. “And that’s not even getting into what a terrible leader the guy is.”
Evers has not said whether he plans to run in 2026. If he does, it would be his third run for governor.
The governor also didn’t comment on Schoemann’s entrance into the race, but the Democratic Governors Association did.
“Josh Schoemann’s entrance into Wisconsin’s race for governor guarantees that the GOP primary will be defined by extreme positions and unpopular proposals that will drag Wisconsin backwards,” the DGA said. “While Gov. Tony Evers has worked across party lines to do the right thing for Wisconsin, Schoemann brings to this race a toxic record of attacking public schools, opposing reproductive freedom, and championing Elon Musk’s attacks on the programs and services Wisconsinites rely on.”

(The Center Square) – The city of Madison had 46 employees who made $150,000 or more in base salary last year, according to data collected by Open The Books and shared with The Center Square.
Those numbers showed that 508 city employees made $100,000 or more in base salary.
The median household income in the city was $76,983 in 2023, according to data from the U.S. Census, while the average per capita income in the city was $48,557.
Madison saw a $22 million city referendum pass in November. Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said before the vote that the budget issues leading to Madison’s referendum ask came from a state levy limit issue that is up to the state to fix. She added that Madison has a six-year budget plan in place where the city would not go back to the public for another referendum.
This came despite a MacIver Institute report before the referendum showing that despite Finance Director David Schmiedicke’s claims that the city financial situation was “the worst we’ve seen,” the city’s independent auditors had said “The City’s sound financial operations are expected to remain solid, supported by growing revenue from ongoing development and strong fiscal management.”
MacIver found that city revenues outpaced expenses for the 10 years prior, with revenue growing 66% from 2014 to 2023 while expenses grew by 54% and property tax revenue increased by 50%.
“Voters are the ones who should hold their government accountable, and government works best for them when they are actively engaged with their government,” MacIver CEO Annette Olson told The Center Square.
The most recent Madison audit reported a $164 million total budget with a $105.4 million surplus for government-only activities for 2023, MacIver found, with the total unassigned fund balance for the year sitting at $80 million.
The city’s top earners last year were Schmiedicke and Police Chief Shon Barnes, who each made $198,963 in base salary while Schmiedke received $214,037 in gross pay and Barnes received $211,350.
Barnes left the department to become the chief of the Seattle Police Department in January. In Seattle, Barnes now makes $173.1 per hour, which is more than $360,000 per year in annual pay.
Madison Director of Transportation Thomas Lynch, Streets Superintendent Charles Romines and Fire Chief Christopher Carbon are the other individuals who made base salaries of more than $190,000 last year.
Madison also paid more than $50,000 in overtime to 22 employees and more than $20,000 in overtime to 202 employees during 2024.
“If it were my community, I would be screaming from the highest building about ridiculous overtime payments that in some cases more than double the salaries of city employees,” Olson said. “There are many reasons why Madison is broken, but these expenses are one major reason why.”

(The Center Square) – A total of 76% of Wisconsin voters approve of the state allowing absentee ballots to begin being tabulated on the Monday heading into an election, according to a new poll of 600 likely voters in the state.
Wisconsin voting precincts currently must wait until Election Day to county any mail-in or in-person absentee ballots, with several counties including Milwaukee County using central count facilities that lead to delayed reporting of election results.
The Wisconsin Assembly’s elections committee chair – Rep. Dave Maxey, R-New Berlin – has said he wants to do away with Milwaukee’s central count.
An early count proposal from Rep. Scott Krug, R-Nekoosa, passed the Assembly last year but did not pass the Wisconsin Senate. Krug is the chairman of the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections.
The Democracy Defense Project Wisconsin board includes former Attorney General JB Van Hollen, former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, former U.S. Representative Scott Klug and former Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tat
“Wisconsin elections are important as ever and we will continue to have all eyes on us as we head into another election cycle,” the board said in a statement. “Despite running a tight ship throughout the election season and faith in election integrity rising, Wisconsin still has a reputation problem. There has been an erosion of faith in our democracy with politicians undermining election integrity to bolster their campaign allowing false narratives about ‘stolen elections’ to take root.”
The poll showed that 53% of voters would oppose counting the ballots early if it meant municipalities had to maintain a chain of custody, put cameras on the voting machines and ensure that the tabulator saves an image of every ballot.
“This poll shows we need to continue working to restore faith and trust in institutions currently under attack and we need a two-pronged approach to educate voters on the process to restore credibility and we need reforms like pre-processing to instill more confidence in the process,” the board’s statement said. “These together will bring meaningful change.”

(The Center Square) – The people who run high school sports in Wisconsin are clear: They are not a public school, they don’t take any public money, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court just ruled they’re not a public entity.
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, better known as the WIAA, is fighting a plan that would apply public records and public open meetings law to their private organization.
“This legislation would impose a function now reserved for public offices on our organization that again, receives no tax dollars or public support,” WIAA executive director Stephanie Hauser told lawmakers.
She told lawmakers that AB 51 would unfairly target her association.
“Like dozens of similarly school-based organizations we are not subject to open records laws,” Hauser explained. “We are extraordinarily transparent. We are very clear processes for our decisions in accordance with the needs of our members.”
But Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Town of Delafield, said the WIAA wields immense power over thousands of high school athletes in public schools across the state.
“Because they are classified as a private entity, the WIAA is not subject to open meetings and open record laws, even though the member schools are,” Duchow explained. “The oversight grants the WIAA the ability to act as a judge, jury, and executioner on rules they independently establish. No one knows how their meetings are conducted, or why certain decisions are made. And schools have no other choice because there is no other alternative other than to join this association.”
Duchow said all she is asking for is transparency.
The move comes after a couple of headline grabbing cases including one where the WIAA ruled a track star ineligible because his family was on a religious mission trip in Africa. That decision was eventually reversed.
But the WIAA also pointed to a headline grabbing case over the state wrestling title that went all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where the court sided with them.
“To the point of the WIAA not being a government entity. This fact is something that Wisconsin Supreme Court has already expressed a high level of doubt on,” Houser explained. “In a recent ruling the court had the opportunity to label WIAA as a government or a quasi government entity, and none of the seven justices did so.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said that border czar Tom Homan’s Thursday comments about arresting those who harbor illegal immigrants represents a “concerning trajectory in this country.”
Homan was asked about a Wisconsin Department of Administration memo asking state employees not to answer questions from federal agents, give access to systems or information, and to call the state Office of Legal Counsel if approached.
Homan responded that “if you cross that line of impediment or knowingly harboring and concealing an illegal alien, that is a felony. And we are treating it as such.”
Now, Evers says that Homan mischaracterized the memo and that the comments were “chilling threats like this should be of concern to every Wisconsinite and every American who cares about this country and the values we hold dear.”
“In this country, the federal government doesn’t get to abuse its power to threaten everyday Americans,” Evers said in a video statement. “In this country, the federal government doesn’t get to arrest American citizens who have not committed a crime. In this country, we don’t threaten to persecute people just because they belong to a different political party.”
Homan’s comments came after a group of 41 Wisconsin Assembly Republicans sent a letter this week to Evers requesting that he rescind the memo.
Evers did not comment on that request or if he would rescind its content.
“We now have a federal government that will threaten or arrest an elected official – or even everyday American citizens – who have broken no laws, committed no crimes, and done nothing wrong,” Evers said. “And as disgusted as I am about the continued actions of the Trump Administration, I am not afraid. I have never once been discouraged from doing the right thing, and I will not start today.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin K-12 education leader Jill Underly decried an end to a $10 million grant for school-based mental health services but a lawyer from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty says that’s because the grants were tied to diversity, equity and inclusion.
WILL’s Dan Lennington wrote that “these grants discriminated based on race. One grant recipient, for example, mandated a goal to hire ‘8 out of 24’ nonwhite counselors. The grants also tied mental health to ‘systemic racism.’”
Lennington pointed out that Biden Administration rules award 30 points to an application if the applicant has “quality personnel,” defined as “underrepresented persons.”
Underly, Wisconsin’s State Superintendent, said that grants awarded in 2024 were supposed to span five years and the termination of funding will hurt schools and students.
“At a time when communities are urgently asking for help serving mental health needs, this decision is indefensible,” Underly said in a statement. “These funds – which Wisconsin used to make meaningful change for our schools – were helping districts and our higher education partners develop new mental health professionals, providing a career opportunity for our current high schoolers. This action takes resources away from Wisconsin and disrupts the success efforts we’ve made to ensure qualified individuals are serving our kids.”
Underly’s office said it was notified Tuesday of the cuts, being told the program “no longer effectuates the best interest of the federal government.”
The grants were to fund additional mental health personnel at schools, including school counselors, psychologists and social workers.
Wisconsin is one of 22 states that received the grant.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin has a lower unemployment rate and its gross domestic product is growing faster than other states, according to a new economic scorecard from Marquette’s Center for Applied Economics.
Wisconsin’s GDP was $357.3 billion as of the final quarter of 2024 while the unemployment rate in Milwaukee (3.0%) and in Wisconsin (3.1%) was below the national average of 4.1%.
Through March, the seasonally adjusted overall unemployment in Wisconsin was 3.2% compared to a 4.2% national rate.
The report had a focus on the Milwaukee area, where media home listing prices continue to rise despite a national decline. The average median listing price in the Milwaukee metropolitan area rose 5.56% to $376,991 in 2024 while prices went up 4.5%, reaching $381,281, in the overall state.
“The local labor market in the Milwaukee metro region remains strong since the COVID-19 pandemic rebound, and we see signs of stabilization,” Nicholas A. Jolly, associate professor of economics and a co-author of the scorecard, said in a statement. “Growth in employment is positive, yet slowing; the large declines in manufacturing employment are slowing; and average hourly earnings are projected to rise, but at a slower rate.”
Wisconsin accounts for 1.52% of the national economy. But employment growth is not expected between now and October 2025.
That is in part due to an expected drop in population in the state by 250,000 by 2050 due to an aging population and fertility rates that are lower than the projected death rates in the state as that population ages.
“While the Milwaukee metro area’s economic fundamentals remain strong, signs of moderation are emerging,” co-author Dr. Grace Wang, professor of economics and director of the Center for Applied Economics, said in a statement. “Wage growth is stabilizing. Non-farm employment is growing modestly, suggesting that hiring momentum is slowing even as unemployment remains low. Businesses should continue to monitor housing affordability and workforce availability as important factors.”