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Op-Ed: Wisconsin’s governor is a cimate alarmist

Op-Ed: Wisconsin’s governor is a cimate alarmist

When I think of my neighboring state to the north, Wisconsin, I generally reflect on how much I despise the Green Bay Packers. However, more recently, I’ve been watching in abject horror as the Badger State becomes yet another victim of the climate alarmist green transition.
Meet Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, who is certain that climate change is causing doom in his state, despite a total lack of evidence.
According to Evers, “The climate crisis is taking an undeniable toll on the health, safety, and economic well-being of folks across our state. The livelihood of Wisconsin farmers is in danger with extreme and unpredictable weather taking a toll on crops and production, our state’s tourism industry and economy depends on our vast and valuable natural resources, and as health professionals have indicated, the health of our people depends on the health of the environments they live in.”
Based on this false premise, which will be debunked below, Evers has launched an ambitious “Clean Energy Plan.”
“Every Wisconsinite – whether they live in the Driftless, the Central Sands, the Northwoods, or in the heart of our urban areas – has experienced the effects of climate change in one way or another, and reducing carbon emissions and bolstering clean energy opportunities will remain a priority for me as long as I am governor,” Evers declared.
“We don’t have to choose between mitigating climate change and protecting our environment and good-paying jobs and affordable energy. Wisconsin is ready for bold and urgent solutions that will stop treating these goals as mutually exclusive – we can and will do both,” he added.
Under his Clean Energy Plan, Wisconsin will become “100 percent carbon-free by 2050,” fulfill “the carbon reduction goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement,” reduce “disproportionate impacts of energy generation and use on low-income communities and communities of color,” maximize “the creation of, and equitable opportunities for, clean energy jobs,” and prioritize “health equity, environmental justice, and equitable economic development.”
The problem is that this plan would put Wisconsin back into the Stone Age. And it would litter the state’s pristine landscapes with big, ugly, bird-killing windmills and solar panels. It would also cause residents of the Badger State to pay through the nose for electricity and gasoline, if internal-combustion engine vehicles are still allowed in Wisconsin years from now.
The most whacky part of all this climate alarmism and fantasies of a quick and easy green transition in Wisconsin is that the state is thriving due to modest recent warming.
This is not speculation, it is based on empirical data.
As my colleague, Linnea Lueken, notes in a new climate profile of Wisconsin, “According to USDA data, Wisconsin’s corn grain production, which includes corn for human and animal consumption, as well as ethanol production, has increased 45 percent since 1990, and soybean production rose an astounding 477 percent in that same period.”
“Harmful climate change is not evident in Wisconsin’s weather, climate, or agricultural data. Winter temperatures are not quite as cold, which benefits human health, not harms it. Neither flood nor tornado trends are worsening. Modest warming has boosted agricultural output, benefiting Wisconsin farmers and consumers,” the report concludes.
Regardless of these indisputable facts, Evers continues to plow forward with his Clean Energy Plan.
Even if Evers is right, his assertion that his Clean Energy Plan “will improve the reliability and affordability of the energy system” is flat-out wrong.
In “Affordable, Reliable, and Clean: An Objective Scorecard to Assess Competing Energy Sources,” Heartland Institute President James Taylor notes, “Affordable, reliable, and clean are the foundational elements of sound energy policy. An in-depth analysis of seven common electrical power sources reveals that natural gas makes the most sense according to the affordable, reliable, and clean standard, with nuclear, hydro, and coal not far behind. Biomass trails by a moderate margin while wind and solar stand apart as the least desirable power sources.”
Moreover, it must be emphasized that so-called green energy is not good for the environment when the totality of its manufacturing process is taken into account.
In sum, it looks like all is well in Wisconsin. There is no pending climate catastrophe.
The real imminent threat comes from climate alarmists like Gov. Evers, who know that their harebrained green energy transition will make life a whole lot worse for residents of the Badger State while destroying huge swaths of beautiful, untouched land.

Budget to boost Milwaukee patrols, assistant DAs, not courthouse

Budget to boost Milwaukee patrols, assistant DAs, not courthouse

(The Center Square) – The new Wisconsin biennial budget, if passed, would fund 12.5 new assistant district attorney positions for Milwaukee County, provide funds for the county’s state highway patrol and allow the county to appropriate 100% of its traffic fine revenues.
However, the budget includes no direct funds for the planned $500 million Milwaukee courthouse, a key priority of county officials.
County officials said they have long wanted state aid for Milwaukee’s highway patrolling, since they are one of the only counties required to fund their own patrols without reimbursement.
“We are hopeful that there will be legislative support to help address the significant public safety needs within Milwaukee County,” a spokesperson for Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley previously told The Center Square. “Importantly, Milwaukee County provides a variety of unique, mandated public safety services that no other county is required to provide, including patrolling state and federal highways within the county.”
While new budget wouldn’t provide direct state aid for Milwaukee’s patrols, it would transfer segregated funds and allow the county to appropriate money from its own traffic fine revenues.
According to Omnibus Motion 130, the base funding of roughly $1 million for Milwaukee’s expressway policing aids would be increased by $18 million in 2025-26 and $20 million in 2026-27.
The motion also allows Milwaukee County to retain 100% of fine and forfeiture revenues from violations of state traffic laws, and requires that those revenues be deposited into a segregated account that can only be used for “purposes related to the operation of the district attorney’s office.”
However, because current law mandates 50% of traffic fines to go to the county and 50% to go to the Common School Fund, the motion would cause the Common School Fund to lose its 50% share, which the budget estimates to be $2.2 million annually.
The budget adds 12.5 new Assistant DAs to help with Milwaukee’s courtroom backlog, funded from the fines and forfeitures collected by the county.
Assistant DAs were another point of contention on the Joint Finance Committee, with Democrats previously criticizing Republicans for adopting a motion to add 42 new attorney positions to the state but none for Milwaukee or Dane Counties, The Center Square reported.
While Brown County received the most new assistant DA positions – seven – in the previous motion, Milwaukee County’s 12.5 new positions would take the lead under the new budget, becoming the top recipient of assistant DAs in the state.
Although Gov. Tony Evers had proposed $25 million to be invested in the new Milwaukee courthouse over the biennium, the initiative was not taken up in the current budget.
The budget is set to be voted on by the full state Senate and Assembly today before it can be sent to Evers’ desk.

Evers, Assembly reach budget deal over $172M COVID-19 fund

Evers, Assembly reach budget deal over $172M COVID-19 fund

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s proposed biennial budget, if passed, includes a deal to repurpose $172 million in earned interest from unspent COVID-19 relief funds originally controlled by Gov. Tony Evers.
The deal would fund key initiatives and, according to Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, “solve a potential constitutional crisis.”
The budget agreement between Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee and Evers follows a months-long spat over the interest earnings, opening unprecedented legal challenges which lawmakers saw as a road to impeachment, a veto or a court fight, The Center Square previously reported.
Wimberger said that appropriating the money toward other budget initiatives was an approach that could avoid those options.
“The agreement settles that question and, in fact, probably solves a potential constitutional crisis going forward,” Wimberger said.
According to Wimberger, the key question at hand was, “Can the federal government give money to a state with instructions to spend it or not spend it, and then have the governor collect the interest and not have to turn it over to the treasury and then be able to spend it at his discretion, essentially taking the power of the purse out of the Legislature?”
By keeping the money, Wimberger previously said Evers had created a “$172 million slush fund” for himself.
The interest earnings caused lawmakers to raise several concerns about whether the interest is a federal or state fund.
Some argued it belonged in the treasury because state law indicates that state funds must be deposited into the treasury, while others argued on behalf of Evers’ Department of Administration that the interest functioned the same as actual Coronavirus State and Local Recovery funds themselves, and were therefore at the governor’s disposal.
While The Center Square previously reported Wimberger had co-authored a bill requiring Evers to transfer the $172 million to the treasury, lawmakers such as Sen. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, contended the bill was pointless since Evers could just veto it.
One way or the other, lawmakers on both sides concluded the issue would probably end up in a court fight with the governor.
However, Joint Finance Committee co-chair Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said leaders rather decided to negotiate with Evers to put the money towards actual budget initiatives than to leave it up to Evers’ discretion or litigation.
“In our discussions with the governor, we continued to find ways to make investments – preferably one-time investments – to get the money used for something so it didn’t just become a slush fund that he was just gonna try to control,” Born said in an interview with The Center Square. “I think they became interested in finding something to use so that it didn’t become a litigation in the future.”
After the tentative deal, the $172 million under Omnibus Motion 130, now puts the money toward child care, builders, food security, and university investments – some of Evers’ biggest budget priorities.
Of that, $110 million of the earnings would support “bridge payments” directly to child care providers, which means the money will invest in providers to cover expenses for the short-term until long-term financing is secured.
Also, $50 million will go to a building commission grant program to assist non-state organizations with “facility construction.”
The budget would transfer $5 million from the interest earnings to support a pilot program by the Department of Children and Families to increase the monthly maximum payment rate by $200 for children under 18 months old and by $100 for children aged between 18 months and 30 months.
Another $5 million investment would be made to a food security grant program to make up for federal funding losses in DATCP’s grant programs for nonprofit food assistance organizations.
$1 million would be given to UW-Green Bay’s “Rising Phoenix” program enabling high school students to earn college credit.
Child care, which receives $115 million of the $172 million, was one of Evers’ highest budget priorities, which he even threatened to veto the entire budget over if the Joint Finance Committee didn’t “do something about [it],” The Center Square previously reported.
However, when asked whether or not appropriating the $172 million towards Evers’ child care priorities was a factor that led him to giving up the interest earnings as part of the budget deal, Born said, “I could only speculate as to what the factors were that got the governor make a particular decision.”
Evers’ office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment at the time of publication.
The proposed budget is set to be voted on by the state Senate and Assembly today and could be sent for Evers’ signature soon thereafter.

Wisconsin nuclear power bills signed into law

Wisconsin nuclear power bills signed into law

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed into law bills that would require a nuclear power siting study for the state and the creation of nuclear power summit.
The bills require a temporary board to plan and hold a Wisconsin Nuclear Power Summit and a nuclear siting study for identifying potential communities ideal for nuclear power generation, including both existing and new sites.
The siting study is funded by $2 million that is currently in the Wisconsin budget, set to be taken up Wednesday by the Wisconsin Legislature.
“We can’t afford to choose between mitigating climate change and protecting our environment or creating good-paying jobs and building a strong economy, and by working toward clean energy options Wisconsinites can depend on in the future, we’re doing both,” Evers said in a statement. “We must continue our efforts to help lower energy costs and improve energy independence by reducing our reliance out-of-state energy sources, and these bills are an important step in the right direction.”
Funding for the summit would come through Wisconsin’s Economic Development Corp.
The bills came as Wisconsin’s future energy needs are heightened with the approval of large-scale data center projects in Pleasant Prairie, Beaver Dam and Port Washington that are each expected to use large amounts of energy.
Rep. David Steffen, R-Howard, said that a new Microsoft data center in Mount Pleasant would use the same amount of energy as the city of Madison and the Cloverleaf project in Port Washington would use the same amount of power as the entire city of Los Angeles.
That large amount of power used can lead to increased energy bills for residential customers with the average American’s energy bill expected to increase from 25% to 70% in the next 10 years without intervention from policymakers, according to Washington, D.C.-based think tank the Jack Kemp Foundation.
A new poll published on Wednesday showed that Americans do not want large data centers built in their communities and even less wanted those data centers if public incentives are involved.
In Wisconsin, lawmakers have pushed for a data center exception to state laws on property tax captures at the sites to lure the projects to the state.
“These data centers are so big and so valuable and such a prize for a community that (state laws capping TIFs) really creates a problem,” said Sen. John Jagler, R-Watertown.

New Wisconsin school spending numbers show skyrocketing per-pupil price tags

New Wisconsin school spending numbers show skyrocketing per-pupil price tags

(The Center Square) – Some schools in Wisconsin are spending more per-student than it costs to go to the University of Wisconsin’s biggest campus.
The state’s Department of Public Instruction released its general school aid figures for the next school year.
“General school aids are the largest form of state support for Wisconsin public schools, offsetting local property taxes under state-imposed revenue limits. Wisconsin statutes require the Department of Public Instruction to publish estimated aid amounts by July 1 each year,” DPI said in a statement. “As such, the estimated general school aid used in this estimate totals $5.58 billion.”
“The average district in WI now has $18,500 in revenue per student. Many
districts in the state are now spending over $30,000 per student” the
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty’s Will Flanders said. “These numbers are insane.”
Gibraltar Area Schools in Door County are the largest spender per-pupil in state dollars at $37,484 according to WILL.
When you add in federal dollars, La Du Flambeau Schools in the Northwoods becomes the largest per-pupil spending in the state at $41,026, according to Flanders.
Milwaukee Public Schools, Wisconsin’s largest school district is ranked 33rd in the state for spending at $24,682 according to WILL’s calculations. Though there are dozens of other school districts that spend more than $24,000 per-student.
“Bayfield spends more per student than full tuition, room and board at @UWMadison,” Flander’s colleague at WILL Dan Lennington said on social media. “Yet only 32% of the kids are proficient in English and in math. Why are the voters in Bayfield tolerating this government thievery? I could ask the same question for dozens more districts.”
And the per-pupil numbers are sure to go up before school starts. DPI said its figures do not include categorical payments, like special education dollars.
The legislature and the governor have agreed to a $500 million special education increase alone.

Wisconsin Supreme Court overturns state’s 1849 abortion law

Wisconsin Supreme Court overturns state’s 1849 abortion law

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Supreme Court overturned the state’s 1849 abortion law with a Wednesday ruling, stating that legislation since then should supersede and replace the law in a 4-3 decision.
The ruling was written by Rebecca Dallet with concurrence by Jill Karofsky, Ann Walsh Bradley and Janet Protasiewicz. In dissent were Annette Ziegler, Rebecca Bradley and Brian Hagedorn.
“We conclude that comprehensive legislation enacted over the last 50 years regulating in detail the ‘who, what, where, when, and how’ of abortion so thoroughly covers the entire subject of abortion that it was meant as a substitute for the 19th century near-total ban on abortion,” the ruling said.
The ruling came after a 2023 ruling from Dane County Judge Diane Schlipper stating the 1849 law that bans almost all abortions in the state only applies to people who intentionally kill a baby, what she called feticide, and it does not apply when a woman agrees to end her pregnancy.
“The majority opinion is a jaw-dropping exercise of judicial will, placing personal preference over the constitutional roles of the three branches of our state government and upending a duly enacted law,” Ziegler wrote in dissent. “In this dangerous departure from our constitutional design, four members of the court make up and apply their own version of implied repeal, failing to hew to any semblance of traditional judicial decision-making or jurisprudence.”
The challenge to the law came from Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, joined by the Department of Safety and Professional Services, the Medical Examining Board, and its chairman after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe vs. Wade in 2022.
Lawmakers updated the law in 1985, then again in 2015 under former Gov. Scott Walker.
The law was a large topic in this spring’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race, where Susan Crawford defeated Brad Schimel. But the ruling came before Crawford takes office on Aug. 1.

Poll: American voters don’t want data centers built in their communities

Poll: American voters don’t want data centers built in their communities

(The Center Square) – Most U.S. voters oppose having data centers built in their community and even more oppose the data centers if tax incentives are awarded to have them built, according to a poll released Wednesday morning by Libertas Network.
Overton Insights asked 1,200 registered voters the questions between June 23-26 on behalf of Libertas, which says it focuses on family education and policy reform as it looks to “change hearts, minds and laws to create a freer future.”
Libertas had Overton Insights ask the data center questions upon suggestion from The Center Square.
The poll asked voters specifically if they supported or opposed building new data centers for artificial intelligence in their community with 46% of respondents strongly or somewhat opposing the prospect, 36% strongly or somewhat supporting and 18% uncertain.
Of those that supported building data centers in their community, 69% still supported the idea if tax subsidies or incentives were involved to bring the data centers while 23% or those initially supportive would oppose the idea if those tax breaks were involved.
Data center projects have popped up across the country in recent years with many of those proposals including tax breaks.
The data centers are used to create the computing power for AI and to store the large amounts of information needed for those technologies but the Incentives are often opposed because, despite the large amount of money spent on the buildings, they do not require much staff and they take a large amount of energy.
The average American’s energy bill could increase from 25% to 70% in the next 10 years without intervention from policymakers, according to Washington, D.C.-based think tank the Jack Kemp Foundation.
A least 10 states are currently losing $100 million or more in taxes from data centers, according to an April report from Good Jobs First.
Data centers often require politicians to sign non-disclosure agreements during the proposal process, including keeping the name of the technology company involved along with the details of a project secret.
The secrecy occurred during the process of building a recent Indianapolis data center, according to WFYI, while the names have leaked of developers involved in several Wisconsin data center projects where state lawmakers are asking to create a data center exception to state laws on property tax captures at the sites to lure the projects to the state.
“These data centers are so big and so valuable and such a prize for a community that (state laws capping TIFs) really creates a problem,” said Wisconsin Sen. John Jagler, R-Watertown.
Virginia currently has a backlog of data center projects as they complete interconnection studies to ensure they can safely attach to the energy grid.
Projects needing more than 50 megawatts of power often require transmission-level access, which adds federal oversight from PJM, the regional grid operator for Virginia and 12 other states.

New Wisconsin budget estimated at $114.2B

New Wisconsin budget estimated at $114.2B

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s new budget is set to spend $114.2 billion, a 15% spending increase compared to last biennial budget, according to a report from Wisconsin’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
The number is an increase from the $111.1 billion initial estimate as the Wisconsin Legislature is expected to take up the budget today. The Senate is schedule to meet on the budget this morning, followed by the Assembly.
The last Wisconsin budget represented an 11% increase from the prior budget while the 2022-23 budget was a 7% increase from the prior budget, MacIver showed.
The budget process accelerated after Legislative leadership and Gov. Tony Evers reached a compromise Monday and the details of that compromise were part of a budget passed by the state’s Joint Finance Committee with a 13-3 vote on Tuesday.
The fiscal bureau budget analysis shows that Wisconsin will have more than $46 billion in general purpose revenue, $33.7 billion in federal revenue, nearly $16.6 billion in program revenue, $14.8 billion in segregated revenue and $3.2 billion in bond revenue over the two-year period compared to $99.3 billion in total revenue in the last biennial budget.
“This is only true because we spent a lot of the surplus instead of issuing debt so it looks like “spending” vs saving taxpayer money with less interest,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos wrote on social media in response to MacIver’s chart on budget spending increases.
The $3.2 billion in bonding is above the $700 million in bonding in the last budget, $1.7 billion in 2022-23 and $1.9 billion in 2020-21, MacIver showed.

Budget committee approves $256M funds, reforms for UW System

Budget committee approves $256M funds, reforms for UW System

(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.

August: Republicans got ‘excellent’ deal in new state budget agreement

August: Republicans got ‘excellent’ deal in new state budget agreement

(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.

Evers: Wisconsin leaders come to biennial budget compromise

Evers: Wisconsin leaders come to biennial budget compromise

(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.

Budget committee OKs funds for UW students, juvenile corrections, tourism

Budget committee OKs funds for UW students, juvenile corrections, tourism

(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.

Wisconsin has $2.97 per gallon gas average heading into 4th of July week

Wisconsin has $2.97 per gallon gas average heading into 4th of July week

(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.