Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) during a press conference in March 2023. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) and Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) both serve on one of the most powerful committees in the Wisconsin State Legislature, yet as members of the minority they’ve often been frustrated by the way Republicans on the committee have excluded them from conversations. The lawmakers say they hope some of this changes next year.

The 16-person Joint Finance Committee is responsible for writing the state’s two-year budget — deciding which policy priorities get funding and which don’t — and reviewing all state appropriations and revenues. Republican lawmakers will continue to hold 12 seats next session with Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) serving as co-chairs.

In previous sessions, when Democrats held a smaller minority in the Senate and Assembly, the lawmakers said Republicans often excluded them from the budget negotiation process.

“The Republican party didn’t just treat us badly because we were in the minority, they treated us as though we did not exist on Joint Finance,” Johnson said. “Some of their motions we didn’t find out about until they were actually passing them out on paper. That means we had very little input.” 

Roys said it’s been “very easy for the Republicans to just go in a little room, figure out what they’re going to do, and then they come out and they all vote in lockstep.” 

“There’s no discussion, there’s no transparency, and there’s certainly no opportunity for Democrats to have our priorities reflected in the budget,” Roys said. 

Beyond budget writing discussions, Republican lawmakers on the committee have also often rejected calls from Democrats on the committee to release money that was already dedicated to certain issues.

Johnson called the practice of withholding of money a “tremendous problem.” She noted that $50 million that was meant to help support the implementation of new literacy curricula in schools across the state haven’t been released despite being included in the 2023-25 budget.

“Not only are they holding those funds up, but the cost is continuing to rise, so that $50 million that was promised in 2024 isn’t going to go as far in 2025,” Johnson said. “We’ve seen that.” 

Johnson also pointed out that funding to help expand the number of beds at Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center, a facility in Madison that provides specialized treatment services for juveniles transferred from the Department of Corrections, was withheld for about six months. It was only released after the death of a youth counselor for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections at Lincoln Hills School for Boys at the hands of a 16-year-old boy. 

Other funds that have been withheld by the committee in the recent session include $10 million to support hospitals in the Chippewa Valley and $125 million to combat PFAS contamination.

“What is the purpose of us allocating these funds if the agencies can’t access them the way that they need to to make these programs work, to get what they need to get?” Johnson said. 

Johnson said she thinks that new legislative maps could help change the dynamic. Roys also said it could have an impact that the state Supreme Court found it unconstitutional for the committee to block state spending on land conservation projects after the money has been budgeted. 

“That dynamic is at play, and I wonder if it will chasten the Republicans. It doesn’t seem to have done so yet,” Roys said. 

Elections under new legislative maps increased Democrats’ presence in the state Legislature by 14 seats. In the upcoming session about 45% of the Legislature will be Democrats, but they will only make up one-quarter of the finance committee with four seats. Despite this, Democrats hope that Republicans will allow for more communication. 

Whether there is more bipartisan collaboration in JFC next session given the closer margins in the Senate and Assembly is an open question, Roys said. 

“There’s always an opportunity,” Roys said. “Our doors are open, and we are very willing to collaborate. I think we’ve shown that in previous sessions by supporting legislation that would not have passed without Democratic votes, even though Republicans had these crazy outsized majorities.”

Johnson said that she hopes that Republicans learned a lesson from the recent elections, and warned that if Republicans don’t change their ways it could hurt their election chances in two years, when Democrats will aim to flip the Senate.

Republicans in the Senate lost four members in recent elections, including two who were members of the committee — Sens. Joan Ballweg and Duey Stroebel. Three new Republican Senators are joining the committee next session —  Sen. Romaine Quinn, Julian Bradley and Rob Stafsholt — to replace the outgoing lawmakers and newly elected Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk).

Johnson said that, while she’s glad to have Sen.-elect. Sarah Keyeski of Lodi, who ousted Ballweg, joining the Senate Democrats, she thought Ballweg was a good lawmaker, who faced the consequences of gerrymandering.

“That’s the hard part of when maps are gerrymandered … when it’s corrected, sometimes the people that you lose are the moderates who are willing to do the right thing simply because it’s the right thing,” Johnson said. “That doesn’t mean that she never voted with her side. Of course she did. But she stepped away from that sometimes when she needed things for her community, too. She wasn’t opposed to doing the right thing.” 

Johnson said she hopes the writing is on the wall for lawmakers that want to ostracize the minority. 

“If they don’t take this as a wake-up call, then that’s better for us,” Johnson said. “Continue to operate the way that you have been operating for these last 11 years or so that I’ve been in the building, continue to do that, and it should most definitely be best for us next election cycle.” 

Priorities for the lawmakers

Johnson, who has served on the committee since 2017, says she continues to because of the opportunity it presents.

“The quickest way to help some of the people that I know that need help the most — like the working poor in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County — is through JFC,” Johnson says. “That’s where all of the important decisions are made because if you’re going to get anything passed in that building that requires one dollar amount, then that money has to be set aside through JFC to make sure that the appropriate appropriations are there.”

Johnson said lawmakers have been preparing for the next budget cycle by reading agency requests.

The Democratic senators said they want to see next year’s budget invest in a variety of priorities, including K-12 and higher education, local government funding, child care, health care and public safety. 

Johnson said that investing in some of these priorities could help bring down costs down the road. 

Johnson noted the high costs of housing youth at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake schools. Currently, the state budgets $463,000 annually to house each juvenile in those facilities, and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections has requested that be increased to about $862,000 per year by 2026. 

investing in human needs and public education instead could help prevent children from ending up at the facility, Johnson said.

“It drives me crazy,” Johnson said. “I would much rather see my tax dollars being spent on higher educational tuition reimbursements, more housing assistance, more Foodshare, more whatever, to keep these families stable, to keep these kids in the home, than to pay [over] $860,000 for one child that may or may not correct that behavior.”

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has requested an additional $4 billion in funding, the UW System has requested an additional $855 million and the state’s technical colleges have requested an additional $45 million.

Roys mentioned increasing funding for education and local governments as some of her top priorities. 

“We’ve been asking our schools and local governments to continually do more with less under these harsh levy limits and inadequate funding from the state. That compounds over time,” Roys said. “We have got to make sure that our schools and our local governments have the money they need to continue providing the service that every single Wisconsinite deserves.” 

When it comes to K-12 education, Roys said securing a 90% special education reimbursement for public schools would be her top priority. Private schools that participate in the school choice program already receive that rate of reimbursement, while public schools currently receive about a 33% reimbursement. 

“We have a moral and a legal obligation to educate all kids, and that means meeting the needs of students with disabilities, but when the state only pays for a third of the cost of educating what that means is that school districts have to take away things for all students,” Roys said. “All kids are being harmed by the state failing to meet this unfunded mandate, failing to fund this obligation.”

Roys said investing in child care is another big priority for her. 

Wisconsin’s Child Care Counts program was launched in March 2020 using federal money and has provided funding assistance to eligible child care providers to help support operating expenses, investments in program quality, tuition relief for families, staff compensation and professional development. The program is set to end in June 2025, however, as federal funds will run out. 

“We cannot have a vibrant economy and have the workforce participation that we need for a strong economy if we don’t have affordable, accessible child care in every corner of the state,” Roys said. “The Legislature’s decision to go from, you know, $300 million Child Care Counts program that kept the doors open to $0 for child care in the last budget has had devastating consequences in every community across the state.” 

Lawmakers on what people should know

When asked about what people should know going into next year, Johnson said people need to stay aware of what the committee is doing. She pointed out that people who closely watch Wisconsin politics probably already know about the importance of JFC. 

“For those people who are not politically savvy and who don’t pay attention to those types of things, they really need to pay attention to JFC,” Johnson said. 

“JFC is where those priorities are manifested, or they go to die,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t matter how good a piece of legislation is, if the funding isn’t there for it and it requests dollar amounts, it’s gonna die.” 

Roys said people should make their voices and priorities known, saying that people could send emails to every member of the committee. 

“Public input tells us what’s important,” Roys said. “We can’t guarantee, obviously, what the Republicans are going to choose and be funded, but it does send a strong message. That is how we know without a shadow of a doubt that public education and affordable child care were key priorities, but Republicans chose to ignore that.”

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Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein on floor of Senate. (Courtesy Hesselbein's office)

Wisconsin Senate Democrats knew going into this year’s elections that their opportunity to flip the Senate wouldn’t come until 2026, but they had a goal of flipping four seats and keeping every seat already held by a Democrat. They succeeded, and now the caucus is preparing for a legislative session with high hopes for bipartisan work.

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) told the Wisconsin Examiner in a year-end interview that her 15-member caucus is bringing “a lot of energy, enthusiasm and honesty” to the Senate and is looking forward to working next session. She said the bolstered caucus is returning for the next two-year session with “a lot of good ideas.”

Hesselbein said lawmakers have already started to talk about what happened on the campaign trail, and the caucus will begin having more robust conversations next week about their priorities for the session. She said the importance of public schools including K-12, universities and technical colleges has been a recurring theme already.

Hesselbein sees new influence for Democrats in a few ways. For one, Senate Democrats now have the numbers to stop Senate Republicans from overturning Gov. Tony Evers’ vetoes. Hesselbein said this is “huge.” Senate Republicans held a 22-seat supermajority in the 2023-24 session, which allowed them to vote to overturn some of Evers’ vetoes, though these efforts weren’t successful since Assembly Republicans didn’t hold a supermajority. Senate Republicans’ majority  was trimmed back to 18 out of 33 seats in the recent election. 

With a more evenly split Legislature, Hesselbein said there will be the potential to get more things done in a bipartisan way. She noted that last session several big pieces of legislation, including funding renovations at the stadium where the Milwaukee Brewers play, investing in the state’s local government funding and overhauling the state’s alcohol licensing, had bipartisan support. 

“They have a lot of Republicans on their side that don’t vote for much of anything, so we will see going forward,” Hesselbein said. She said that she has spoken with Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) and newly-elected Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) about the upcoming session, and the conversation was good. She said Senate Republicans plan to caucus on Monday and Senate Democrats will caucus on Tuesday, and the leaders will hopefully meet again in January. 

“I’m going to have conversations with Sen. LeMahieu and Sen. Felzkowski, and figure out if there’s a way we can move forward in a bipartisan manner,” Hesselbein said. 

One area ripe for work next year is the state’s two-year budget. With a $4 billion budget surplus, lawmakers will return in January with the task of deciding how to spend the money. 

Hesselbein said she believes that Democratic votes could be necessary to successfully pass a budget. The Senate Democratic leader hasn’t voted in favor of a state budget in her 12 years in the Legislature, and hopes that can change. 

“I don’t know how they would pass a budget without Democratic votes. They have a lot of Republicans on their side that don’t vote for much of anything,” Hesselbein. She pointed to Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), who voted against the last state budget, as an example. Nass’ Chief of Staff Mike Mikalsen noted in an email to the Examiner that Nass has voted against “many fiscally flawed and big spending state budgets,” but that “since his first election in 1990, he has voted in favor of a few fiscally-sane state budgets.” 

Agencies recently submitted their budget requests, and when it comes to education funding, DPI Superintendent Jill Underly submitted a request for an additional $4 billion and the UW System has asked for an additional $855 million. Hesselbein said she was surprised that the requests were so high. 

“They’re big numbers but you know what? They have been underfunded for decades,” Hesselbein said. 

Underly’s job, Hesselbein said, is “to run the Department of Public Instruction and let us know what she thinks she needs for that budget, and she did that.” She said that UW System President Jay Rothman had the same responsibility. 

“I know we couldn’t meet both their expectations, right, without blowing a huge hole in the budget,” Hesselbein said.

Shoring up education

Hesselbein said that investing in the state’s special education reimbursement for public schools could be particularly important as there is uncertainty about what could happen under the new Trump administration.

“If Donald Trump gets rid of the Department of Education on a federal level, what does that do for special education in the state of Wisconsin? We have students that have IEPs, and they have federal protection so that they can get help but they might be learning different ways,” Hesselbein said. “There’s a lot of unsure things going on right now.”

Hesselbein said investing in mental health resources in K-12 schools and higher education will be important as well. 

Republicans have said tax cuts will be one of their highest priorities next year. Hesselbein said that any tax cuts would need to be “micro-targeted” to gain Democratic support, and she doesn’t know if Republicans will “get there based on what they did last session.” Republican lawmakers had proposed several tax cuts that Evers vetoed, including an income tax cut.  

Hesselbein added that property tax relief could be an interesting proposition, given that many communities have decided to raise their property taxes to help with education costs. A recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report found that gross K-12 property taxes in the state are expected to rise by the largest amount since 2009 due in part to referendum requests. 

“Really the reason why we have billions of dollars in our surplus is because we haven’t been funding K-12 education the way we should for years,” Hesselbein said. “People over and over again will raise their property tax if they want to support their neighborhood schools, so those people are agreeing to tax themselves higher because they care so much about K-12 education, but they’re making those decisions because the state of Wisconsin isn’t keeping up their promise to pay for those services and that school.” 

Other Democratic prioirites

When it comes to health care issues, Hesselbein said that she hopes lawmakers will be able to expand Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers to 12 months. She noted that Wisconsin is one of two states in the U.S. that haven’t accepted the expansion. The Senate passed a bill to do so  in the most recent legislative session, but it never received a vote in the Assembly. 

“We have it on the books where you get 60 days and if you’re postpartum 61 days, too bad, you don’t get any services,” Hesselbein said. “That’s not how your body works after you have a baby.” She said women who have just given birth need support and resources.  

As Democrats are still in the minority, Hesselbein admitted there will likely be limits to what Democrats can accomplish on certain issues next session as much will depend on Republicans.

Hesselbein said Democrats will continue working to eliminate the 1849 statute that went into effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned, causing the cessation of abortion services in Wisconsin. That law is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court. She said that she also wants to pass a bill for a fairer process for drawing voting maps. Wisconsin implemented new maps this year after the state Supreme Court ruled that the last set of maps, drawn to heavily favor Republicans, were unconstitutional. However, the laws guiding how Wisconsin draws voting maps haven’t changed.

“I don’t know if that’s going to happen until we’re in the majority, but we’re going to continue to push for that,” Hesselbein said. 

Hesselbein said it would be a “missed opportunity” if Republicans choose not to work with Democrats to get things done, and said voters will remember “if we don’t get the budget done on time…if we’re not meeting as much” and what bills get completed.

“I can’t force Republicans to work with me if they won’t do that,” Hesselbein said. “I can offer an olive branch. I can say, ‘My door is open. Let’s have these conversations.’ But at the end of the day if they refuse to work with me, that’s on them.”

Hesselbein recalled that on the last day of session Senate Republicans ended debate even as Democrats wanted to speak, which led to Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) throwing papers up in the air in frustration.

“We answer to the voters in our district and it’s awful when the Republican Party silences Democrats, just because they don’t want to hear what we need to say to represent the communities that we represent. That’s unfair,” Hesselbein said. “And we won’t do that, by the way, when we’re in the majority. We’re going to let people be able to talk and be able to say what they want and have robust conversations.”

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Wisconsin Examiner photo

The Wisconsin Policy Forum recently reported that property tax bills mailed out to Wisconsin taxpayers this month will show the biggest tax increase from a previous year since 2009.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos wasted no time in assigning blame. On X, Vos wrote: “When you receive your property tax bill this month, please remember it was Governor Evers who used his line item veto to create a 400 year guaranteed property tax increase.”

It’s true that Evers’ headline-grabbing partial veto of the last state budget extended the two-year tax increase the Legislature approved for school districts. The Legislature allowed schools to raise another $325 per pupil per year from local taxpayers for each year of the 2023-25 budget. By deleting some digits, Evers stretched that out until the year 2425. 

But Vos’ accusation is fundamentally misleading in a couple of ways. First, the Legislature approved the increase for the duration of the current budget cycle. The fact that Evers extended it for centuries into the future made a big splash, but it didn’t add a penny to anyone’s property taxes this year. 

Second, and more important to understand, as we begin another budget cycle and another slugfest over spending on schools, is that the Legislature’s stinginess when it comes to the state’s share of school funding is a major driver of property tax increases. 

As the Wisconsin Policy Forum points out in its report, one key reason for the recent spike in property taxes is the historic number of school district referenda passed by local communities. Local property taxpayers voted to raise their own taxes. And why is that? Because the Legislature refused to give school districts enough money in the state budget to cover their costs.

But, you might object, Vos and other Republicans made a big point of touting their last budget’s “historic” $1.2 billion increase in funding for schools. Unfortunately, that claim is as misleading as Vos’ effort to blame Evers for your property tax bill.

To understand why school districts are begging local taxpayers for money at the same time Republicans claim they gave schools a “historic increase,” take a look at how little of that $1.2 billion in “education spending” actually went to schools. 

For each budget cycle, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau produces a detailed summary of budget items by category. In the “Public Instruction” category, the Fiscal Bureau reports that “total school aid” in the 2023-25 budget came to $625 million. 

Where did the rest go? To find out, you have to look down the list of Fiscal Bureau categories to “shared revenue and tax relief.” There, under the heading “school levy tax credit” you will find the missing $590 million in so-called school funding, in the form of a rebate to property taxpayers. Schools never get to touch that money. It is an oddity of Wisconsin law that the school levy tax credit is labeled as school funding.

The school levy tax credit puts school districts in an awkward position every year. At the end of October, every district sets its levy. People believe, based on that number, that they know what their tax bill will be. But later, on Nov. 20, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue tells each municipality the amount of the school levy tax credit that will be applied to local property tax bills and the number is readjusted. The state calls this tax credit money for schools, but it’s actually just a straight-up discount for property tax payers. 

Now, had the Legislature actually put $590 million into school funding, schools would have been in a much better financial position, and we probably would not have seen a record-breaking number of districts asking property taxpayers to hike their own taxes to keep their local schools afloat. 

The backdrop to all this was a huge, historic cut to school funding in Wisconsin back in 2012, followed by a decade and a half in which schools never recovered. Wisconsin has not given schools enough funding to keep pace with inflation for the last 15 years, state schools superintendent Jill Underly pointed out when she released her $4 billion 2025-27 budget proposal.

Vos dismissed Underly’s budget proposal as completely unrealistic. But in truth, it would pretty much restore Wisconsin schools to the level of funding they enjoyed right before the brutal cuts of former Gov. Scott Walker’s administration.

One of Underly’s top budget priorities is asking the state to meet its neglected commitment to cover 90% of special education costs, instead of the current 32%, which forces schools to raid general funds and cut programs to cover this unavoidable, federally mandated expense.

Another sensible idea, endorsed by the Legislature’s bipartisan Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding in 2017, is to end the deceptive practice of putting money into the school levy tax credit and pretending that it funds schools.

Instead of playing a shell game with school funding and pointing fingers as local taxpayers continue to shoulder more and more of the cost, Wisconsin should use a portion of the state’s massive budget surplus to adequately fund schools.

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The Assembly Democratic Caucus will enter the next year with 45 members — ten more than last session. Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) speaking at a press conference before an April 25, 2023 floor session. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) said in a year-end interview that the new makeup of the state Legislature is going to have a real impact next legislative session. 

The Assembly Democratic Caucus will enter the next year with 45 members — ten more than last session — after the recent elections under new legislative maps, and the work to prepare for next session has started. 

“The fair maps already started to change the culture of the state Legislature. We saw more bipartisan work last session. I expect that that will only increase as we go forward,” Neubauer told the Wisconsin Examiner. “We’ve got legislators who are going to be looking over their left and their right shoulder — a lot of people in competitive districts who are going to need to listen to their constituents and get things done.” 

Assembly Democrats are looking to get things done, Neubauer said. To prepare, leaders are having one-on-one conversations with members. New lawmakers are participating in a freshman orientation this week and a caucus retreat is scheduled for later this week.

“We are working as a group to identify our top priorities — what it would take for us to vote for the budget, for example — and working to collectively leverage our power.” Neubauer said. She said many of the caucus’ new members have a local government background or have worked in advocacy roles or as a union leader, which is helpful.

Neubauer said she thinks the majority party will need some Democratic support to pass important bills, which could give Assembly Democrats the chance to shape forthcoming legislation. 

“We want to make sure that we are taking advantage of those opportunities to get real wins for our constituents and pass important policy,” Neubauer said. 

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said during a press conference last month that he would still be seeking “consensus” among Republicans before moving forward on issues, even with the new slimmer margins. However, Neubauer said she thinks there will be more opportunities to work together on certain issues as there may be more members of the Republican caucus pushing their leadership to take up certain issues including investment in education, lowering costs, expanding access to health care including by extending postpartum Medicaid coverage, protecting the environment and providing clean drinking water.

“The reality is that he now has a lot of members who are in very close seats, who are going to need to go home and answer for their votes,” Neubauer said. “There’s a lot of really popular issues that Republicans have refused to take significant action on that I anticipate will be getting more air time in the coming session.” 

Neubauer said she hasn’t spoken with Vos about the upcoming session, but hopes to soon.

Budget writing and other legislative priorities

When the Legislature returns to session next year, Gov. Tony Evers and the Legislature will work on writing the next two-year budget. State agencies have delivered their requests to Evers, who will write his own budget proposals. The Legislature will then write and vote on its own version before sending it to Evers, who will have the opportunity to sign or veto the budget. 

“I am hopeful that in this budget, we will be able to lower costs for families in Wisconsin in housing and child care and prescription drugs. I hope that we’re able to make real investments in education and giving every kid the opportunity to succeed in our state,” Neubauer said.

School funding a top priority

Neubauer said education funding will likely be a top priority for the caucus, and that the proposals from the UW System and the Department of Public Instruction are strong. The UW System is requesting an additional $855 million from the state for many priorities, including wage increases, general operations costs, mental health services and extending the Wisconsin Tuition Promise. The Department of Public Instruction has requested an additional $4.3 billion to support schools struggling to meet costs; the request follows a record year for school referendum requests. 

“I really appreciate the ambition and the effort to make the necessary investments to give every student in Wisconsin the ability to succeed,” Neubauer said. “We know that the state Legislature has not been keeping up its end of the bargain in terms of funding for our public schools and the Assembly Republicans have seemingly decided that their role is to attack and undermine the UW system rather than support and uplift it.” 

Neubauer said she hopes they’re able to get a significant increase for education spending given the state’s significant $4 billion surplus, but noted that those priorities need to be balanced with other important priorities. When it comes to specific policies for investment for K-12 education, Neubauer said Democrats will be focused on increasing the reimbursement rate for special education, securing a “significant” increase to per pupil aid and mental health resources. 

“It should not be falling to local communities to raise their property taxes in order to fund their schools, and I think for many of us, you know, we walk into our local schools and we see what’s been cut, and we see where additional resources could really make a difference for kids, and we think this is just wrong.” Neubauer said. She noted that Racine County, where she is from, is one community dealing with financial difficulties, including deficits and budget cuts. “We’re not doing right by them, and so I do think that’ll be a big focus for us in this budget, and then we will see where else we can support families to make ends meet and to have great opportunities in Wisconsin in the years ahead.” 

Republican lawmakers, including leaders and those on the budget committee, have said that “returning the surplus back to taxpayers” will be one of their top priorities. Neubauer said that Democrats would be open to talking about targeted tax cuts that benefit middle class families.

“What we’ve seen from Republicans in the last several years is proposals that primarily benefit the richest Wisconsinites and corporations, and we’re not interested in that,” Neubauer said. “We know that many people are struggling to make ends meet in Wisconsin, but it can’t break the bank, and it needs to be targeted.”

Funding local government

Neubauer said local government funding will likely be another key priority for Democrats this coming session. Even with the shared revenue overhaul last session, she said many Wisconsin communities are still struggling to fund essential services. 

“We did make progress, but we had fallen so far behind,” Neubauer said. “We’ve got red and blue communities that are coming to us and saying with the federal dollars going away here at the end of the year, they’re going to have a very difficult time funding their public health departments, their parks and community centers, their public safety and those are all essential to our community’s well being.”

Prying loose JFC’s grip on the public purse

Neubauer said she hopes with the maps that there will be more accountability for lawmakers on the Joint Finance Committee if they decide to withhold funds next session. Lawmakers dedicated money to several issues last session — including $125 million to combat PFAS, $50 million to support new literacy initiatives and $15 million for hospitals in the Chippewa Valley — however, the funds have been withheld by the Republican-led Joint Finance Committee due to policy differences after the funds were allocated. 

Neubauer said she hopes this will happen less in the coming session. She pointed out that Sen. Duey Stroebel, a prominent Republican member of the committee, was ousted from his seat this election cycle by Democrat Sen.-elect. Jodi Habush Sinykin. Sen. Joan Ballweg, another member of the committee, also lost her reelection bid. 

“People of Wisconsin don’t really like that. Those are important priorities to people across the state,” Neubauer said. “I think that having more legislators and competitive seats will mean that the people, I hope, on the Joint Finance Committee are hesitant to do that.” 

Neubauer said that the multiple court cases challenging  JFC’s enhanced authority could also help with the issue. 

“We’ve already seen one decision from the Supreme Court that said that they had overstepped, and there are other cases moving through,” Neubauer said. “I think that’s a good thing, and it makes me hopeful that Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee will no longer be able to act as sort of another Legislature in preventing the implementation of these programs that have already been passed and already been signed.”

Beyond budget priorities, Neubauer said that the caucus is continuing to think about other longer term issues — including legalizing marijuana, addressing gun safety, protecting abortion rights, addressing climate change, ensuring everyone has access to clean drinking water and public safety reforms — but she expects some of those will require a Democratic majority. 

Neubauer said that Democrats are always working towards the majority in the Assembly, and she thinks the last election laid the groundwork for a Democratic takeover in two years. She noted there could be the opportunity for a Democratic trifecta in that election cycle.

“We’ve got strong candidates that ran this cycle, many of whom want to run again. We really built our grassroots infrastructure in communities where we haven’t had competitive districts for quite some time, and I think we learned some things about how to run such a big program with so many candidates under these fair maps,” Neubauer said.

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Gov. Tony Evers kicks off a budget listening session in Appleton, Wis. on Monday, Dec. 2 | Photo by Andrew Kennard

Members of the public traveled to Einstein Middle School in Appleton Monday to tell Gov. Tony Evers about their priorities for Wisconsin’s 2025-2027 budget. 

During the first of Evers’ five planned listening sessions around the state ahead of his next budget proposal, Wisconsin residents expressed concern about the cost of housing, Wisconsin prisons and other issues in a breakout group attended by the Examiner. 

In opening remarks, Evers expressed support for addressing “long neglected” priorities and cited Wisconsin’s budget surplus of over $4 billion for the 2024 fiscal year. 

Evers said his priorities include expanding BadgerCare, legalizing marijuana, protecting access to reproductive health care, gun and justice reform, protecting the environment and investing in kids and schools. 

Local Republican state Rep. Ron Tusler (R-Harrison) has a different view on the surplus, Fox 11 reported. He wants to use it to  return money to taxpayers and provide relief from inflation.  

Members of the public split into six breakout groups. Each group focused on different topics relevant to the budget. The Examiner attended the “Strong & Safe Communities” group, which addressed issues ranging from affordable housing to Wisconsin’s prison system. 

A De Pere resident brought up the high cost of housing, saying that she and her husband are from Door County but couldn’t afford to live there even though they both work. Even in De Pere, “all the houses in my neighborhood are getting bought up and flipped,” she said. 

Tom Denk, who was formerly incarcerated, said he wants to see change in Wisconsin prisons. He said he wasn’t allowed access to enrichment  programs in prison. 

“The DOC needs more funding because their staff need to be educated. They need to have that trauma-informed care,” Denk said. “Because most people are going to get out of prison. I’m one of them.”

Substance abuse and anger management programs in the Wisconsin prison system have waitlists in the thousands. The Department of Corrections’ website says the agency tries to enroll people in programming as they get close to their release date. 

Karen Winkel, a homeless prevention specialist, said many of her clients have been recently released from the Department of Corrections or the Green Lake County Jail, with “no place to go. There’s no place to live.” 

Lisa Cruz, executive director of Multicultural Coalition, Inc., said her nonprofit is overwhelmed with serving immigrants and refugees. 

“It’s [a] humanitarian crisis,” Cruz said. “And I think we often think about that happening somewhere else, in another country, maybe in another state. It’s right here and it’s right now.”

Members of the group expressed concerns about American Rescue Plan funding running out, including funding for services for crime victims. Wisconsin passed $10 million in funding for victim services earlier this year, but providers are still facing budget cuts. 

“My agency received a 72% reduction, really impacting nearly half of our budget,” said Isabel Williston, executive director of ASTOP Sexual Abuse Center. 

Jared Hoy, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, attended the group discussion, but mostly listened since the focus was on the public’s input. 

An informational packet distributed at the event described positions the governor has taken on criminal justice. These include increasing funding for Wisconsin’s TAD (treatment alternatives and diversion) program and addressing staffing shortages that have worsened conditions in state prisons. 

Evers will introduce his budget proposal early next year, Communications Director Britt Cudaback told the Examiner in late October. In his remarks, Evers praised Wisconsin’s new legislative maps as more reflective of the “will of the people.” In last month’s election, the maps helped Democrats flip 14 previously Republican-held seats in the Legislature, narrowing Republican majorities. 

Evers’ next listening session is Wednesday evening in La Crosse, followed by Milwaukee, Ashland and a virtual session.  

Members of the public can submit comments on budget priorities through the governor’s constituent services page. 

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An empty high school classroom. (Dan Forer | Getty Images)

Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly is proposing Wisconsin increase state public school funding by at least $3 billion, including by increasing the special education reimbursement for public schools. 

Underly outlined the proposal Monday, and it comes as Wisconsin schools have been increasingly turning to voters to help fund rising costs. Last week, Wisconsin voters passed over 78% of school referendum requests. 

“Wisconsin’s public schools have been asked to do more with less for too many years — and the upcoming biennial budget presents a critical opportunity to make meaningful change and support the future of our kids,” Underly said in a statement announcing the proposals on Monday. “My budget proposal reinvests in public education and upholds the responsibility of our state: To ensure our schools have the resources they need to ensure the success of our kids. By providing sustainable funding to our public schools and creating new, innovative ways to meet families’ needs, our educators can continue providing high-quality education to all kids.

The proposal includes raising the state’s reimbursement for special education costs to 75% in 2026 and to 90% in 2027 — providing about $2 billion to schools over the biennium. Private voucher schools in Wisconsin already receive a 90% reimbursement rate. 

The budget request  also includes indexing school revenue limits to inflation — restoring a principle that was last used in  2009-10 — and  increasing public schools’ revenue limits by $425 in fiscal year 2026 and by $437.75 in fiscal year 2027 — providing an additional $1 billion over the biennium. 

At the same time, Underly said her proposal would limit school districts’ property tax increases to an average of 1.5%.

DPI Communications Director Chris Bucher explained in an email to the Examiner that the agency is “proposing both increasing the revenue limit, and then funding that with state dollars.”

“Funding the revenue limit increase has the practical effect of preventing schools from increasing property taxes, due to the revenue limit increase, unless they go to referendum,” Bucher said. “It’s not just a hope and a wish. Schools are effectively prevented from increasing property taxes due to the revenue limit by more than about 1.5% average over the biennium.”

Other proposals include expanding per-pupil categorical aid program payments from $750 to $800 in 2026 and to $850 in 2027, as well as providing an additional 20% for students in poverty; providing $20 million for the out-of-school-time grant program; and reimbursing local education agencies for unaided costs of providing mandated special education services to children with disabilities in early childhood education. 

Over the last month, Underly has also announced other proposals, including investing nearly $60 million to help school districts resolve staffing challenges and retain teachers, $42 million proposal to support early literacy initiatives, $311 million for school nutrition and $304 million to support Wisconsin youth mental health.

Democratic lawmakers responded positively to the proposals, saying they will benefit students. 

“For the love of Wisconsin kids, teachers, and schools, let’s get it done,” Rep. Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) said. 

Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison), who is a member of the Joint Finance Committee, encouraged her colleagues to support and help pass the proposal in a statement. 

“Public schools are struggling under harsh state levy limits, forcing districts to repeatedly go to referenda to recruit and retain great teachers and to give every student a good education,” Roys said. “This is a budget proposal that finally puts our kids and our schools first, while helping take the burden off of local taxpayers.”

Whether the proposals will actually become law is unclear. The Legislature will have a larger share of Democrats in the upcoming legislative session after the first elections under maps drawn to be more competitive for both parties. Democrats have said that the change will lead to more negotiations with Republican lawmakers over the shape of the budget. 

However, Republicans still hold a majority of seats in both chambers, with a 54-45 GOP majority in the Assembly and an 18-15 majority in the Senate.

Leaders of Senate and Assembly Republicans have said given the state’s budget surplus that tax cuts will be a top priority for them.

Update: This story was updated Tuesday with additional comment from DPI.

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