On May 8, the Republican-controlled Joint Committee on Finance removed 612 items from Governor Evers’ 2025-27 budget proposal and voted to reset the budget to “base,” or current spending levels. Items included in the budget motion included all non-fiscal policy items and several of the governor’s major proposals, such as: Democrats on the committee criticized the […]
Joint Finance Committee Continues State Budget Hearings Across Wisconsin
Date Fri, Apr. 18, 2025 - 9:00am By Hamilton
Next week, the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) will hold the final two public hearings on the 2025-27 biennial state budget. Monday, April 28 – Hayward High School Auditorium, 10320 Greenwood Lane, Hayward Tuesday, April 29 – Northcentral Technical College – Center for Health Sciences, 1000 W. Campus Drive, Wausau JFC’s public hearings offer an opportunity […]
Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds “400-Year” Veto
Date Thu, Apr. 17, 2025 - 3:06pm By Hamilton
Friday, April 18, the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision upheld Gov. Tony Evers’ 2023 partial veto that extended annual school funding increases until the year 2425 by striking numerals and punctuation in the budget bill. The GOP-controlled legislature had passed a two-year increase in schools aids. Gov. Evers used his partial veto authority to, […]
2025-27 Capital Budget Sent to JFC with No Recommendation
Date Thu, Mar. 27, 2025 - 4:04pm By Hamilton
This Tuesday, the State Building Commission (SBC) convened to review Governor Ever’s 2025-27 Capital Budget. In the end, the commission deadlocked 4-4 on the Governor’s plan and are now sending the $4.1 billion proposal to the Joint Finance Committee with no recommendation. This is the fourth consecutive biennium the SBC has deadlocked on the capital […]
JFC Hearings Scheduled for April, but Budget Delays Possible
Date Thu, Mar. 27, 2025 - 2:24pm By Hamilton
In a typical state budget cycle, April marks the end of the Joint Finance Committee’s (JFC) traveling public hearings, followed by agency heads testifying on their respective budgets. By the end of the month, the committee usually begins taking up portions of the state budget to meet the June 30 deadline. But these are not […]
Key Policy Divides Emerge Early in Wisconsin Budget Debate
Date Thu, Mar. 6, 2025 - 4:01pm By Hamilton
Now that the dust has settled and the legislature has begun to dissect the Governor’s 2025-27 state budget, Republican legislators are ready to start over and craft their own budget. Before that, however, the majority leaders plan to introduce their own tax relief proposal using the state’s surplus. Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August has said […]
Gov. Evers 2025-27 Executive Budget Highlights
Date Wed, Feb. 19, 2025 - 3:56pm By Hamilton
Gov. Evers gave his fourth biennial budget address on February 18, unveiling his 2025-27 executive budget. He proposes an operating budget of $ $118.9 billion over the next two fiscal years, adding a net 880.94 FTE positions. For comparison, the final 2023-25 state budget spent $97.4 billion with a net reduction of 175.51 FTE (GPR) […]
Reactions to the Governor’s Budget
Date Wed, Feb. 19, 2025 - 9:23am By Hamilton
Republican legislative leaders reacted quickly and harshly to Gov. Evers’ address, with Republican Majority Leaders Sen. LeMahieu criticizing the level of spending and Rep. August promising to rework the budget to focus on tax relief. Joint Finance Committee Co-Chairs Sen. Marklein and Rep. Born and other Republican committee members issued similar statements. Democrats on the finance committee released a joint statement supporting Gov. Evers’ […]
Wisconsin’s Budget Surplus Grows to $4.3 Billion, Setting the Stage for Budget Debates
Date Fri, Feb. 7, 2025 - 10:39am By Hamilton
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) now projects that Wisconsin will end the 2023-25 biennium with a $4.3 billion surplus, an increase from the $4 billion forecasted in November. The revision is largely driven by an expected $894.3 million increase in tax revenue, primarily from higher sales tax collections. LFB attributes the increase to updated economic […]
Wisconsin Policy Forum: Wisconsin’s State & Local Tax Burden Drop to Another Record Low in 2024
Date Fri, Jan. 24, 2025 - 10:20am By Hamilton
According to a report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum, state and local taxes as a share of income fell again in 2024 hitting a low of 9.62% of personal income. That’s down from 9.92% in 2023, which was also a record low after state and local taxes accounted for 9.9% of personal income in 2022. Overall, […]