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(The Center Square) – The Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee approved a $256 million budget investment in the Universities of Wisconsin system after striking a “tentative deal” with Gov. Tony Evers.
The investment would be the largest increase in funds to the UW System in more than two decades, according to Evers.
Although some Republicans on the committee expressed reservation about the university system as a whole, they gave support for the funds as it was the only way to make a deal with Evers and feasibly get the budget across the finish line.
“What was at stake is no secret – Republican lawmakers had long indicated this budget would cut nearly $90 million from our UW System,” Evers said in a statement. “But I never stopped believing we could work together to reach consensus and pass a bipartisan budget, and I’m proud of the months of work that went into getting to where we are today.”
The funds include $100 million to support UW System campuses statewide, $94 million to increase staff wages and $54 million to help retain and recruit faculty and staff in “high-demand fields of study.”
Seven-million dollars would support 24/7 virtual telehealth mental health services to nearly all students across UW System campuses and $1 million for UW-Green Bay’s early college high school program that enables high school students to earn college credits.
Additionally, more than $840 million would support capital building and infrastructure projects on UW campuses across the state.
A $194 million investment would be made to complete a science center at UW-La Crosse and demolish another hall that lacks fire suppression and has failing mechanical systems.
More than $189 million would renovate a health sciences complex at UW-Milwaukee to transform former hospital buildings into a “cutting-edge, interdisciplinary Health Sciences hub.”
Also, $137 million in funds would go to demolishing a library facility that is more than 60 years old and providing additional renovations and replacements to other buildings at UW-Oshkosh.
The budget would give $160 million for UW-Madison’s Science Hall, which was originally built in 1887 and will undergo a renovation to “restore the building’s historic character” while also addressing accessibility and maintenance issues.
While the motion passed committee with full Republican support, Rep. Alex Dallman, R-Markesan, said the investments did not fully erase or address the UW System’s wider problems, citing the universities’ staffing and salary increases over the past decade despite a reduced student enrollment of 16,000.
“It’s an incredibly big problem that we need to fix,” Dallman said. “There’s a massive amount of bloat in UW, there’s a massive amount of waste and spending in UW, but even then, we’ve decided through these negotiations that we’re not gonna run from UW. We’re gonna reform UW.”
Dallman said that the GOP lawmakers’ decision to compromise with Evers by funding UW was an “important pivot” from their previous stances.
Additionally, the motion would cap the amount of government positions the UW System could create.
“[UW is] one of the only agencies, if not the only agency, that can create government positions unilaterally without any legislative approval,” Dallman said.
Dallman argued as enrollment declines, the UW System should not just be allowed to add high-paid, non-faculty positions to no end at taxpayers’ loss.
The motion was passed 13-3, with Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, joining all Republicans to approve the funds.
(The Center Square) – The second in command in the Wisconsin Assembly is defending the new budget deal that will see Republicans vote to spend more than $1 billion more.
Rep. Tyler August was on News Talk 1130 WISN Tuesday morning. He said most of the new spending in the new state budget is targeted, and there is some legislative oversight.
“For conservatives, I think we got the better end of this deal,” August explained. “The governor has committed to signing the retirement tax exemption that has been very important to our caucus, an income tax reduction, as well as the elimination of the sales tax on residential electricity and natural gas.”
August said, all told, that’s more than $1.5 billion in tax cuts.
But the budget agreement also includes $1.2 billion in new spending.
“This is an excellent deal,” August added. “This is the best deal we can get with the governor we have.”
Gov. Tony Evers made it clear that he would not sign a budget that doesn’t spend more on public schools, the University of Wisconsin, or child care.
Evers took to social media on Tuesday to say the budget agreement spends more on all three.
“Our bipartisan budget agreement invests in our kids at every age and every stage, from early childhood to K-12 schools to our higher education institutions, and more,” Evers wrote.
August said $500 million of the money for public schools is earmarked for special ed at schools across the state.
“That is, by far, the most expensive part of a school’s budget,” August said. “So, if we’re going to spend more money on schools, the place to spend it is on special education.”
August also defended a nearly $300 million increase for the UW System.
“We will have oversight,” August added. “A big chunk of the new money into the UW is for key faculty retention.”
August said that means lawmakers will have some say-so over which UW faculty members get retention bonuses. He said the hope is to use that money to keep research scientists and in-demand professors, as opposed to “woke” faculty members.
August said the broad strokes of the budget agreement may not look great to many conservatives in the state, but he said the budget deal does accomplish some conservative goals.
Lawmakers are expected to finalize the budget Tuesday and vote to send it to the governor Wednesday.
(The Center Square) – Wisconsin leaders reached a budget compromise agreement that includes $1.4 billion increase in funding for K-12 schools, $330 million for child care and a $256 million increase for the University of Wisconsin system, Gov. Tony Evers said in a Tuesday morning press release.
The state’s Joint Finance Committee is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. on Tuesday before the full Legislature is expected to meet on Wednesday, when they could approve the budget and pass it on to Evers.
“What was at stake is no secret – Republican lawmakers had long indicated this budget would not invest in child care providers, would provide no new increases for our K-12 schools, and would cut nearly $90 million from our UW System,” Evers said in a statement. “But I never stopped believing we could work together to reach consensus and pass a bipartisan budget, and I’m proud of the months of work that went into getting to where we are today.”
Evers said the budget also includes individual income tax cuts proposed by Republican leaders that will reduce state income tax collections by more than $600 million each year.
That includes expanding Wisconsin’s second income tax bracket of 4.4% for all filers and exempting the first $24,000 of retirement income for those who are at least 67 before the end of a tax year with a maximum exemption of $48,000 for married couples.
That retirement income tax cut was projected to reduce state tax collections by $395 million in 2025-26 and $300 million in 2026-27.
The cut is expected to reduce taxes on approximately 280,000 Wisconsin filers by an average of about $1,000 per filer.
The Republican-proposed income tax cut would apply to the majority of Wisconsin tax filers in different ways as the amount of income taxed at 4.4% compared to the next tax bracket of 5.3% increases.
For married couples, that will move the cap on 4.4% from $39,150 to $67,300 while for single filers the line moves from $29,370 to $50,480.
Evers said it will impact 1.6 million Wisconsin residents with an average tax cut of $180.
Evers said the agreement was reached with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, and Democratic Leader Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton.
The agreement does not mean that the full Legislature is obligated to pass the agreed-upon details.
The biennial budget includes $110 million in direct payments to child care providers along with $66 million for a new Kids Ready program to support child care providers serving 4-year-olds, according to Evers.
It also includes $123 million to increase rates under the Wisconsin Shares Child Care Subsidy Program and $28.6 million for a pilot program to help support expanding capacity across Wisconsin’s child care industry.
Evers said the agreement includes a $1.4 billion increase in overall spendable funding for K-12 schools through net categorical aid along with an increase in special education reimbursement rate to 42% in the first year of the budget and 45% in the second year.
“The people of Wisconsin expect their leaders to show up, work hard, and operate in good faith to get good things done,” Evers said. “We’ve shown we’ve been able to get good things done for Wisconsin when people put politics aside and decide to work together to do the right thing.”
The budget also includes $30 million for school-based mental health services.
The budget includes an increase of over $256 million for the UW System over the next two years including $100 million to support UW System campuses statewide, $94 million to increase staff wages and $54 million to help retain and recruit faculty and staff in high-demand fields of study.
The increase comes despite a recent audit showing the UW System has seen an increase in staff and salaries over the past 10 years while student enrollment has dropped by 16,000.
The plan also includes over $840 million to support capital building projects on UW campuses.
Evers said that his proposal to eliminate the sales tax on household utility bills is also in the budget, saving Wisconsin households over $178 million in taxes.
The budget also includes $5 million annually to re-start a Wisconsin film tax credit program, which was previously proposed to be capped at $10 million annually.
On Monday, June 30, a freight train derailed in Hartford, causing thousands of gallons of diesel fuel to spill from the cars. Crews immediately responded to the scene in an effort to clean up the mess. In total, 19 cars were derailed at around 9:30 a.m. which prompted...
(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s budget-writing Joint Finance Committee adopted more than $380 million in funding, setting the stage for a final round of committee action Tuesday and tentative floor votes by the full legislature on the final budget as soon as Wednesday.
The approved motions include funding for Universities of Wisconsin and technical college students, juvenile corrections, state natural resources, tourism and other key areas.
Together, the adopted motions represent a substantial share of the biennial budget, which could be up to $100 billion.
It was the first Joint Finance Committee meeting in more than a week following a GOP leadership split over budget talks with Gov. Tony Evers.
UW system, tech colleges, and EMS training
Motion 84 adopted more than $17.5 million in funds to higher education under the Wisconsin Grants program.
The $17.5 million would be spread across UW System students, Wisconsin Technical College System students and private nonprofit college students in equal dollar increases.
Annually, $2 million would support WTCS students who meet part-time eligibility per the grant program.
An additional $3.5 million would be allocated to reimbursements for Emergency Medical Services training and materials reimbursements for EMS students who complete a course at a WTCS institutions.
The Republican motion passed 12-4 along party lines.
Justice and juvenile corrections
Adopted Motion 89 would fund a massive expansion in the state’s juvenile corrections.
More than $140 million would go toward the Serious Juvenile Offenders program, contract bed funding, juvenile operations costs and 147 new positions for Milwaukee’s juvenile detention facility in 2026-27 – the largest workforce expansion in this series of adopted motions.
The motion would adjust the statutory daily rates for juvenile facilities to $2,501/day in 2025-26 and $2,758/daily 2026-27.
The funds come after a report stated youth crime in Milwaukee County has grown in terms of severity of crimes and frequency of repeat offenders and the city needs to look to increase support for juvenile corrections facilities, The Center Square previously reported.
Adopted Motion 76 would invest $7.5 million in cybersecurity and $20 million in crime victim services to offset federal Victims of Crime Act funding losses.
A one-time $2 million fund would support law enforcement data sharing in Milwaukee.
Additional funds would go to other justice funds, including arson investigation tools, Wisconsin Department of Justice staffing and $2 million annually for child advocacy centers.
Natural Resources and Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection
Over the next two years, $87.2 million would go to state natural resources under Motion 90.
Rothschild Dam modernization would receive $42 million in a one-time fund – the largest investment of the motion.
Also, $15 million annually would be moved in one-time transfers from the forestry account to fish and wildlife accounts.
The motion includes $7.5 million for clean-up of contaminated Great Lakes sediment, $6 million for the Kenosha Dunes shoreline restoration, $6.5 million for clean water funding for rural areas and $4.2 million for hazardous tree removal statewide.
Another $6 million would fund various initiatives including stormwater management and flood prevention, infrastructure repairs, other environmental clean-ups and park mapping and data systems.
Motion 81 would fund Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection with $28.1 million in mostly one-time funds throughout the biennium.
Most funds are one-time because the investments are sourced through Wisconsin’s Segregated Funds, which are limited and reserved for specific purpose, rather than from General Purpose Revenue tax dollars.
The biggest funding item is for county conservation staffing grants, which would receive a $12 million investment.
$7 million would be invested in grants supporting landowners for the installation of structural practices related to soil and water resource management.
The motion would support $2 million in water quality grant programs in the state and $3 million in a tribal food security program for nonprofit food assistance organizations who continue the tribal elder community food box program.
The remaining money would go to meat processor grants, dairy processor grants, and annual $100k funds for farmer mental health assistance.
Department of Administration and Tribes
The committee adopted Motion 75, which would invest almost $39 million in communication and media, tribal and local government and security measures.
A $10 million one-time endowment payment would be given to WisconsinEye, the state’s official public affairs network.
An $11 million per year would fund federally recognized tribes, while $2 million per year would be given to counties where tribes are headquartered.
A $2 million investment would be made toward facilities and security, including $594,300 for Capitol Police pay increases and protective equipment, $1.4 million to facilities development IT, and $500k towards maintenance of the USS Cobia, an historic WWII submarine in the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.
Tourism
Motion 77 would provide a little more than $36 million to tourism, including a one-time fund for $30 million to Wisconsin’s general tourism marketing.
Also, $5 million would go to preserve the Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s home in Spring Green, which owners are seeking to restore.
The additional funds would go to Office of Outdoor Recreation staffing and Arts Board funding increases.
While the motions passed along party lines, the expected floor debate could still bring amendments or delays, particularly on larger or more controversial spending items like child care and education.
(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s average gas price is $2.97 for regular unleaded heading into the Fourth of July holiday week.
That’s lower than the $3.29 average a year ago as, nationally, gas price averages will be at their lowest point for the Fourth of July travel week since 2021. The national average is currently $3.18 while it was $3.49 a year ago.
Wisconsin was not in the top 10 lowest average prices from the American Automobile Association, led by Mississippi at $2.73, but it was closer to the low end than the high-end of California ($4.62), Hawaii ($4.47), Washington ($4.45) and Oregon ($4.06).
“With tensions in the Middle East cooling off after a few weeks of volatility, consumers planning to hit the road for the Independence Day weekend will see gasoline prices falling in the run-up to July 4 nearly coast to coast,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a post. “… As long as tensions don’t escalate again in the Middle East and the U.S. isn’t threatened by a major hurricane, we could see the national average fall below $3 per gallon later this summer.”
De Haan clarified that, while prices reached a lower point earlier this summer, this will be the low point for the holiday since 2021. He said it isn’t directly related to any president, just as he said with President Joe Biden in the past.
“It’s actually the effect of rebalancing after two seismic shockwaves: both the pandemic ending surging demand, and Russia’s war on Ukraine, culminating in 2022’s peak,” De Haan wrote on social media. “Since then, Fed policy and global cooling has led to the third straight year on year decline for July 4.”
The lowest recorded prices in the state on Monday morning was $2.69 for cash purchases at Bono’s in Kenosha, $2.74 at Kwik Trip in Marinette and $2.75 at Kwik Trips in Pleasant Prairie, Somers, Kenosha and Park Falls along with Sam’s Club in Kenosha and Costco in Pleasant Prairie.
Nationally GasBuddy projects the holiday average to be $3.15 this year after being $3.49 in 2024, $3.46 in 2023, $4.80 in 2022, $3.12 in 2021 and $2.18 in 2020.
The Richfield Famers market is so much more than your average farm stand or walk through. It is bustling with everything that makes Richfield great. Each Saturday, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., the market hosts fabulous food, talented artists, and showcases so many of...
(The Center Square) – Milwaukee County leaders are using words like “blindsided” to describe the nearly $11 million deficit in the county’s bus systems.
Milwaukee County Transit System announced a surprise deficit last week, and on Friday the county ordered an audit to see where the money went.
County Comptroller Liz Sumner was the first to say she was blindsided by the financial gap. She said in an email that she was “stunned to learn through the media” that the bus system will be so short.
Summer said that, as recently as the beginning of the month, the county’ s Department of Transportation was expecting a balanced budget. That is why she is pushing so quickly for an audit.
“I’ve already taken steps to better understand the circumstances that led to this sudden and concerning shift in MCTS’s fiscal outlook, which may result in service reductions to mitigate.”
Last week, MCTS interim president Julie Esch announced that the county’s bus system would rollback service.
Esch said because of “unexpected expenses and lower passenger revenue,” MCTS plans to trim 20,000 hours of service from its schedule.
“Reducing the frequency of buses is the last thing we want to do, but it will have the least impact on our riders. We provide 80,000 rides a day — that’s tens of thousands of Milwaukee County residents who depend on us to get to work, school and medical care,” Esch said in a statement.
Summer told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the sudden deficit discovery, and sudden service cut announcements are not normal.
“To just all of a sudden, in the middle of the year, appear….so, what we’re hoping is to figure out where the communication breakdown was and the calculation breakdown,” she added.
County Supervisor Steve Taylor said MCTS is clearly looking at a “fiscal cliff” though he’s not sure how the county will face the challenges without help either from the state capitol or Washington D.C.
(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday that University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority is not legally required to recognize or collectively bargain with a nurses’ union.
The case centered on whether Service Employees International Union Healthcare Wisconsin could legally compel UW Health to engage in collective bargaining wages under the Wisconsin Peace Act, a labor law normally used for private-sector unions.
While attorneys for the union argued the hospital functions like a private employer and that nurses can therefore demand union recognition, the Court rejected that argument in its ruling.
The justices held that Wisconsin Act 10, a 2011 law that limits limits public-sector union bargaining rights, had removed UW Health from the Peace Act’s coverage.
“When we examine the statutory language along with the statutory history, we conclude that Act 10 ended the collective bargaining requirements formerly placed on the [University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics] Authority,” Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote in the opinion.
As a result, UW Health is under no legal obligation to negotiate with its nurse union, and the union has no legal power to compel wage bargaining.
More than 2,600 bedside nurses are a part of UW Nurses United.
While UW Nurses United reacted with disappointment to the decision, they said they “are not deterred.”
“Working people across Wisconsin have been fighting to rewrite the rules that have prioritized corporations and billionaires over working people for decades, and while the fight has not been easy, we continue to make progress,” the nurses said in a statement. “Our fight at UW is no exception.”
The statement cites the nurses’ 2022 walk-out and agreement with UW Health establishing a union to avoid a strike, a deal that is set to last through 2027.
The nurses said they would continue looking for ways to restore full collective bargaining rights, including passing new legislation through the state legislature and electing “pro-worker lawmakers.”
However, UW Health lauded the Supreme Court’s decision, noting that the court’s ruling followed the opinions of the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission and the Dane County Circuit Court, which had ruled in favor of UW Health beforehand.
“UW Health appreciates the court’s deliberate, diligent and final review,” a spokesperson for UW Health said in a statement.
(The Center Square) – A group of Uber and Lyft drivers are pushing back against recent legislation that would classify drivers for companies such as Uber, Lyft and DoorDash as independent contracts while allowing them to create portable benefits options such as health care and retirement accounts.
Senate Bill 256 and Assembly Bill 269 passed the Legislature and will be sent to Gov. Tony Evers.
“Uber and Lyft drivers in Milwaukee are standing together to raise concerns about workplace conditions, fair pay, and protections on the job,” Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale said in a statement. “… In the wake of recent state legislative action that would strip app-based transportation and delivery drivers of employee status and reclassify drivers as independent contractors, workers are sounding the alarm on how this change would negatively impact workplace protections like minimum wage, unemployment insurance, and worker’s compensation.”
DoorDash estimated that there are 100,000 app-based workers in the state.
When the bill passed, Sen. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove called it a covert way to deny employment protections for these drivers.
Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin applauded the bill, saying it allows workers to maintain their independence while gaining access retirement savings, health insurance and occupational accident coverage.
Drivers who make $750 in a calendar year are eligible for a portable benefits account, with the company being obligated to pay 4% of the driver’s earnings in the previous quarter, minus tips, if a company contributes to the account.
“The emergence of the gig economy has created a situation that many employers have exploited to misclassify workers as independent contractors, in an attempt to deprive workers of important rights to which employees are entitled, including worker’s compensation, unemployment insurance, minimum wage, and overtime pay,” Bloomingdale said. “Our labor rights and employment protections are the product of many years of struggle by the labor movement and must not be stripped away simply because the modalities of doing business have changed.”
The last thing anyone wants to do on a hot, humid summer day is turn on their oven or spend hours in the kitchen. With next week being the 4th of July, many people are gearing up for parties, cookouts, and plenty of special celebrations. Nobody wants to spend a good...
(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will have increased policing on Wisconsin waterways for the upcoming holiday weekend as it takes part in Operation Dry Water, a national campaign to prevent impaired boating.
Conservation wardens and local law enforcement will be on lakes and rivers watching for impaired driving and educating on safe boating.
“We want everyone to enjoy Wisconsin’s beautiful waterways this holiday weekend, but safety must come first,” said Major April Dombrowski, director of the DNR’s Recreational Safety and Outdoor Skills Bureau. “With Wisconsin hosting the national kickoff event in Green Bay, we are proud to lead the charge in keeping boaters safe across the country.”
The campaign comes after a 10-year-old died earlier this month following a June 7 boating accident at Idle Isle Park on Little Muskego Lake in Muskego. The DNR has not indicated if alcohol or drugs were involved but said that a boat operated by a 74-year-old man with one other person on board struck a stationary boat with three people on board, including the child.
The DNR reminds boaters that boating under the influence is illegal and alcohol is a leading contributing factor to recreational boating deaths nationwide.
Alcohol was a factor in 211 boating accidents with 79 deaths and 201 injuries in the most recent U.S. Coast Guard data from 2023.
The DNR is encouraging everyone on boats, not just the boat operator, to remain sober as well as boaters having properly fitted life jackets, having a float plan, monitoring weather and avoiding river shorelines and sandbars.
(The Center Square) – Wisconsin manufacturers exported $24 billion worth of products in 2024 while making up 5% of the state’s total workforce, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.
The report again showed that Canada was the state’s top trade partner with nearly $8 billion worth of exports, followed by Mexico ($4.4 billion) and China ($1.6 billion).
The group claimed manufacturing added $73.7 billion to the state’s gross domestic product while Wisconsin manufacturers sold $209 billion in manufactured goods.
Nearly 150,000 Wisconsin workers are related to exports while more than 60,000 were supported by manufacture exports, nearly 89,000 were indirectly supported by exports.
The most recently available numbers also showed 75,900 jobs in Wisconsin manufacturing were with foreign-owned companies in 2022, double the total from 15 years prior.
“Wisconsin is a manufacturing state, so it is no surprise that manufacturers lead the way on exports,” WMC President & CEO Kurt R. Bauer said in a statement. “Wisconsin’s economy depends on manufacturing, and a growing number of manufacturers depend on exports.”
Despite the large quantity of exports, the state imported even more in 2024 with 29% of the state’s manufactured goods being imported over the past decade.
The top categories of exports were agriculture and construction machinery ($1.76 billion), computer equipment ($1.74 billion) and navigational and control instruments ($1.63 billion).
“Wisconsin has long played an important role in the national and global economy,” Bauer said. “We depend on internationally sourced raw materials and goods to then create components and products that we contribute elsewhere. It’s imperative we support this cycle through good policymaking, ensuring foreign and domestic markets are free, fair, and reciprocal.”
The top imports were pharmaceuticals ($4.80 billion), general-purpose machinery ($2.86 billion) and navigational and control instruments ($1.68 billion).
China was the top spot for manufactured imports ($6.42 billion), followed by Canada ($6.25 billion) and Mexico ($5.94 billion).
The village of Hartland is making history as today marks the first day of its inaugural Hartland Hometown Celebration. The event will span throughout the weekend, with unique festivities each day. Starting on Thursday in Nixon Park (175 E. Park Avenue, Hartland),...
(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has launched a public platform for accessing transparent and easy-to-understand school finance data statewide.
Through the online Wisconsin School Finance Public Reports, viewers can access year-to-year and district-by-district data on school district referenda, tax levies, debt service payments and debt balances, and revenue and cost reports.
The platform, as mandated by 2021 Wisconsin Act 89, can be accessed free of cost.
“This new tool will increase fiscal transparency and help Wisconsinites understand how their districts and schools operate financially,” DPI Superintendent Jill Underly said in a statement. “Building on our existing publicly available data systems, the WiSFPR dashboard will enhance the accessibility of our educational data to the public.”
Although the DPI’s advisory committee initially recommended including voucher-related funding data, the final dashboard excludes private school financial information following opposition from conservative advocacy groups and a rejection from the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee in 2023.
The portal uses financial data collected from all public school districts statewide, including county children with disabilities education boards and independent charter schools.
Taxes are broken down into different categories, like general operations to run the schools, paying off debt, building or expanding schools and community service.
The dashboard then reports t levies using equalized property values and mill rates, meaning levy rates are measured only by how much a certain district is taxing per $1,000 of property value.
While equalized levy rates and financial data have long been used in internal state reporting, the WiSFPR dashboard marks the first time they’ve been made publicly accessible in an accessibly, user-friendly platform.
Tax incremental financing districts are excluded from the reports.
Sen. Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, previously lauded the bill mandating the platform’s creation after its signing by Gov. Tony Evers.
“This is about transparency and access, and about every taxpayer, parent, teacher, reporter, and school board member who has at one point or another found our school funding data difficult to comprehend,” Felzkowski said in a statement. “Every member of the public should have the opportunity for an informed discussion about school spending with their school’s leadership.”
The dashboard marks another stride by DPI towards public financial transparency, and comes in light the DPI’s announcement that Milwaukee Public Schools would be losing state aid for missing the end-of-May deadline for last year’s financial report.
“Meeting key deadlines is critical to ensure the DPI can accurately and efficiently calculate general aid estimates for school districts across Wisconsin,” Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy previously said in a statement.
Although DPI didn’t specify the amount of state aid that would be withheld from the district, MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius announced the 2023-24 year financial report was submitted by June 18.
The district’s financial data was available to view on the WiSFPR dashboard at the time of publication.