At a press conference outside the state Capitol Wednesday, Sens. Jamie Wall, Jeff Smith and Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein urged Republicans to schedule a hearing for their bill expeditiously. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Less than a month before the planned closure of two Wisconsin veterans’ housing sites, a handful of Democratic and Republican lawmakers are seeking a way to save the sites. But bipartisan work on a solution appears out of reach as lawmakers bicker over who is to blame for the lack of funding and over whether to take up Democratic- or Republican-authored bills.

Gov. Tony Evers’ administration announced, shortly after the state budget was completed in July, that two Veterans Housing and Recovery Program (VHRP) sites, one in Chippewa Falls and one in Green Bay, would be closing on Sept. 30 due to a lack of funding in the state budget. One facility in Union Grove will remain open. 

The program, which is run under the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, serves veterans who are on the verge of or are already experiencing homelessness, including those who have been incarcerated, unemployed or have physical and mental health problems. Participants get access to transitional housing, referrals to service providers, financial assistance, assistance with seeking vocational opportunities and access to a room at a reduced rent for working veterans.

Participants can stay for a maximum of 24 months, but the average length is six to 10 months.

The program has been funded with a combination of an appropriation from the Veterans Trust Fund, payments made by program participants and per diem payments, which are made to the agency by the federal government at a current rate of about $71 per resident per day. However, growing staffing and maintenance costs at the facilities led to the need for additional state support. Evers had included a funding proposal in his budget but that was removed by Republican lawmakers.

Following the news of the closures, Sens. Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) and Jaime Wall (D-Green Bay) introduced a bill that would dedicate $1.9 million to the sites.

At a press conference outside the state Capitol Wednesday, the bill authors and Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) urged Republicans to schedule a hearing for their bill expeditiously.

Citing the upcoming closure date, Hesselbein said the Senate and Assembly must meet. She said committees could meet this week or next to hear the legislation and pass it out of committee this month and have the bill on the floor in October.

“It’s a cool day out here today. The weather is going to get worse. We need to take care of our veterans,” Hesselbein said.

According to the Associated Press, the state Senate is not planning to meet for a floor session this month. 

“It’s way past time to take action to keep these facilities open so they can continue to provide vital services to our veterans,” Hesselbein said, adding that “when Democrats have the power of majority which we believe is coming in just a few years, we will always have your backs.” Democrats are seeking to flip control of the state Senate in the 2026 election cycle. 

Smith called Republicans’ lack of action on the issue “callous,” noting that Democrats tried months ago to include the funding in the budget. When Democrats proposed an amendment to  fund the veterans’ housing sites in the state budget, every Republican voted against it except for Sen. André Jacque (R-New Franken). 

It is unlikely that the Republican-led Legislature will allow Democrats’ bill to advance. 

“[Republicans] have ignored our pleas. As far as we know, we’re not going to see these bills on the floor this month, and this is the final chapter. This is when it ends. No hope for the veterans that they like to pretend that they care about,” Smith said. 

Jacque, meanwhile, began circulating his own bill last month to provide the needed funding for the facilities. 

The Republican bill, coauthored by Jacque and Rep. Benjamin Franklin (R-De Pere), includes $1.9 million for the VHRP program as well as two other policy changes related to veterans. 

One would require the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin system to provide funding to the UW Missing-in-Action Recovery and Identification Project to support missions to recover and identify Wisconsin veterans who are missing. The other would lower the eligibility threshold for veterans and surviving spouses to claim the veterans and surviving spouses property tax credit.

Jacque said the two policies were also left out of the budget and are critical to helping veterans.

“Every budget has missed opportunities, and I am hopeful that the rest of the session will provide openings to address those challenges in a number of areas, particularly providing for our veterans who have done so much in service to our country and communities,” Jacque told the Wisconsin Examiner in an email.

Jacque said he has “found a lot of support” from his Republican colleagues and is “hopeful that the bill will be referred to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Veterans and Military Affairs,” which he chairs.

In response to a question about Jacque’s bill and whether Democrats are working with any Republicans to advance funding for the facilities, Hesselbein brushed off the GOP bill saying it simply pulled from Democrats’ ideas. 

“What Sen. Jacque did is he took three Democratic bills and pushed them all into one omnibus. We’ll be interested if he gets a hearing. I’m not sure…,” Hesselbein said. “I like to have clean legislation when we try to have committee hearings so you can hear exactly what’s going on with those bills, so we are supporting the bill that Sen. Wall and Sen. Smith put forth.”

Smith said Democrats separated the VHRP funding from other policies purposefully. Wall added that their bill is a “smaller, cleaner ask” than a bill with multiple items. 

Jacque told the Wisconsin Examiner in an email that he is “extremely disappointed by Sen. Hesselbein’s comments and her unwillingness to put partisanship aside for the sake of working to support veterans — as I did when I voted for the omnibus veterans motion her caucus introduced during the budget. I am rather surprised at her comments due to her longstanding penchant for putting forward omnibus bills and amendments.” 

Jacque noted that he has supported and authored legislation to expand the property tax credit for veterans and surviving spouses in previous years “going all the way back to my service in the State Assembly,” and has also supported previous UW MIA legislation. 

“I supported VHRP within the budget and it was not introduced as standalone legislation by any legislator previously to that, at least to my knowledge,” Jacque added. “I didn’t think Sen. Hesselbein was that unaware of the history of these initiatives.”

Not every Republican lawmaker has appeared open to providing additional funding that would be used to keep the two VHRP programs open. Following the initial news of the planned closures, Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee, blamed Evers for not negotiating for the money in the budget.

According to the Green Bay Press Gazette, Sen. Eric Wimberger (R-Oconto) claimed last week that Evers had a “slush fund” — referring to federal pandemic aid — and should be able to find the money to keep the facilities afloat. He pointed to the Wisconsin DVA’s Veterans Trust Fund, a state fund that supports most grant and benefit programs for Wisconsin veterans, and said the agency has regularly returned around $1 million in unspent funds each year and in 2025, the agency sent back about $600,000.

WDVA Assistant Deputy Secretary Joey Hoey has disputed the comments, saying that the agency is “only allowed to spend the money they tell us to spend.” He has also said the trust fund cannot be used for the staffing costs and that there isn’t enough in it.

Wall objected to Wimberger’s “slush fund” comments as well on Wednesday, saying that federal American Rescue Plan Act money has been spent. ARPA funds were used to help support costs for the program in 2023-24. States had to expend the one-time ARPA funds by the end of 2024.

“[Evers] took some ARPA interest funds and used it to help prop up the program. Those funds don’t exist anymore. The ARPA funds all had to be allocated by the end of last year,” Wall said. “The ARPA interest money was all spent in the last budget, so that get out of jail free card doesn’t exist.”

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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said Wednesday that the Evers administration is “drunk with power” and is upending a process “that has literally worked for generations.” Vos speaks to reporters in Jan. 2024. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

The Joint Committee on Employment Relations unanimously approved pay raises for state and University of Wisconsin employees Wednesday morning, but not without criticism from the top Assembly Republican of Gov. Tony Evers’ decision to implement them ahead of the committee. 

The budget — passed by the Republican-led Legislature and signed by Evers in early July — included a 3% pay increase in the first year of the budget and a 2% increase in the second year. Evers, seeking to get the pay raises to employees as soon as possible, instructed the Department of Administration (DOA) to implement the raises without getting the additional go-ahead from the committee in mid-August. 

DOA Deputy Secretary Anne Hanson told the committee that the raises should be reflected in paychecks starting this week.

“When the Wisconsin Supreme Court clarified that the state separation of power doctrine in Evers v. Marklein last year, it became clear that the implementation of raises established and funded by the state budget legislation would no longer necessitate separate approval by a legislative committee under the direction of Gov. Evers,” Hanson said. “DOA staff worked quickly to carry out the law.”

The Evers v. Marklein case centered on the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program and projects being blocked by the Joint Finance Committee. The Court found 6-1 that it was unconstitutional for the committee to withhold already appropriated funds for the program. 

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) complained about Evers’ actions before the committee voted Wednesday, saying the Evers administration is “drunk with power” and is upending a process “that has literally worked for generations.” 

“Really seems like rather than trying to be collaborative and go through the normal process where Republicans, Democrats, legislators, executive branch, all sit down and work out a deal, they’re just going to try to impose their will on the state, which will mean unfortunately that during the next budget discussion, it will be dramatically different,” Vos said. “It’s really a shame that the Evers administration has decided to play politics with it and do something which is clearly outside the scope of norm and what should be outside the scope of the law.” 

The conflict over the powers of the Legislature and of the executive branch goes beyond the implementation of pay raises. Republicans lawmakers are also trying to stop the implementation of administrative rules by the Evers administration, which was seeking to put some in action without going through the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules. Evers in this case cited another recent state Supreme Court decision as clarifying his authority.

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) and Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine), the Democrats on the committee, did not speak to the issue, though Hesselbein said she is concerned that the pay for employees isn’t enough. 

“I’m glad we’re doing this adjustment, but I would like to note after a conversation with representatives of hard-working men and women throughout the state providing public services… that the compensation for the average state employee does remain 18% below inflation since 2012,” Hesselbein said. “While this is a small step in the right direction, we have a lot more to do.”

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The report found the median wage for Wisconsin workers — $25.01 per hour — reached a record high for the second year in a row, though the report says this doesn’t represent the full story when it comes to workers’ wages. (Justin Sullivan | Getty Images)

The Trump administration’s policies are defining the current economic moment Wisconsin workers are facing — undercutting economic growth and undermining workers, according to the 2025 State of Working Wisconsin report. 

Every year since 1996, the High Road Strategy Center, a University of Wisconsin-Madison nonprofit think tank, produces the report to present information on the state of work and jobs, including who is “winning” and “being left out” of the economy, though future reports may be in trouble. 

Laura Dresser, a co-author of the report and High Road Strategy Center associate director, said in a statement that the 2025 data shows “some real strengths for working Wisconsin owing to the strong recovery from pandemic shutdowns.” 

“Long-standing inequalities are still with us, and federal policy puts substantial clouds on the horizon,” Dresser said. “I’m especially concerned about the administration’s attacks on the integrity of federal economic data.”

Joel Rogers, director of the center and a UW-Madison professor, and Leslie Vasquez, outreach specialist and communications director, are also authors of the report that was released the Friday before Labor Day. 

Dresser’s concern about federal jobs data stems from President Donald Trump’s decision last month to remove Erika McEntarfer, the director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from her position after a dismal jobs report that showed hiring slowed in July and was weaker in May and June than previously reported. He falsely claimed the reports were rigged as his justification. 

The report warns that the approach being taken by Trump is a “disaster for economic decision making and for public trust.” 

“Good economic decisions require reliable data,” the authors stated in the report. “Without reliable independent data, we cannot understand the economy nor, more narrowly, can the High Road Strategy Center continue confidently producing reports that draw on it. With hopes for continued national commitment to reliable data, and fears about the quality of what politically motivated ‘revisions’ will do, we will anxiously monitor changes in leadership and data at the BLS.”

Wage median reaches high, gaps ongoing 

The report found the median wage for Wisconsin workers — $25.01 per hour — reached a record high for the second year in a row, though the report says this doesn’t represent the full story when it comes to workers’ wages. 

While Wisconsin’s median wage reached a new high, a difference in wages exists among workers based on gender, race and ethnicity. Men’s median wage — $27.05 — in 2024 was more than $4 per hour higher than women’s median of $22.97, a 15% difference. 

When race is considered, the differences become more stark. White men have the highest wages at a median of $28.54 per hour. The median for white women was about 17% less at $23.66 per hour. 

The median wages for workers of color fell considerably below that of white men and women. Black men and women had about the same hourly median wage at $19.93 and $20.29 — 29% less than white men. Hispanic men had a median wage of $18.56 and Hispanic women a median of $17.57.

The report also found that over 800,000 workers — nearly a third of Wisconsin’s workforce — make less than $20 per hour. 

The report says raising the minimum wage would be one way to help close these gaps. Wisconsin’s minimum wage is currently $7.25, a number in line with the federal minimum wage and that has been unchanged since 2009. 

“Raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour would not only be politically popular but would directly or indirectly raise the wages of 231,800 (or 18%) of women workers, 36,200 (or 25.6%) Black workers, and 50,200 (or 26.6%) Hispanic workers in the state,” the report states. 

In response to the report, Peter Rickman, president and business manager of the Milwaukee Area Service & Hospitality Workers (MASH) Union, also urged Wisconsin lawmakers to make increasing the state’s wages a priority this fall.

“The service and hospitality working class needs comprehensive living wage legislation with a $20 per hour floor, yearly adjustment for inflation, reduction of the tip penalty, and restoration of local control,” Rickman said. “Democrats and Republicans alike tell us that they want to represent the working class. Now is their time to show us by introducing and passing comprehensive living wage legislation.”

Meanwhile, Wisconsin reached a record of 3,058,500 jobs in July, but the state’s overall jobs growth has been weak. 

Wisconsin has added about 1,400 jobs per month in 2025 — growing about half as fast as the national rate. According to the report, the state has 2% more jobs than before the pandemic, while the U.S. overall has seen 5% more jobs. 

Unemployment remains low in Wisconsin with a 3.1% rate in July 2025. Wisconsin also has a 66.4% labor force participation rate, higher than the national average of 62.6%. 

“The jobs and unemployment data are strong, but the economy is cooling off after the rapid recovery from pandemic shutdowns,” the report states. 

It also finds the economic softening mirrors the national environment where analysts have warned of a slow down or even a recession.

Federal policies undermine growth 

Federal policy changes under the Trump administration are contributing to these outlooks, according to the report.

“For workers, the warning signs and the brewing economic storm of tariffs, immigration crackdowns and federal disinvestment are especially concerning,” the report states. “While the current labor market is solid, these substantial disruptions may not only slow our overall economic growth, but also reduce the power of working people, as opportunities become more scarce.”

The report predicts that tariffs, which are taxes on imports to the U.S., will raise the price of goods for American consumers, the Trump administration’s deportation agenda will undermine the country’s economic strength by hobbling jobs growth and federal cuts to social safety nets will hit the state’s low-wage workers hardest.

“Economists and investors have observed that immigration changes may constrain economic growth even more than the high cost of tariffs. Employers are already complaining about the impact of the raids on their workforce and customers,” the report states. 

According to the report, 320,000 immigrants reside in Wisconsin and generate $23 billion in economic output annually. In 2023, federal data found that immigrants constituted 7% of Wisconsin’s workforce. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests in Wisconsin have doubled under the Trump administration, and of late, the administration, which promised to focus on “criminals,” has been shifting towards deporting people with no criminal convictions and no pending criminal charges. 

“Despite considerable economic and cultural contributions, immigrants face persistent barriers to fully participating in the workforce and community life,” the report states. “The current administration’s anti-immigrant policies have increased fear and dampened new immigration, constricting the Wisconsin economy where labor markets are already tight.”

The Trump administration has also approved cuts to federal Medicaid and food assistance programs, which Gov. Tony Evers’ administration estimates could cost Wisconsin over $284 million and puts thousands at risk of losing support.

“The federal budget, enacted this summer, contains hundreds of provisions with disturbing implications for working people. It holds enormous tax breaks for the rich,” the report states, noting that an analysis by the Institute Taxation and Economic Policy Wisconsin found the “annual tax break to Wisconsin’s richest 1% will be $67,000. And the tax break for the bottom fifth of households in the state? Just $70.” 

“All of this, and more, is coming and will hit lower wage working families across the state especially hard,” the report states. 

The upheaval in federal policies also comes as participation in unions in Wisconsin, which the report says helps with improving conditions for workers, are down as a result of state policies. 

From 2011 to 2024, unionization in Wisconsin fell from 14% to 7%. Over the same time period, union coverage nationally only fell two percentage points from 13% to 11%. 

That drop in Wisconsin, the report notes, comes after over a decade of public sector unions being disempowered in Wisconsin by Act 10, the state law signed by former Gov. Scott Walker in 2011 that significantly reduced collective bargaining powers of public sector employees. 

In addition, the Trump administration has targeted unions, ending collective bargaining for a million federal employees — four out of five federal workers represented by unions at over a dozen federal agencies. He has also fired members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the agency tasked with protecting labor rights, for “unduly disfavoring the interests of employers.” 

“Despite federal and state policies that have impeded unionization over the last half century,” the report states, “unions continue to provide workers with the means to improve wages and working conditions in their jobs.”

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“The Trump administration is threatening our state’s fundamental values by commanding ICE and its agents to ignore due process, rip people from their communities and repeatedly violate basic human rights,” Rep. Darrin Madison (D-Milwaukee) said. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Wisconsin Democrats are calling for prohibitions on state and local support for the Trump administration’s mass deportations and for greater transparency surrounding law enforcement officers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers helping carry out arrests. 

Lawmakers, led by the Democratic Socialist caucus, proposed a package of five bills to meet those goals at a press conference Thursday. Federal agents have used increasingly aggressive tactics to arrest immigrants as they seek to advance the Trump administration’s immigration agenda. In Wisconsin, ICE arrests have doubled under Trump with agents arresting an average of 85 people per month since January. 

“The Trump administration is threatening our state’s fundamental values by commanding ICE and its agents to ignore due process, rip people from their communities and repeatedly violate basic human rights,” Rep. Darrin Madison (D-Milwaukee) said. The bills, he said, will implement “strong accountability measures so that all Wisconsinites, regardless of their background, are welcome and safe here.”

Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D-Milwaukee) said that most of the people being detained by the Trump administration aren’t criminals. According to ABC News, a recent report found that since late May, people with no criminal convictions and no pending criminal charges have started to make up an increasing percentage of those arrested by ICE. 

“The vast majority have been people who pose no public threat,” Ortiz-Velez said. “They are the essential workers that put food on our tables, milk the cows and keep the meat factories operating. They build our homes, and they’re our neighbors, and they’re our friends.” 

Republicans, who hold majorities in the Senate and Assembly, would be necessary for the bills to advance.

Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) said it’s unlikely Republicans will sign on. 

“We hope that our Republican colleagues will work with us on common-sense legislation, especially when the stakes are this high, but no, I don’t anticipate any support from our Republican legislative colleagues on this,” Clancy said. 

Republicans introduced a bill earlier this year that would require local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE. It passed the Assembly in March. 

One of the bills in the Democratic package is a measure introduced earlier this year by Ortiz-Velez to do the opposite by prohibiting cooperation of law enforcement with ICE

Another bill would require law enforcement officers to identify themselves when arresting someone including making their name and badge number visible, providing the authority for arrest or detention and prohibiting them from covering their face or wearing a disguise. Face coverings would be allowed if worn for safety or protection.

Violations would be a Class D felony and carry a penalty of maximum $100,000 fine.

Leaders of the Department of Homeland Security have said agents are covering their faces to protect themselves from doxing and threats, according to NPR. 

“It’s not normal for any law enforcement officer, any agency to wear masks and hide their identity, nor is it safe,” Ortiz-Velez said. “No exception should be made here.” 

One bill would prohibit state employees and police officers from aiding in the detention of someone if the person is being detained on the “sole basis that the individual is or is alleged to be not lawfully present in the United States.” The bill would also prohibit law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin from participating in 287(g) agreements.

The federal 287(g) program provides the opportunity for state and local law enforcement agencies to partner with ICE, allowing local officers to perform certain immigration-related duties, including identifying, processing and detaining removable immigrants in local jails. 

According to the ACLU of Wisconsin, there are 13 counties in Wisconsin as of the end of July that formally participate in the program. Several have joined this year including Kewaunee, Outagamie, Washington, Waupaca, Winnebago and Wood. 

“It’s important to remember as we’re here at the state capitol that Wisconsin has shown strong opposition to policies like 287(g),” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director and co-founder of Voces de la Frontera, a nonprofit immigrant rights organization. 

Neumann-Ortiz noted that in 2016 thousands protested immigration legislation that Republicans were proposing at the time, and it ultimately failed.

“People can make the change,” Neumann-Ortiz said.

Another bill would prohibit state and local facilities from being used to hold detained immigrants and would prohibit funds from being used to establish new immigrant detention facilities. The bill’s co-author, Rep. Christian Phelps (D-Eau Claire), called it “the Communities, Not Cages” bill. 

“Over the past eight months, my constituents have stopped me at events and contacted my office and shared personal stories of fear and horror that grows and comes with watching the Trump regime abduct, detain and deport people they perceive to be immigrants without due process without accountability, often without even showing their faces,” Phelps said. “Our constituents in every corner of the state wish for us to be welcoming, safe and humane — a state that invests in communities and not in cages.” 

The final bill would establish a grant program run by the Department of Administration for community-based organizations in Wisconsin to support them in providing civil legal services to people and families in immigration matters.

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Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement that the bill is “bad for Wisconsin taxpayers, who will be forced to help foot the bill for Republicans’ red-tape requirements.” Evers delivers his 2025 state budget address. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Gov. Tony Evers’ administration released new estimates Thursday showing that President Donald Trump’s recently approved federal tax cut and spending megabill will cost Wisconsin $284 million — $142 million annually — due to shifting costs and new “red-tape” requirements for social programs. 

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act — as it is officially named — makes a number of policy changes to federal social safety net programs, including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), that will be implemented gradually until completion in 2028. The cuts to the programs were aimed at balancing out the continuation of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and significant increases in military as well as immigration and border spending, though the law is projected to add $3 trillion to the national debt. 

The estimate from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) comes as Vice President J.D. Vance is scheduled to speak in La Crosse on Thursday to tout the legislation. 

Evers said in a statement that the bill is “bad for Wisconsin taxpayers, who will be forced to help foot the bill for Republicans’ red-tape requirements just to make it harder for folks to get the care they need and food to eat.”

“Wisconsinites shouldn’t have to pay the price for a reckless Republican bill that’s going to add trillions of dollars to our federal deficit and shift hundreds of millions of dollars in costs to hard-working taxpayers, all so Republicans could pay for tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations,” Evers said. “Wisconsinites aren’t getting a fair shake from Republicans in Washington — that’s plain as day.”

Some of the cost-cutting in the law comes from adding additional requirements to qualify for safety net programs that will reduce the number of people benefiting from them and offload some of the federal government’s costs to state and local governments. 

Wisconsin DHS has estimated that the requirements could put more than 270,000 Wisconsinites at risk of losing health insurance and as many as 43,700 could lose access to food assistance. 

Starting on December 31, 2026, childless members of BadgerCare Plus who are between the ages of 19 and 64 will have to report 80 hours of work, training or volunteering per month or risk losing coverage.

The analysis notes that it is now “fiscally and operationally unfeasible” for Wisconsin to expand its Medicaid program due to new provisions in the law. Wisconsin could get an additional $1.3 billion from the federal government if it expanded Medicaid, but the provision that made that a possibility will sunset in 2026. Expansion states will also now be required to redetermine eligibility at the six-month marks for its adult population covered under expansion.

When it comes to the SNAP program, the federal government will only cover 25% of administrative costs under the new law. It previously covered 50%. The shifting of the additional 25% to the states will cost Wisconsin about $43.5 million annually starting in 2027. That cost is also expected to grow in the future. 

The federal law also eliminates funding for SNAP education programs with Wisconsin losing $12 million annually starting in October. DHS said it would need additional funding in the 2027-29 state budget to implement and sustain Medicaid and FoodShare employment and training programs. 

The federal law could also mean additional costs for states if its annual payment error rate for the SNAP program is over 6%. The payment error rate measures mistakes by states in assessing eligibility and payments and, according to the Evers administration, Wisconsin has typically had a low rate. Last year, the state’s error rate was about 4.5%, but the agency said rates fluctuate and new policies and standards could make rates fluctuate more. 

States with a rate over 6% starting in October 2027 will be required to pay 5 to 15% of SNAP costs. 

“Achieving and maintaining Wisconsin’s historically low error rate while implementing the other provisions in the reconciliation bill will require additional state and county quality control staff,” the analysis states. “Failing to do so will have even larger consequences for the state and Wisconsin taxpayers.” 

The agency estimates that if an error rate were over 6%, it could cost the state as much as $205.5 million annually. 

DHS said it will not be able to absorb all of the increased costs associated with the law and additional state funding will be necessary, including $69.2 million to cover additional administrative costs including an  additional 56 state employees and county quality control positions to consistently achieve and maintain a FoodShare payment error rate in Wisconsin below 6% over the long term. The agency  said it would also need additional funding in the 2027-29 state budget to implement and sustain Medicaid and FoodShare employment and training programs. The agency estimated that it would cost the state roughly $72.4 million each year to provide employment and training services to help Medicaid members meet the new requirements. 

DHS Sec. Kirsten Johnson said the potential costs covered in the analysis are “just the tip of the iceberg.” 

“From increases in uncompensated care for hospitals to lost revenue for Wisconsin’s farmers, grocers, and local economies and thousands of Wisconsinites losing Medicaid and FoodShare, these cuts will cause a ripple effect throughout the state and put a financial strain on all of us,” Johnson said. 

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“I fear for my life on campus now, going to class each day with the knowledge that, at any moment, my lecture hall might become the site of a shooting, my classmates the victims shown on television, my parents the ones receiving frantic texts of ‘I love you,’” said Nessa Bleill, founder and president of the University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter of Students Demand Action. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Democratic lawmakers want to align gun laws for Wisconsin colleges and universities with those in place for K-12 schools by prohibiting concealed carry on campuses.

Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) and Rep. Brienne Brown (D-Whitewater) said during a press conference Wednesday that the bill would help protect students at a time when schools continue to be targets of gun violence.

“We know that responsible gun safety measures, when they’re implemented in states — they do work. They reduce the incidence of firearm injury and death,” Roys said. “But we have a patchwork across the country. Until more states and the federal government step forward to enact gun safety measures, we are still going to make a public policy choice that allows an unprecedented amount of gun violence in this country.” 

The bill would ban possession of a firearm on public and private college campuses even with a permit. If someone violated the prohibition, they would be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

State law currently prohibits people from carrying a gun in a building owned by the state, but this does not apply to someone with a license to carry a concealed weapon. 

Wisconsin’s concealed carry law does not permit people to be armed in certain buildings owned by the state including police stations, prisons, courthouses and schools, and if someone violates this, they are guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. This doesn’t currently include college or university buildings.

Colleges do have the option, under state law, to post notice on a building to prevent someone from entering with a firearm. In this case, a person, even with a license, would be guilty of trespassing and is subject to a Class B forfeiture, which is a forfeiture not to exceed $1,000.

While there is not a state statute prohibiting concealed carry on campuses, University of Wisconsin system policy does prohibit people from carrying, possessing or using any dangerous weapon on university property and in university buildings and facilities, including dorms.

The bill has a slim number of exceptions including for a law enforcement officer, for military personnel in the line of duty and for someone who possesses the firearm for use in a program approved by the university or college, such as if the school has a shooting range. 

Lawmakers made the announcement just a few hours after reports of a shooting four-and-a-half hours away from the Wisconsin State Capitol at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis. Students, who attend the Catholic school, had gathered for mass to celebrate the start of the school year. Two children are dead and 17 others, including 14 children, were injured. 

Brown, who represents UW-Whitewater, said she had just heard the news out of Minneapolis. 

“I’m pretty frustrated,” said Brown, who was tearing up. She said she has been constantly asked by students, staff and faculty what can be done about gun violence at universities, adding that they can’t handle the issue on their own. 

“This is a generation that has grown up with school lockdown drills. We have absorbed images of children dying at the hands of armed shooters,” Brown said. “We have witnessed adults doing nothing about it or weakening the laws that were already in place… School should not be another place where they can be victimized by gun violence. As the mother of teens who will soon be off to college, we need to do better.”

According to a CNN review of events reported by the Gun Violence Archive, Education Week and Everytown for Gun Safety, there have been 44 school shootings in the U.S. this year, as of August 27. Of those, 22 were on college campuses. 

Wisconsin Democrats’ proposal also comes amid about a dozen college campuses across several states, including Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Louisiana, facing disruptions this week due to hoax calls reporting school shooters. UW-Madison received an unsubstantiated call about an active shooter on Monday. According to WPR, the call was determined to be false quickly, so the campus did not activate its campus emergency alert system. 

Nessa Bleill, founder and president of the University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter of Students Demand Action and a survivor of a mass shooting at a parade in Illinois in 2022, said she has feared for her life at school since kindergarten. 

“I fear for my life on campus now, going to class each day with the knowledge that, at any moment, my lecture hall might become the site of a shooting, my classmates the victims shown on television, my parents the ones receiving frantic texts of ‘I love you,’” Bleill said. “This fear lives in the mind of every American student… We deserve better than this violent reality and the fear it causes…. There is a solution to this fear — ensuring that no kid has any reason to be scared for their life at school — that solution, however, takes action from students like me and especially action from lawmakers.”

Roys said the legislation could also help reduce incidents of suicides among students. 

“One-third of college students have contemplated suicide within the past year,” Roys said. “As we know that suicide by gun is the most lethal form that it can take. With access to a gun, 90% of suicides are completed… but if you do not have access to a gun, only 4% of suicide attempts are completed. This is an important, life-saving measure.” 

Support from Republican lawmakers, who hold the majority in the Assembly and Senate, will be necessary for the bill to advance. 

Roys said the bill will be circulating for cosponsorship, but seemed to doubt Republicans would support the proposal.

“Republicans have been pretty reticent to sign on to gun safety regulation,” Roys said, adding that gun control measures are supported by an array of voters. 

The bill authors noted in a press release that Republicans have not signed on to other proposals Democrats have introduced this legislative session. Some of those bills include one requiring a 48-hour waiting period to purchase a gun, one prohibiting undetectable firearms, one requiring gun owners to store their firearms in a safe if they live with a child and one prohibiting the sale of firearms without a background check and going through a federally licensed firearms dealer.

Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill to create a sales tax exemption for gun safes to encourage more gun owners to purchase them and another bill that would allow teachers to carry guns in the classroom as a way to address school shootings.

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Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) moderated a Tuesday panel with medical students and health care professionals on restrictions to abortion and the effects on care. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Following a recent state Supreme Court decision that upheld legal abortion in Wisconsin, medical students and health care professionals say Wisconsin laws and the Trump administration attacks on reproductive health still make care inaccessible for many patients and that physicians still face significant challenges in providing care.

In July, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled invalid an 1849 criminal law that had halted abortion care in the state for over a year following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that revived previously unenforceable abortion bans on the books in many states. In its 4-3 decision, the Court found the law had effectively been repealed by other laws passed after it. 

During a Tuesday panel discussion hosted by the advocacy organization Free & Just, Dr. Abigail Cutler, a practicing OB/GYN at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health, said the decision provided a “reason to celebrate” but ultimately it brought the state “back to a pretty low bar.” 

“We have just a slew of abortion restrictions on the books that pre-dated Dobbs that make it really, really difficult to access care if you’re a patient and to provide care if you’re a provider,” Cutler said, adding that the decision also doesn’t prohibit the state Legislature from potentially passing an abortion ban in the future. “Our right to access abortion in our state and to provide it freely is not protected.” 

Some Wisconsin laws restricting abortion include a 20-week ban, a requirement that patients have two, in-person visits with a physician, a mandatory ultrasound, a prohibition on telehealth abortion care and a parental consent requirement for minors seeking an abortion. Wisconsin, in line with federal law, prohibits its state Medicaid program from covering abortions except in limited circumstances. 

Amy Williamson, associate director of the Collaborative for Reproductive Equity, a research initiative at UW-Madison, said the state law prohibiting telehealth related to abortion isn’t based in science. 

“There’s plenty of studies that indicate that abortions can be provided safely and effectively through telehealth, whether it’s the consultation you could do by telehealth, or you can provide a medication abortion by telehealth,” Williamson said. “If we were able to change that, we know that we could expand access to care in the state, like with other health care services.”

Cutler said the “most insidious restriction” to her is the restrictions on insurance coverage for abortion care.

“If you cannot pay for the care that you need, then you’re not going to get the care. You’re going to choose to provide food for your kids, you’re going to choose to keep going to your job and not taking time off from work,” Cutler said. 

In addition to state restrictions, the Trump administration has been targeting abortion care on a federal level.

Trump’s recent megabill approved this summer included a provision to prohibit Planned Parenthood from accessing Medicaid payments. 

The Hyde Amendment has long banned the use of federal dollars to pay for abortion care, but the new provision went further by banning federal support for nonprofit facilities that provide abortions using separate funds. The provision has been challenged in court, though a federal judge recently ruled in favor of the administration.

Williamson called Planned Parenthood a “really critical part of the economic safety net,” noting that about one in five women of reproductive age who are on Medicaid get their care at Planned Parenthood. 

Williamson said that given the array of services, cuts would also mean further consequences.

“This leads to a decrease in contraceptive use, an increase of undesired pregnancies, undetected and untreated STIs and less opportunities to identify cancer early,” Williamson said. “We can be doing better. It’s not rocket science.” 

“When Planned Parenthood is targeted, it is because they provide abortions,” Cutler added. “In the state of Wisconsin, they are also one of the largest providers of non-abortion care, preventative and reproductive health services to so many people in our state … so that’s really concerning, and it’s why a lot of people are referring to that bill as a backdoor abortion ban.”

Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison), who moderated the panel, said abortion bans “do not stop abortion… but what they do do is they kill women, and they make all of us vulnerable to not receiving the medical care that we need.” She said it’s important to continue conversations about changes that need to be made, though state-level bills to protect access may be in limbo under split government.

Roys and her Democratic colleagues introduced a bill earlier this year that would repeal many of the abortion restrictions on Wisconsin’s books. 

“I think these bills are unlikely to advance until we have elections and new leadership in the Capitol,” Roys said during the panel. 

Republicans currently hold majorities in the Assembly and Senate in Wisconsin, though control will be up for grabs in the 2026 elections. The governor’s office is also an open race with the retirement of Gov. Tony Evers.

Roys told the Examiner after the panel that she is “very likely” to enter the 2026 race for governor and she thinks reproductive health could be one motivating issue for voters come next year.

“In a time when reproductive freedom is threatened, people want someone who is a champion and not mealymouthed. This is a popular issue, and it’s a really important economic issue,” Roys said. 

Roys said Democrats are also planning to introduce several other reproductive health bills this fall. Those include one to help with infertility coverage, one to ensure young people have access to “medically accurate, age-appropriate, comprehensive information to help them make healthy choices throughout their lives, especially with respect to sexuality and reproduction” and one to help protect people from being prosecuted for certain outcomes in pregnancy.

“We have seen pregnancy criminalization around the country — people being arrested, jailed, prosecuted for having miscarriages,” Roys said, adding that it is personal to her as someone who has had a miscarriage. “This is a known and intended outcome of abortion bans is for our pregnancies, our periods to be policed.” 

The panel also discussed how restrictions in Wisconsin are affecting the state’s health care workforce. 

Cutler spoke about research she worked on that focused on 21 OB-GYNs working under the 1849 law, which had an exception for the life of the mother, before there was a final decision invalidating that felony abortion ban. 

“It was really alarming because participant after participant described how difficult it was to interpret this vague, ambiguous law into their medical practice,” Cutler said. “As a result, there were wide, wide variations in the kind of care being provided to patients presenting with the exact same problem.”

According to a CORE brief, some OB-GYNs had contemplated leaving the state due to restrictions, though most expressed a commitment to staying in Wisconsin in part because they felt responsible for their community. 

Cutler said the data is mixed when it comes to the specific effects of restrictions on the workforce, but pointed to recent research from University of Illinois-Champaign that found that targeted regulations of abortion providers are associated with significant decreases in the density of OB-GYNs. 

“This study suggests that these providers are just retiring. They’re stopping practice all together, not even leaving the states where they’re restricted,” Cutler said. “That’s also a problem because you’re diminishing the workforce.”

Cutler said the restrictions in Wisconsin are also at the top of mind for medical students

“What are the restrictions in Wisconsin? Am I going to be able to get abortion training in Wisconsin?” Cutler said she’s asked. “It’s difficult to reassure people of the stability of the landscape when so much feels uncertain and again tied to political whims and election outcomes that are not completely within our control.

Cutler noted that there has been a decrease in residency applications at the UW OB/GYN residency program since the Dobbs decision in 2022. According to a CORE brief on the OB-GYN workforce, Wisconsin witnessed an 8% drop in applications for OB/GYN residency training programs in 2023 and a 10% drop in 2024.

Morgan Homme, a member of Medical Students for Choice UW-Madison, said she constantly thinks about whether she wants to do her residency and practice in Wisconsin. 

“It’s a hard choice and a hard thing, you have to grapple with,” Homme said. “I grew up here, and all my family is here, and I do like it. I do love the state, but if they’re not going to allow me to practice the way that I want, the full scope of care, then why would I limit myself to that and limit my training?”

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Correction: This story has been updated to correct the number of weeks at which Wisconsin restricts abortion. 

Beer vendor Ryan Strnad points to Amerinca Family Field at his campaign announcement last week. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

Ryan Strnad of Mukwonago knows he might be a “polarizing” candidate for governor, but he says it could work in his favor. A beer vendor for over 25 years, Strnad works three jobs, has never served in elected office and has broad political positions: he’s pro-labor, opposed COVID-19 restrictions, supports allowing access to abortion and is pro-cop.

The retirement of Gov. Tony Evers has made the 2026 race the first since 2010 to open a lane for anyone from either party to get in without having to challenge a popular incumbent. Most of the Democrats preparing for or considering a run for Wisconsin’s top executive office are current or former elected officials.

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez was the first Democrat to announce a bid to succeed Evers. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who also once served in the state Assembly, has announced plans to run; Sen. Kelda Roys, Attorney General Josh Kaul, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and state Rep. Francesca Hong are all potential Democratic contestants.

On the Republican side, Whitefish Bay manufacturer Bill Berrien is so far the only candidate officially running who hasn’t held elected office before — something that he is using to compare himself to President Donald Trump and as an argument for his candidacy.

Strnad, who officially launched his campaign last week, tells the Wisconsin Examiner that even his mom told him that he should “run for something smaller.” He sees the governor’s office as the place where he could have the most influence, however. 

“It’s a job I would love to have… I love state politics more than anything else,” Strnad says. “I would have a unique say of things. I can propose the budget. I can make some executive orders. And I can also sign and veto bills.”

For his campaign kick-off, in which he made good on his 2023 vow to run, Strnad stood at Mitchell Boulevard Park across the street from American Family Field where he has worked as a beer vendor for over 25 years. 

Strnad says that he’s not making “hands over fist” as a vendor, but it helps him afford his expenses. He also works two other jobs including third shift at a factory (he won’t say where)  and at a dry cleaning business.

He also loves the environment of the stadium. “Just walk into that ballpark and… being in the sun when the roof’s open or dealing with the fans… and listening to the music and going along with the crowd,” Strnad says. “Being part of the experience, that’s half of it right there.”

This will be Strnad’s first time running for office as a Democrat. As a Republican he ran unsuccessfully for the state Assembly in 2000 while living near the south shore in Milwaukee County. He sayst he switched parties because his labor beliefs align better with Democrats: He was introduced to unions when he started working as a beer vendor in 1998, after previously working as a stadium food vendor.

“There was no union with the food vendors,” Strnad says. “I had some real good union stewards who introduced me to the job, and I experienced how labor works.” Seeing the money being made at the stadium has made him want to ensure that employees benefit enough, too. 

In 2017, Strnad started “Drinks in Seats” — a political action committee and lobbying group to advocate on behalf of drink vendors — in part because the stadium’s management was  trying to grow the number of places where beer was sold on the premises, and he was concerned about the competition vendors would face. His group hasn’t been registered to lobby since the 2023-24 legislative session. 

In his campaign, Strnad says he would focus on labor issues, including repealing Act 10, which restricted the collective bargaining rights of most public sector employees, and getting rid of “right to work” policies, which make it illegal to require employees to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment. He also wants to make it harder for employers to fire employees.

“Workers are doing their employers a favor by choosing to go and work for them and stay with them. It really hurts a lot when you go and tell an employee that they’re no longer working there,” Strnad said at his announcement press conference. 

Strnad said he would seek more bipartisanship as governor. He’s bothered that politics has “become a lot of us against them,” he said. 

He told reporters that he would be “trying to garner some support from the right as well” as Democrats. He was critical of Democrats’ supporting COVID-19 restrictions, which he blamed for Democrats’  struggle to win support from working class voters. 

“I cannot think of another Democrat who was vocal about coronavirus restrictions,” Strnad said. “I was rather vocal about how it was not fair to us to lose our jobs or work because of coronavirus restrictions.”

On abortion, Strnad said “any pregnant mother to be or mother who wants an abortion can have an abortion.” When it comes to the environment, he was critical of activists who are trying to to shut down oil and gas pipelines. “We do enough to support the environment anyway,” he said, and the fight against pipelines  is “costing people’s jobs.” 

Strnad lifted up a recycling bin. “Go to a store, get yourself one of these,” he said. “Just buy yourself one of these, $15 at your local hardware store, start recycling — Boom! You’re helping the environment right there.” 

Strnad also emphasizes his support for law enforcement and firearms,  including Wisconsin’s concealed carry law. 

“I back the police and I want to make it that every block in this country is a livable one,” Strnad tells the Examiner. 

While not a traditional candidate, Strnad says he hopes people are able to see themselves in him. “He’s one of us” is one of his campaign slogans. 

“I’m doing three jobs. I live in a rented apartment. I know what it’s like, you know, to be where they’re at,” Strnad says. “It’s been really now more than ever that decisions made at the Legislature, especially from a governor or especially from a president, have a direct impact on the everyday person’s life, especially those in the working class and the middle class.”

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Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Mukwonago.

Republican lawmakers on the committee proposed a vote on the motion Thursday after Gov. Tony Evers told agencies to skip lawmakers in the final steps of the rulemaking process. Evers delivers his 2025 state budget address. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

The Joint Committee on Legislative Organization voted by paper ballot along party lines Friday afternoon to direct the Legislative Reference Bureau not to publish any rule that hasn’t gone through a review by the Legislature in accordance with Wisconsin law.

Republican lawmakers on the committee proposed a vote on the motion Thursday after Gov. Tony Evers told agencies to skip lawmakers in the final steps of the rulemaking process. There are 27 administrative rules, including one to address the state’s policy on gray wolf management, that Evers submitted to the LRB for publication. Of those, 13 have not been reviewed by a standing legislative committee and are yet to be published. 

It’s the latest step the administration has taken in testing the bounds of the recent Evers v. Marklein II ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The majority found in the case that the state laws giving the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules broad powers to block administrative rules indefinitely were unconstitutional.

The statutes cited in the Republicans’ motion Thursday were not included in the Court’s ruling.

“We are following the law and maintaining the fundamental checks and balances of lawmaking,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma) said in a joint statement about the motion on Thursday. “The governor is flagrantly disregarding the rule of law and egregiously abusing the power of his office.”

Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback said Republicans were defying the law in an email Thursday. 

“Republicans are reaching new levels of lawlessness, whether it’s President Trump trying to take over Washington DC, Republicans in Texas trying to rig maps and elections in their favor, or Republicans in Wisconsin who appear poised to disobey decisions made by our state’s highest court,” Cudaback wrote in an email message. “Republicans are not above the law — they should follow the law like everyone else is expected to.”

The measure passed 6-4. Republicans on the committee, including Vos, Felzkowski, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg), Sen. Dan Feyen (R-Fond du Lac), Rep. Tyler August (R-Walworth) and Rep. Scott Krug (R-Rome), voted for the motion. Democrats on the committee, including Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) and Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton), voted against it.

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Wisconsin lawmakers heard testimony Thursday on a bill to make tips for restaurant servers and other workers exempt from Wisconsin's state income tax. (Getty Images)

Wisconsin policymakers approved more than $1.3 billion in tax cuts in the latest state budget but the exclusion of a “no tax on tips” proposal has lawmakers pushing ahead with a bill that would line up state law with a new federal law. 

Bill coauthor Rep. Ron Tusler (R-Harrison) said during a hearing in the Assembly Ways and Means committee that lawmakers should help working class people who are “trying to get themselves to that middle class” with Assembly Bill 38. A hearing on the bill was held in the Senate in May, though it has yet to come up for vote in either chamber. 

“When I was a younger man, I was a waiter at Perkins, and I received tips. I also received tips for a couple years as a valet, and folks that receive tips aren’t just waiters and valets, but also housekeepers, bartenders, delivery drivers, massage therapists, hairdressers, taxi drivers, tour guides,” Tusler said. “Those are the type of people we’re talking about, trying to help with this bill, trying to not tax and as representatives, these are great folks for us to target, and as Christians, we should always be trying to help the poor.”

President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law on July 4 includes a federal provision that will allow workers to deduct up to $25,000 in tips annually from their taxable income. Those earning more than $150,000 aren’t eligible for the deduction. 

The Wisconsin bill and a recent amendment to it seeks to implement the same policy when it comes to the state income tax, which currently considers tips as taxable income. The deduction would apply to tips whether paid by cash or credit. Similar to the federal law, the provision will go into effect starting tax year 2025 and sunsets after tax year 2028 — around the end of Trump’s second term in office. 

“Any time that we can allow people to keep more of their hard-earned money — that’s going to be something that I’m supporting,” Sen. Andre Jacque (R-New Franken) told the committee.

Erin Vranas, co-owner of Parthenon Gyros located in downtown Madison and chair of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association’s Board, said many restaurant employees are struggling with semi-unpredictable income. 

“Every dollar matters, so this bill really could help provide meaningful relief,” Vranas said, adding that it would also help restaurants trying to recruit and retain employees. “Wisconsin restaurants face ongoing workforce shortages, and I understand this isn’t just a restaurant thing, but we definitely feel it in this industry. AB38 will help us recruit and retain staff, making restaurant jobs more competitive and sustainable. When employees keep more of their hard-earned tips, then they’re more likely to stay and grow and see hospitality as a sustainable career, which strengthens both our businesses and Wisconsin as a state.” 

The minimum wage for tipped employees in Wisconsin is currently $2.33 per hour. Employers are required to make up the difference if an employee’s combined wages and tips do not equal the regular minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Susan Quam, executive vice president of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, said she only knows of two restaurants that  pay the minimum wage. Those restaurants have a $100 per person check average and employees typically make $20 per customer “every single time they work, so we’re talking about folks who are making $100 to $150 dollars an hour in tips.” WRA, a nonprofit trade association that represents thousands of food, beverage and hospitality businesses, supports the bill.

“The vast majority of our members tell us that they’re paying well above that $2.33 to their tipped employees, some of them higher than the $7.25 minimum wage,” Quam said. “The marketplace is dictating what that base wage is, not necessarily the fact that they are getting tips.”

Tusler explained that employees would still need to report tips, both because there is a limit on the tax deduction and because tipped employees need a record of their full income when applying for loans. 

“It would make it more difficult for those tip earners to borrow money for their houses or their cars,” Tusler said.

He told the committee the bill would also cut down on confusion between the federal and state policies when people are filing taxes. 

The tax break also wouldn’t cost the state much, Tusler said. The Department of Revenue estimates that the state brings in about $33.7 million a year from tips and would lose about that much in each year of the biennium under the proposal. 

“That’s it,” Tusler said. “We have a $111 billion budget.”

The recent bipartisan state budget cut taxes by about over $1 billion, but the tips proposal was not included in the budget passed by the Republican-led Legislature and signed by Gov. Tony Evers last month. Evers had included a similar proposal in his budget proposal, but Republican lawmakers threw it out when they started working on the budget. 

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Jacque, previously introduced the idea of exempting cash tips from taxes in 2019, though it never became law. 

The idea picked up steam nationally when President Donald Trump started campaigning on the idea, which led Republican lawmakers to reintroduce the proposal in Wisconsin this year.  

The coauthors of the bill expressed frustration that no Democrats have signed onto the bill yet, noting that Evers has supported something similar before. 

“This was something where Gov. Evers basically took that previous proposal… cut and pasted that into his budget proposal, so it’s not like there was ever any indication that this wasn’t something that shouldn’t have bipartisan support,” Jacque said. “And I certainly hope that it will going forward.”

Rep. Joan Fitzgerald (D-Fort Atkinson) said during the hearing that she and her husband, who is a bartender, have discussed the issue extensively since it started gaining popularity around the 2024 election and questioned whether a bigger conversation about helping lower-income workers needs to be had. 

“I would say encouraging employers to have better benefits, higher pay, better working conditions are also ways we get people to realize the American dream,” Fitzgerald said. “Cutting taxes might be one small part of that, but there’s a broader array of things that we can do, and if, and if that’s your goal, and it’s my goal, then I say we attack some of those other issues.” 

Jacque said he understands that tax relief needs to be multifaceted, but said that if the state starts “mandating things on employers that potentially raise costs…, you aren’t going to have customers and those jobs aren’t going to be supported.”

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Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski with her 5-year-old son in her arms officially launched her bid for lieutenant governor on Wednesday. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski launched her bid for lieutenant governor on Wednesday — passing on running for governor and becoming the first to enter the field for the position.   

At the Madison Labor Temple, Godlewski was joined by her 5-year-old son, Hartley, who from the podium shyly told people to vote for his mom, and her parents, who she said gave her advice that has led to her decision to run. 

“When you see something wrong, you’ve got to stand up and you’ve got to do something is what has guided me my entire life,” Godlewski said. “Whether it is my career where I started in national security to working in local government to supporting small businesses to eventually running the constitutional amendment to save our state treasurer’s office and now serving statewide, to me, this has always come down to one thing, which is how I can make the biggest difference in Wisconsin.”

Godlewski has served in her current office since March 2023. She was appointed by Gov. Tony Evers to fill a vacancy left when former-Secretary of State Doug La Follette, who had served in the position since 1983, abruptly stepped down less than three months into his term. The position in Wisconsin has been diminished over the years, in part because Republican lawmakers took away its responsibilities and in part because the office lacked resources, though Godlewski has worked to modernize its operations.

Godlewski previously served as state Treasurer from 2019 to 2022, running for the office just a couple of months after leading a successful campaign to urge voters to reject a Republican ballot measure that would have eliminated the position from the state constitution. 

When she won the election for Treasurer in 2018, she flipped nine counties in Wisconsin that voted for Trump in 2016 — something that she noted Wednesday in making the case for her candidacy. She didn’t run for reelection in 2022 because she ran in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate that year, withdrawing before the August primary election. 

If elected, the lieutenant governor’s office would be her third statewide position in Wisconsin. Godlewski said her sisters jokingly asked whether she was going for a record when she told them about her campaign. 

“All kidding aside, I’m not running for this office because I need another title,” Godlewski said. “I’m running for this office because I want to be a part of the team that’s not only going to win but is actually going to deliver for the state of Wisconsin.”

Former Democratic Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, the first female to hold the office in Wisconsin, and several Democratic state legislators were also at the announcement. Godlewski said she has endorsements from Lawton and 27 of state lawmakers — about 54% of the Democrats in the state Legislature. 

Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire) called Godlewski “Eau Claire’s favorite daughter,” saying she “knows how to build coalitions and bring people together across communities and even across partisan divides.” 

“When she sees a problem, she rolls up her sleeves and she digs in and she talks to people who need to get it fixed, from saving the treasurer’s office to revitalizing the treasurer’s office and the Secretary Secretary of State’s office to managing a $1.4 billion dollar trust fund to invest in our communities,” Emerson said — a reference to the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which Godlewski has served on both as state treasurer and secretary of state. 

Godlewski has said she has heard from people across the state who are struggling financially to afford their homes, health care and other expenses. 

“They’re fed up that workers who are critical to our community, like EMT workers and nurses and teachers, can’t even afford a home in the communities that they serve, while they’re watching these billionaires get tax write-offs for their second and third vacation home,” Godlewski said. “They’re fed up that corporations are cashing in on some of the largest tax breaks in our history, and families are getting the scraps.”  

She said she wants to help find solutions for those issues, but can’t work on them as secretary of state. 

Godlewski criticized Republicans and said Wisconsinites deserve better leadership. 

“In Madison this year alone, we’ve seen how Republicans have had an opportunity to expand Medicaid to 90,000 more Wisconsinites. They said no. Republicans had an opportunity to expand postpartum care for new moms. They said no. The Republicans had an opportunity to invest in our kids’ future by supporting and funding public schools. They said, no. But when it comes to giving tax write-offs for corporations and perks to the well-connected, they said yes, yes, yes,” Godlewski said. “This isn’t leadership. It’s betrayal.”

Godlewski told reporters that she decided to run for the number two position over running for governor because she thinks it will be the right fit for her. 

“We’ve got some major challenges we’ve got to solve in Wisconsin, whether it’s affordable health care to families being priced out of their communities, and I want to be a part of the team that’s going to help solve these problems for Wisconsin,” Godlewski said.

In Wisconsin, voters cast votes separately for governor and lieutenant governor during the partisan primary. After the primary, the winners run on the same ticket in November and voters choose them as a pair. 

Wisconsin’s partisan primary is about a year away and the Democratic field for governor is still taking shape. Godlewski didn’t make any endorsements in the race Tuesday.  

“We have a really impressive bench in the Democratic party, and so I look forward to seeing who’s going to get in” and to working with whoever is the nominee, Godlewski said. 

Gov. Tony Evers’ decision not to seek a third term has made the race for governor the first open one in Wisconsin in 16 years and is leading to some other open seats as well, including lieutenant governor and now secretary of state. With Evers not on the ballot, the Wisconsin governor’s race has been rated a toss-up by Sabato’s Crystal Ball. 

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez jumped into the race for governor less than 24 hours after Evers announced his retirement. Other Democrats considering a run for governor include Attorney General Josh Kaul, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) and state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison).

Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and Whitefish Bay manufacturer Bill Berrien are the two announced Republican candidates so far. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany is also considering a run for the office. 

Godlewski told reporters Democrats need to listen to people if they’re going to win statewide in 2026.

“We’re seeing how folks don’t trust politicians, and it’s because they feel like they’re not hearing us. They’re watching a system that’s working for corporations and not for them, and so, how do we build trust? We’ve got to travel the state, meet them where they are, listen and that’s how we rebuild it,” Godlewski said. 

She added she recently met a mom in Kenosha, who “literally has two jobs just to support her family” and met another family in the northern parts of the state who “are still drinking bottled water because they have PFAS that are coming out of their faucet.” 

“These are real big issues, and that’s what I look forward to talking about — things that are keeping Wisconsinites up at night — and actually doing something about it,” Godlewski said.  

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Sen. Tammy Baldwin toured La Follette High School in Madison on Tuesday. (Photo by Baylor Spears/ Wisconsin Examiner)

Opposition to the Trump administration’s efforts to close the U.S. Department of Education is gaining momentum, Sen. Tammy Baldwin said Tuesday during a visit to La Follette High School in Madison.

Baldwin visited the school, part of the state’s second largest school district, as new educators met for an orientation ahead of the start of the school year on September 3. 

“[New educators are] coming or returning to teaching at a time where we have seen this administration doing devastating things to education and education funding,” Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, told reporters after a tour of the school. “It has proposed the abolition of the Education Department. He wants to dismantle it. He’s called for the end to it, but he also knows that there are some constraints because the Education Department was set up by Congress and it’s funded by Congress.” 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March ordering Education Sec. Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.” McMahon has said she is “dead serious” about putting herself out of a job.

In June, schools across the country were thrown into uncertainty when the Trump administration withheld over $6 billion in federal funds meant to support English language learners, migrants, low-income children, adult learners, after-school programs and more. The frozen funds included $70 million for Wisconsin. The administration decided to reverse course and release the funds in late July after Republican and Democratic Senators both called on the administration to do so. 

Madison Metropolitan School District Superintendent Joe Gothard said that, as of Tuesday, the district had expected $3.4 million and is “still waiting for direct language to ensure that we are going to be reimbursed for the cost that we plan to incur this school year.” 

Without that money, “students would not receive the services they deserve, and that could be by way of reading interventions, it could be some of the outreach we’re able to do with communities, with families,” Gothard said. “$3.4 million out of $6 billion may not seem like a lot, but those are targeted funds at students who need it most.” 

“I’m grateful that we’ve had support for the unfreezing of these funds,” Gothard said, adding that uncertainty of funding “undermines public education and who it’s for.” The lack of certainty is leading the district to rely more heavily on the local community and government for the support the district needs.

“I’ve got a range of students,” Thompson said, adding that the City Center allows for students to “come in and get what they need.”

Baldwin also got to see the school’s music room, library, gymnasium and technical education spaces, including an autoshop. 

“One of my most popular classes is our cooking classes, right, and kids get to learn basic life skills, and then, they actually do cooking for the school,” Thompson said. 

“And nutrition and all that stuff,” Baldwin added. 

“Yeah, you know, everything kids don’t want to hear,” Thompson joked. 

The Trump administration’s efforts to close the Education Department comes even as some Republican lawmakers are balking at the idea. Politico  reported that Republican lawmakers looking to fulfill Trump’s agenda are considering breaking the process down into smaller bills given the opposition to shutting down the department, especially from those in school districts that have benefited from funding and those that rely on the agency for guidance. 

When it comes to challenging the ongoing federal uncertainty, Baldwin pointed to a recent bill that came out of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, and Education and was recently approved by the full committee. 

“We have seen him propose to put some of the career and technical education programs in the Labor Department rather than keeping them in the Education Department,” Baldwin said. “He’s talked about putting the IDEA program” — which serves students with disabilities under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act — “into the Department of Health and Human Services, where it would not be suited, and he is defunding programs left and right, so we’re fighting back.” 

According to Baldwin’s office, the bill would provide $79 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Education  and would put measures into place to limit the ability to downsize the department’s role. The bill includes a requirement to make formula grants available on time and maintain the staff necessary to ensure the department carries out its statutory responsibilities and carries out programs and activities funded in the bill in a timely manner. 

Baldwin said the bill is “wildly bipartisan,” noting it passed the committee on a 26-3 vote at the end of July. 

“We have more work to do. It has to go through the whole process and end up on the president’s desk before its law,” Baldwin said. “I feel like we have momentum in standing up against this president’s plans with education, so when we return to session the day after Labor Day, we’re going to continue to press to restore all funding, and fight back against this idea of abolishing the Department of Education.”

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Gov. Tony Evers implementing pay raises for state employees that were approved in the state budget without additional approval from the Legislature’s Joint Committee for Employment Relations. Evers signed the budget, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 15, at 1:32 a.m. in his office Thursday, less than an hour after the Assembly passed it. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Gov. Tony Evers is implementing pay raises for state employees without additional approval from the Legislature’s Joint Committee for Employment Relations, citing a recent state Supreme Court ruling.

The state budget, which was passed by the Republican-led Legislature and signed by Evers last month, included about $385 million to provide state and University of Wisconsin employees with a 3% pay increase in the first year of the budget and a 2% increase in the second year.

“I fought hard in our bipartisan budget negotiations to secure much deserved pay increases for our talented state workers,” Evers wrote in a letter to state employees on Monday, adding that he was proud to sign the budget last month and it was important to him that state workers receive the wage adjustment as soon as possible.

Eligible employees will receive the 3% base pay adjustment to their current pay rate with their Sept. 4 paychecks, including a lump sum back pay from June 29. The second year of raises is supposed to be implemented June 28, 2026.

“The work that we do together every day on behalf of the people of Wisconsin is so important — perhaps never more so than it is today,” Evers wrote. “With Washington creating continued uncertainty through devastating cuts to investments and programs that so many across our state rely on, Wisconsinites will continue looking to us to lead, support them and build upon the work we’ve done together over the last six years. There is, as always, much hard work ahead of us. Having committed and exceptional partners like you in this good work will make all the difference.” 

The Joint Committee on Employment Relations has been tasked by state law with holding hearings on changes to state employee compensation and approving those changes. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) and Co-chairs of the Joint Committee of Employment Relations have not responded to requests for comment on Evers’ announcement. 

In a bulletin about the raises, the Department of Administration cited the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling in the case Tony Evers v. Howard Marklein, which addressed the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program and the ability of the Joint Finance Committee to hold up already appropriated funds. The Evers administration asserted that the decision clarified its authority to implement the raises without the additional approval of the committee.

The Court ruled 6-1 in July 2024 that the ability for the committee to withhold funds was unconstitutional and a violation of the separation of powers. 

Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote for the majority that a statute that authorizes lawmakers to “exercise core powers of the executive branch violates the constitutional separation of powers and cannot be enforced under any circumstances.” 

“While the constitution gives the legislature the power to appropriate funds, the power to spend the funds the legislature has appropriated for a specific project belongs to the executive branch,” Bradley wrote. “While the legislature has the power to create an agency, define its powers, and appropriate funds to fulfill the purpose for which the legislature established it, the power to spend appropriated funds in accordance with the law enacted by the legislature lies solely within the core power of the executive to ensure the laws are faithfully executed. We conclude these statutes interfere with the executive branch’s core function to carry out the law by permitting a legislative committee, rather than an executive branch agency, to make spending decisions for which the legislature has already appropriated funds and defined the parameters by which those funds may be spent.”

The original lawsuit filed by Evers in October 2023 included the Knowles-Nelson program and two other issues: JOCER’s ability to withhold raises approved in the budget and the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules’s block on administrative rules related to conversion therapy. At the time, JOCER was withholding pay raises approved in the budget for University of Wisconsin employees, so the raises could be used as a bargaining chip in Republican lawmakers’ efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the system. The pay raises, approved in the budget in July, were released by JOCER in December 2023. 

The majority decided in February 2024 that it would only take up the Knowles-Nelson issue and leave the other two “held in abeyance pending further order of the court.” Conservative justices were critical of the majority allowing original action in the case and separating the issues from each other at the time.

Justice Annette Zeigler wrote in her dissenting opinion in the case that taking all of the issues at once could have produced consistency. 

“Selecting an issue that only impacts the Republican-controlled legislature and the longstanding Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program should raise eyebrows,” Zeigler wrote. “Determining all issues at the same time could serve to hold my colleagues to application of the same principles in the same way, even when it comes to a Democratic-controlled branch of government. Unfortunately, we will wait to see if that consistency will be forthcoming, as the majority handpicked and now limits only the legislative branch’s longstanding, statutorily authorized practice.”

The Court dismissed the compensation and Joint Committee on Employment Relations issue in October 2024 when it decided to take up the conversion therapy and Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules issue. The Court issued a ruling in July limiting the committee’s ability to block administrative rules.

The University of Wisconsin system will also be implementing the general wage raises. 

“We are grateful to Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin State Legislature for their continued support of our workforce and recognition of the vital role our faculty and staff play in education, research, and public service,” UW President Jay Rothman wrote in a memo to employees on Monday. 

The implementation of the raises is not the first time the administration has moved ahead with releasing funds following the ruling. The administration announced funding for 12 Department of Natural Resources projects under the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program in October of 2024.

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Ryan Strnad would be the second Democratic candidate to officially enter the Democratic gubernatorial primary, which will likely be a crowded field. (Photo courtesy of candidate)

Ryan Strnad, who has worked for over 35 years as a beer vendor at the Milwaukee Brewers’ home stadium American Family Field, announced Thursday that he will officially enter the Democratic primary for governor next week.

Strnad’s campaign has been years in the making. He told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2023 (less than eight months after Evers started his second term) that he would be considering entering if Evers opted not to run for a third term. Last month Evers announced he won’t be running so he can spend more time with his family.

Strnad, who lives in Mukwonago, is the founder of Drinks In The Seats, a political action committee and lobbying group formed in 2016 to lobby on behalf of in-seat beer vendors. 

Strnad said in 2023 that his top priority if he ran for governor would be advocating for Wisconsin’s unions and working class. His campaign website now lists “improving the working class” as the first item on his plan for Wisconsin along with working on the environment with “common sense”, supporting the police and allowing “any pregnant mother/mother-to-be (or, whatever YOU are comfortable with saying) who wants an abortion [to] have an abortion.”

“I’m running for governor of Wisconsin because I feel obligated to lead our state!” Strnad said on his website. “Moving here to Muskego in 1975, I established roots that I am proud of. I may’ve even served YOU at the stadium where I’ve gotten politically involved and worked there since 1988. I also have jobs elsewhere. I am one of us! I ask for your vote.”

Strnad would be the second Democratic candidate to officially enter the primary, which will likely be a crowded field.

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez announced her campaign less than 24 hours after Evers announced his retirement. Other potential candidates include Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, state Sen. Kelda Roys and Attorney General Josh Kaul.

The primary is still about a year away on August 11, 2026.

Two Republican candidates, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and Whitefish Bay manufacturer Bill Berrien, have entered the race so far. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany has said he would make a decision before the end of September.

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Gov. Tony Evers delivers his 2025 state budget address in February. The bipartisan budget Evers signed in July spends down much of Wisconsin's budget surplus. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Wisconsin could be facing a more difficult budget than it has seen in recent years with recently approved spending and tax cuts consuming most of the state’s historic surplus, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum.

The research organization described the state’s most recent budget as an “all of the above” plan in its recent report. Mark Sommerhauser, communications director and policy researcher at the Wisconsin Policy Forum, said the previous budgets showed more restraint from policymakers when it came to spending and tax cuts. 

“There were some tax cuts, there were some spending increases, but certainly not of the magnitude that could have occurred,” Sommerhauser told the Wisconsin Examiner in an interview. “In this budget, we saw a lot more of both.”

Sommerhauser said it was “clearly a budget that was much more focused on the here and now than on where the state’s finances would be in two or four years.”

“There’s an argument that ‘hey, this money should be returned, either back to taxpayers or spent on programs that benefit our state’s residents, rather than just sitting in the general fund,” Sommerhauser added. “That’s what policymakers opted to do with this budget.”

The $111 billion state budget passed by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers in early July increased spending by 7.7% — an increase of $3.3 billion — allocating $46 billion to fund a number of priorities.

The budget also included more than $1 billion in tax cuts over the next two years. 

One major cut comes from a change to Wisconsin’s income tax brackets. The new budget expands the state’s second tax bracket, with a 4.4% tax rate, and shrinks the third bracket, which has a 5.3% rate. Wisconsin residents on average will see a $188 cut per filer — affecting more than 1.5 million tax returns. Sommerhauser described the change as a “modest but still notable income tax cut for almost everybody that has some degree of income tax liability, except those folks that have very, very little.” The change will cost the state about $320 million in each year of the budget.

The second major cut created an exemption from income taxes for the first $24,000 for single filers over 67 and $48,000 in retirement income for married filers over 67.

The new state spending in the budget covers an array of priorities including over $500 million for special education, over $80 million in state general purpose revenue for the University of Wisconsin system, over $380 million for wage increases for state employees and additional funding for child care.

Most Republican lawmakers voted for the budget apart from four Senate Republicans and one GOP Assembly member, celebrating the tax cuts as well as some of the investments in the budget and hailing it as a compromise. Most Democrats voted against the final proposal, saying it inadequately invested in education, child care and other priorities, though five Senate and seven Assembly Democrats joined Republicans in support.

With this budget, the state has now used most of the surplus that has formed the backdrop for the last few budgets. The surplus, Sommerhauser said, was mostly the result of federal pandemic aid and was also created in part by an increase in tax revenue, especially through the sales tax, as a result of inflation. At one point the surplus had grown to over $6 billion. 

“[A large surplus is] not business as usual in Wisconsin,” Sommerhauser said. “More often you see the opposite. You see shortfalls that lawmakers are having to scramble to figure out a way to bridge.”

Sommerhauser said that with the smaller reserves, the next budget is likely “going to be kind of coming back to Earth.”

By July 1 2027, Wisconsin’s general fund balance is projected to be $770.5 million — a drop of about $3.6 billion and the lowest balance since 2018. The state will also have $2.1 billion in its rainy day fund.

This leaves Wisconsin with a projected $2.8 billion in its reserves — about 11% of Wisconsin’s net general fund appropriations in fiscal year 2027, Sommerhauser said.

“That’s certainly not disastrous. It’s not cataclysmic at all. It is more than the state has had in reserve for many years prior to the pandemic,” Sommerhauser said. “Of course, it’s a lot less than the last couple of budgets here.”

Wisconsin isn’t the only state to be on this trajectory. At its annual summit in early August, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) gave an overview of state budgets and asked whether it is time for states to “tighten the belt.”

Erica MacKellar, program principal of NCSL’s Fiscal Affairs Program, said during the presentation that, overall, states ended fiscal year 2025 in a “fairly strong position.” Looking back to the pandemic, she said state revenues didn’t take as big a hit as they were initially expecting. 

“As states recovered, they unexpectedly saw these big revenue surpluses, and that was due to a number of factors, including the large amount of aid that the federal government sent to states,” MacKeller said. “Revenue growth jumped to around 15%, but states always knew that that level of growth was really unsustainable, and have been really planning for a return to normal of state revenue growth and a revenue slowdown that I think we’re seeing now.” 

MacKeller said that prior to the pandemic, state year-end balances as a percentage of state spending were about 10% on average — an increase from the low of about 4% during the Great Recession.

“In fiscal year 2023, after we saw those record surpluses, that percentage soared to over 30%, and now that number has started to come back down,” MacKeller said. “The preliminary average from our survey shows about 16[%] for fiscal year 2025, so that’s putting most states on pretty firm footing at this point.” 

Sommerhauser said the bigger issue now is that Wisconsin is spending more than it brings in through taxes — creating a projected structural deficit. He said it’s something policymakers will have to grapple with in the coming years.

Under the new budget, the state’s general fund will spend about $24.4 billion and bring in $23.1 billion in tax revenues in 2027. The projected gap “would be one of the largest of the past generation,” according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

The state could use the reserves for the additional spending, but it wouldn’t be a long-term solution, Sommerhauser said. 

“The state can do that on a one-time basis if it’s got a bunch of money in the bank, which it does right now,” Sommerhauser said. “The issue with that is that you can only spend that money in the bank one time.”

If spending and revenue remain the same, Wisconsin would have an imbalance of -$727 million and an imbalance of -$1.4 billion by the end of 2028-29, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. 

Sommerhauser noted that unlike the federal government, Wisconsin can’t run a huge deficit year after year. The state constitution requires lawmakers pass and the governor sign a balanced budget.

“The state can do these things, whether it’s drawing money out of reserves or sometimes there are other little tricks that the state can kind of pull out of its hat on a one-time basis,” Sommerhauser said. But, he added, “if your ongoing revenues are significantly out of alignment with your ongoing tax revenues, you’re gonna have a headache to deal with every two years, and you’re setting yourself up to have some really challenging budgets that could eventually make you have to do something really, really painful — whether it’s a big tax increase or some sort of big spending cut.”

Sommerhauser said the Great Recession was the point in recent memory when the state dealt with the greatest budget shortfalls.

“There were some significant tax increases that were put into place in 2009, when we had Democratic controlled state government,” Sommerhauser said. During the 2009-2010 budget (the last time there was a Democratic trifecta), former Gov. Jim Doyle and the Legislature created a new tax bracket of 7.75% on married couples filing jointly with taxable income above $300,000 to help close the budget gap the state was facing. The state’s highest bracket is currently 7.65%.

“You had the big election in 2010 where everything flipped, and then you have Gov. [Scott] Walker and Act 10, and everything happening in 2011 which brought about some really large spending cuts in the state,” Sommerhauser said. At the time, Walker’s administration was projecting the state would have a $3.6 billion deficit and the Republican trifecta took the route of drastically cutting public employee benefits to address it.

“We obviously are hopeful that we’re not going to see a recession again anytime soon… but this is our best sort of attempt to give a sense of what the Legislature might be needing to grapple with in two years,” Sommerhauser said.

The partisan composition of Wisconsin’s state government could also look quite different by the next budget. 

Evers announced that he won’t be running for reelection just a few weeks after wrapping up the 2025-27 state budget, making the 2026 election the first open race since 2010.

The Republican and Democratic fields of candidates are still shaping up. Some of the announced candidates have made comments signaling what they would like to see from a budget. 

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, the first Democratic candidate in the race, has said she would invest additional state funding in Wisconsin’s schools. Republican Washington Co. Executive Josh Schoemann has said the recent budget spends too much and is taxing people too much. Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is still considering a run, noted the potential deficit on social media when he said that Wisconsin “must change course before we end up like MN and IL.” 

The state Senate and Assembly will also be up for grabs in 2026.

Sommerhauser said it’s likely the next governor and state Legislature could be dealing with a challenging state budget, though it’s still unclear how challenging.  

“If economic growth is really strong for the next two years, we could be in a position where we have a projected shortfall, but it’s quite manageable… That’s kind of the best case scenario,” Sommerhauser said. “Worst case scenario is if we would see a recession in the next couple of years, that could be setting us up for a very challenging budget.”

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Former Gov. Tommy Thompson hasn't ruled out a run in 2026, while former Gov. Scott Walker has. Thompson pictured talking to reporters at the Republican National Convention in 2024. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner) Walker on the floor during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention. (Photo by Joeff Davis)

While Wisconsin’s incumbent governor is opting out of seeking a third term, the open and growing field has led a couple of former governors to stir conversation about whether they will run again in 2026 or beyond.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ decision not to run makes 2026 the first open race for governor since 2010, when Scott Walker, then the Milwaukee County executive, defeated Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Former Gov. Jim Doyle, who served from 2003 to 2011, had declined to run for a third term. 

Evers said he chose not to run again next year because he wants to spend more time with his family.

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson did not rule out a run for governor in 2026 while speaking with 620 WTMJ on Monday afternoon. 

“Why not?” Thompson said in response to the question about whether he would run for governor. “I haven’t said no. There’s a lot of good candidates and I have no desire to get in the race, but the truth of the matter is, I’ll wait and see what’s out there.” 

There are two declared Republican candidates in the race so far: Washington County Josh Schoemann and Whitefish Bay manufacturer Bill Berrien. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany has also been teasing a run for the last several weeks.  

Only one Democratic candidate, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, has officially launched her campaign since Evers’ announcement on July 24. Other potential candidates include Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Attorney General Josh Kaul, state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. 

Thompson is the only governor in Wisconsin to have been elected to four terms, serving from 1987 to 2001. Wisconsin is one of 13 states in the U.S. without term limits on governors, according to Ballotpedia.

Thompson left the office to serve as President George W. Bush’s Health and Human Services secretary. He also previously served as University of Wisconsin system president. This is not the first time that he has floated seeking a potential fifth term, having mentioned it in 2022.

Thompson said Monday that his wife and children would be opposed to him running for another term, but he signaled that he feels he would be up to the task. By the time the next term starts, Thompson would be 85.  

“I’m in great physical health. My mind is sharp as hell. I’ve got things that I’d like to accomplish, but it’s way too early for me to make that decision, way too early,” Thompson said.

Walker, who served two terms as governor, recently said he wouldn’t be running for governor in 2026 after making cryptic posts on social media that pointed to potential nonconsecutive terms. He lost the office to Evers in a close election in 2018. 

“I’m not going to be a candidate, at least not next year. It doesn’t mean I’ll never run again,” he said in a video posted to social media. Walker, who is 57, added that he is a “quarter century” younger than former President Joe Biden. 

“Looking ahead, though, Tonette [Walker] and I will do everything we can at our home here in Wisconsin to ensure that we elect a common sense conservative as governor in next year’s election,” he said. 

Walker said he would be continuing his work as president of Young America’s Foundation, a conservative nonprofit focused on youth, and emphasized that Republicans need to do better outreach to young voters.

Wisconsin has only had one governor serve nonconsecutive terms.

Prior to Wisconsin adopting four-year terms for its governors, former Gov. Philip La Follette served his first term as governor from 1931 to 1933 as a Republican. 

According to the National Governors Association, La Follette, the son of former U.S. Sen. “Fighting Bob” La Follette, spent a significant portion of his time in office seeking the expansion of public works, including highway construction, increased government control over the electric power and banking industries and helped set up an unemployment insurance program, which became a model for similar legislation in other states. 

La Follette ran for another term in 1932 but was defeated by Democratic Gov. Albert G. Schmedeman. 

After one term out of office, La Follette ran for governor again in 1934, this time as a third party candidate for the newly formed Progressive Party. He went on to serve a second and third term from 1935 to 1939.

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A nurse gives an MMR vaccine at the Utah County Health Department on April 29, 2019, in Provo, Utah. The vaccine is 97% effective against measles when two doses are administered. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) is urging residents to get vaccinated amid the confirmation of the first measles cases in the state this year and as families begin back-to-school preparation with vaccine rates still down. 

DHS confirmed nine cases of measles in Oconto County over the weekend — the first cases in the state this year. The agency said no public points of exposure have been identified and the risk to the community remains low. 

The first case was confirmed through testing at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, and the eight other cases were confirmed based on exposure and symptoms. Each person was exposed from a common source during out-of-state travel.

Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer of DHS’s Bureau of Communicable Diseases, told reporters during a press conference Monday afternoon that given the number of cases across the country, the agency has been preparing for its case investigations and outbreak response for months. 

“While we were surprised that we had our first cases this past week, we were prepared,” Westergaard said. “We’ve been making sure that we have adequate MMR vaccine in stock and have worked in partnership with all of our local and tribal health departments to make sure that we have a solid response that everyone is aware of, and so far for this case,… things have gone well.”

Cases of the highly contagious disease have hit a 33-year high nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There are reports of over 1,300 cases this year, with more than 150 people having been hospitalized for measles. Three people have died this year. 

Measles was declared eliminated in 2000, but decreasing vaccine rates, which have fallen below herd immunity, have led to a resurgence of the disease. Prior to 2025, the last similar outbreak was in 2019 when more than 1,200 cases were confirmed in the U.S. 

Westergaard said the state agency is not considering the nine cases in Wisconsin an outbreak because  the investigation found a common source during out-of-state travel. He said the agency won’t be releasing additional information about the cases due to state privacy laws. The agency has said it is working to identify and notify people who may have been exposed. 

The agency is urging families to get vaccinated in light of the cluster of cases and reported Monday that vaccination rates among students mostly held steady during the 2024-25 school year. Vaccination rates are still below pre-pandemic levels. 

“Vaccination is the first line of defense for your child’s health. Each vaccine is approved only after being proven safe and effective,” Stephanie Schauer, director of the Wisconsin Immunization Program, said in a statement. “Taking time now to ensure your children have received the recommended vaccines will make them less likely to get seriously ill, meaning less time out of school and away from work. And routine vaccines don’t just protect your child — they help keep classrooms and the whole community safe.”

During the 2024-25 school year, 86.4% of students met the minimum immunization requirements — a 2.8 percentage point decrease from the 2023-24 school year. 

“This tells us that most Wisconsin families are protecting their children with vaccines,” Westergaard said at the press conference. “Unfortunately, this level is below where we need to be to protect our state against outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. As we head into the new school year as a physician and as the father of kids who attend public schools, I want to encourage all caregivers to reach out to a trusted health care provider with any questions or concerns that you have to concern to ensure that students are up to date on their vaccines this year.” 

The agency attributed the overall decrease in meeting the immunization requirement to people being unfamiliar with a new meningitis vaccination requirement for 7th and 12th grade students. Without data on the meningitis vaccination, 89.3% of Wisconsin students met the minimum requirements — a 0.1% increase from the 2023-24 school year.

DHS reported in December that families in the state have fallen behind other states when it comes to receiving childhood vaccines including polio, pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus (DTaP), and measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). When it comes to measles in particular, Wisconsin has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.

Measles can spread from person to person through the air, and the vaccines to prevent it are highly effective. One dose of the MMR vaccine provides about 93% protection from measles, while two doses are about 97% effective.

“Our school vaccination data tells us there are children in our schools who are not protected from an outbreak of preventable diseases like measles,” State Health Officer Paula Tran said in a statement. “In public health, we know that 95% of people in a community need to be vaccinated against measles in order to prevent an outbreak, which is why it’s so important to get children the vaccines they need on time.”

Milwaukee city leaders, looking to take preventative steps due to the measles cases, also urged residents to get vaccinated on Monday.

“As a father and as mayor, I take this threat seriously,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson said in a statement. “We’ve seen how quickly diseases can spread when vaccination rates fall behind.”

Children’s Wisconsin President of Pediatrics Dr. Mike Gutzeit emphasized that serious side effects from the MMR vaccine are rare. 

“The risk from measles itself is far greater. When families choose not to vaccinate, they’re not just putting their own children at risk, but also newborns and people with weakened immune systems,” Gutzeit said. “Measles was nearly eliminated in the U.S., but now we’re seeing hundreds of cases and hospitalizations again. We can’t afford to go backward.”

Other vaccine-preventable illnesses surged in classrooms last year, according to DHS. Nearly 3,000 cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, were reported.

The measles cases and data on school vaccine rates come as some Republican lawmakers are seeking to increase awareness of vaccine exemptions. Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R-Appleton) and Rep. Lindee Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls) recently introduced a bill that seeks to highlight Wisconsin’s vaccine exemptions, saying there isn’t enough transparency around them. Current law already requires that schools and day care providers “inform the person in writing of the person’s right to a waiver.” 

During the 2024–2025 school year, 6.7% of students had a waiver for one or more vaccinations. Of those, 5.8% of students had a personal conviction waiver, 1% had a religious waiver and 0.4% had a health waiver. 

Westergaard said the rate of waivers in Wisconsin is higher than other states. 

“We’re one of only 13 states that has the personal conviction waiver. Many states do not allow that,” Westergaard said, adding that health forms typically include notice of the waiver availability. 

“We feel in public health that knowledge of the exemptions of the waivers is commonplace,” Westergaard said. “We don’t hide them, but our recommendation is that people get their kids vaccinated because we, as a public health entity, feel any risks far outweighed by the benefit, both to individual health and to our community health.”

Westergaard said those with concerns should speak with a trusted physician and be open with their questions. 

“For many families, childhood immunizations are a fact of life, and they’ve accepted them when they’re recommended, but we know other families have questions and concerns,” Westergaard said. “If there are questions you have, if there is information that you’ve seen online or heard that makes you question the safety or the effectiveness, let’s talk about them… There’s near unanimity among people who have seriously reviewed MMR safety data and other childhood vaccine data that they are on balance very safe and very effective and continually monitored for safety and adverse effects.”

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From left, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Kentucky Gov. Tony Evers said Democratic governors need to respond "in kind" to GOP mid-decade redistricting that's intended to protect the Republican House majority. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner.)

MADISON — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and other Democratic governors said responding “in kind” to Republican mid-decade redistricting is necessary at a Friday Democratic Governors Association press conference.

Kelly said she thinks courts would rule that redrawn maps from Republicans and Democrats are unconstitutional. If Republicans take this path, however, Democratic governors must also pursue mid-decade redistricting to “protect the American people,” she said.

“It’s incumbent upon Democratic governors, if they have the opportunity, to respond in-kind,” Kelly said. “Things are bad enough in Washington right now. What it would look like if there’s even a greater majority that this President controls — God help the United States of America.”

Kelly and other Democratic governors were in Madison for the DGA’s summer policy conference. 

Discussion over redistricting ahead of midterm elections started in Texas, where President Donald Trump’s political team pressured state leaders to redraw its map to gain more seats in the U.S. House and help Republicans maintain their congressional majority in 2026. Trump said a “very simple redrawing” of the state’s maps could help pick up five seats. 

Redistricting, the process of redrawing state legislative and congressional district boundaries, typically happens every ten years after the U.S. Census. 

Other Republican-led states, including Florida and Ohio, also said they would look at redrawing their maps mid-decade.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was not at the press conference, was the first Democrat to float the idea of gerrymandering the Democratic state to have fewer Republican seats in response. Democrats in New York and Maryland have also been looking for a path to gain additional seats in their states as well. 

None of the governors at the press conference said they would pursue that route but said they supported those that had a path to use it. Kelly joked that she “could” do mid-decade redistricting. “But what would I do? I’d just give them another Republican.” 

Evers said the blatant direction from Trump to pursue redistricting is a “constant threat to our democracy.” 

“I’m really pissed frankly, and we’re going to do whatever we can do to stop this,” Evers said, adding that Wisconsin would not be changing its maps. He said the state has already worked hard to “get fair maps.”

The Republican-led Legislature and Evers adopted new maps for the state Legislature in 2024 following a state Supreme Court ruling. Some have been calling for new Congressional maps, though those efforts have so far been rejected by the state Supreme Court. 

Wisconsin’s current congressional maps were drawn in 2022 by Evers and selected by the state Supreme Court with a conservative majority at the time. Democrats and their allies filed a new challenge to the maps in Dane County Circuit Court in July, arguing they are unconstitutional because they’re anti-competitive. Republicans currently represent six of Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts. 

“Because of those fair [state legislative] maps that we had, we were able to pass a relatively bipartisan budget, and it was a good budget, and so, in my heart of hearts, this is where we have to be, but… when you have a gun up against your head, you gotta do something,” Evers said.

“This move is unconstitutional. It’s again breaking the system. It’s, again, meant to game the system,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said. “Democrats are expected to have the decorum — we’re expected to protect the institutions, we’re expected to follow the rules on this.”

The times call for a different approach, however, he argued. 

“We’re not playing with a normal administration,” Walz said. “We’re playing with one that has thrown all the rules out of there… I think it is incumbent upon states that have the capacity or the ability to make sure that we are responding in kind.”

Governors criticize GOP over effects of the Republican megabill 

The Democratic governors also warned about the potential effects of Republicans’ federal reconciliation package. Kelly, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association, said government systems and programs being cut are not set up for states to operate on their own. 

“They were set up with the federal government as a very robust partner, and without them being a partner, there is no way that any of our states will be able to pick up the tail,” Kelly said. “The best we could do is perhaps mitigate the pain, but even that will be difficult.” 

The legislation, ” signed by President Donald Trump on July 4, made major changes to the federal Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Trump and Republicans in Congress are “trying to gut programs that Wisconsin families count on,” Evers said. “They’re willing to break our constitutional system to make that happen.” 

The megabill is just one tool, he suggested. “Whether it’s the Republican budget or the continued illegal action to fire Wisconsin workers, strip funds away from our state, damage public education, we have to fight.” 

A memo released this week by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau found that the exact effects of the federal reconciliation law on Medicaid and FoodShare in Wisconsin are uncertain, but will likely result in fewer enrollees.

Currently, about one in five Wisconsin residents rely on Medicaid for health care coverage. 

“The full impact of the Act’s Medicaid provisions on the state’s MA enrollment and costs remains uncertain,” the fiscal bureau memo states. “This is partly because some of the details of implementation requirements will depend upon forthcoming federal guidance, but also because the eligibility and enrollment requirements are new for the program and so little is known about their actual effects.” 

Starting in January 2027, childless adults will be required to complete 80 hours per month of paid work, school, employment training or community service per month to maintain their Medicaid eligibility. There are about 184,000 childless adults currently enrolled in Wisconsin. DHS estimates that 63,000 Wisconsinites will be at high risk of losing their coverage.

The LFB memo said that enrollment will likely drop due to the work requirement provisions. 

“Enrollment reductions could occur either because of the additional complexity of the application process or because the work requirements cause some individuals to increase their earnings to above the eligibility threshold. The magnitude of the program disenrollment, and associated reduction in [Medicaid] benefits costs, is uncertain,” the memo states. 

The governors warned that hospitals still face a difficult environment under the federal law. 

“Our rural hospitals in particular are extremely at risk,” Kelly of Kansas said. “We’ve already closed 10 of them in those 10 years and many more are on the brink, and this reconciliation bill is going to throw them over the edge.” 

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said 35 hospitals are at risk in his state, making it the state with the most hospitals at risk in the nation. 

“Donald Trump’s big ugly bill is the single worst, most devastating piece of legislation that I have seen in my lifetime. It is a direct attack on rural America,” Beshear said. 

Three hospitals in Wisconsin have been identified as at risk of closure. 

Costs for the SNAP program will increase in Wisconsin as the law reduces the federal share of the program — known as FoodShare in Wisconsin — from 50% to 25%. This will leave states responsible for 75% of the costs, a change that the Wisconsin Department of Health Services estimates will require an additional $51 million annually from the state. 

The FoodShare program currently helps nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites access food, and nearly 90,000 Wisconsinites will be at risk of losing their benefits due to the new federal provisions, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. 

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee echoed concerns over the ability of the state  to pick up the gaps left by federal cuts in social programs.

“We’re not going to be able to absorb in funding what’s coming our way,” McKee said. “The taxpayers are going to pay for it in our states or the benefits are going to get reduced.” 

The law extends work requirements for SNAP recipients from the current top age of 54 to age 64. It narrows the work requirement exemption for caregivers and parents by changing the definition of “dependent child” from under 18 years of age to under 14, meaning that parents of 15- to 17-year-olds could now be required to have employment in return for their SNAP benefits. 

It provides an exception from work requirements for a married person responsible for a child under age 14 and residing with someone who complies with the work requirements. It also exempts individuals who are eligible for the Indian Health Services. 

“While Wisconsin just passed a Wisconsin budget that invests in our kids, cuts taxes for working families and supports our rural hospitals, Trump and Congressional Republicans are moving in just the opposite way,” Evers said. “Democratic governors aren’t going to just sit idly and watch it happen. When Trump tried to strip hospital funding, we moved real quickly to protect $1.5 billion dollars in health care funding for Wisconsin. When they threaten our schools, we stand up and fight back. When they attack programs that matter to working families, we find ways to fill the gaps.”

“Republican governors fall in line behind Trump’s agenda. Democratic governors are standing up for the people that we serve,” Evers said before mentioning 2026 elections. He said Wisconsinites will “make a choice about the future of our state when they elect our next governor. They’re going to choose a leader who will work together and expand health care, support working families and build an economy that works for everybody.”

Evers announced on July 24 that he would not be running for a third term in office, setting up the first open race for governor in Wisconsin since 2010.

“I know that [Evers’] leadership is not going to end just because the title might, and that he is going to be out there fighting for what he believes in moving into the future,” said Kentucky Gov Andy Beshear, who won’t be able to run for another term in 2027 due to term limits.

So far, Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez has announced her campaign, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley is planning on entering the race and other Democrats are still mulling a decision. There will likely be a crowded Democratic primary. Two Republicans have officially launched their campaigns for governor, while U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany has been teasing a run.

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A health care provider bandages a child after giving a vaccination shot. (Photo by Scott Housely/CDC)

A pair of Wisconsin Republicans want to increase awareness of the state’s vaccine exemptions by requiring waiver forms be given to parents with the health forms they receive from schools and child care center providers. 

Coauthors of the bill Rep. Lindee Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls) and Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R-Appleton) said in a cosponsorship memo that there is a “lack of transparency” around the exemptions that “can create confusion and unnecessary barriers for parents” and “increase administrative burden on schools when immunization documentation is incomplete or delayed.” 

Wisconsin law requires children in elementary, middle, junior or senior high school, a child care center, or a nursery school to get vaccinated for various diseases based on their grade or age. The vaccine and booster schedule covers mumps, measles, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis, poliomyelitis and tetanus. 

Wisconsin allows parents to get the requirement waived if they submit a written statement objecting for reasons including health, religious or personal conviction. 

Lawmakers noted that the bill would not change current requirements for vaccines. The bill would require schools, child care centers and nursery schools to create a process to present a vaccine waiver form with each health-related form it requires before a student can be enrolled.

“Many parents are unaware of this right or are unclear about how to obtain that waiver and feel pressured to make medical decisions for their children that they otherwise would not have,” Brill said in a statement. “This bill ensures that schools make parents aware of the rights already afforded them by Wisconsin law and include information about the waiver from the vaccine requirement and a procedure for presenting it in any required pre-enrollment health-related forms.”

The proposal comes as Wisconsin’s vaccination rates have not caught up with pre-pandemic levels. According to a 2024 U.S. Centers for Disease Control report, Wisconsin is falling behind other states in childhood immunizations for illnesses including polio, pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus, and measles, mumps and rubella. 

The decline in vaccine rates is partially to blame for diseases, including measles and pertussis, increasing across the country, according to health officials. 

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 86.4% of students met the minimum immunization requirements during the 2024-25 school year — a 2.8 percentage-point decrease from the prior year. The agency also reports that 6.7% of students had a waiver for one or more immunizations, representing a 0.6 percentage-point increase from last year, though the number of students waiving all vaccines fell to 1.3%. 

Amid falling rates, DHS officials have ramped up efforts to encourage vaccinations to help improve effectiveness. 

Wisconsin has one of the lowest measles vaccination rates in the country, with only Alaska falling below it. One dose of the MMR vaccine, which fights measles, provides approximately 93% protection, while two doses are about 97% effective.

As measles vaccine rates have fallen, cases of the highly contagious disease have hit the highest level in 33 years, according to the CDC with 1,288 cases this year. More than 150 people have been hospitalized from measles, and three people have died this year. No cases have been reported in Wisconsin so far, but its neighboring states, including Illinois and Minnesota, have had cases.

The lawmakers’ efforts to increase awareness of vaccine exceptions comes amid a national wave of skepticism to vaccination, including from U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is a leading and prominent vaccine skeptic and was appointed by President Donald Trump this year. 

Brill thanked Kennedy for his work on his “Make America Health Again” agenda in her statement about the bill.

Cabral-Guevara, a board certified family nurse practitioner, has supported legislation that would loosen vaccine requirements before including a 2024 bill that would have allowed immunization exemptions at higher education institutions without documentation. 

The bill passed the Senate and Assembly, but was vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers, who said in a veto message that he objected to “the Wisconsin State Legislature’s efforts to micromanage decisions to respond to public health incidents and restrict existing tools available to higher education institutions to keep students, faculty, staff safe and healthy on their campuses.”

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Anne Chapman (with the microphone), research director for the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials Association, called the lack of funding “unprecedented" during a panel discussion. From left, WPEN Executive Director Heather DuBois Bourenane moderated the panel with Chapman, Julie Underwood, and Chris Thiel. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

GREEN BAY — After putting in a significant amount of time advocating for school funding during the most recent state budget cycle, public education advocates are looking towards their next effort — helping local communities show how much  private school vouchers cost taxpayers.

Advocates met at Preble High School, the state’s fourth largest high school, for the Wisconsin Public Education Network’s annual summit last week, an opportunity to connect and discuss the state of school funding and an array of other issues schools face. Denise Gaumer Hutchison, northeast regional organizer for the network and mother of two Green Bay students, told the Wisconsin Examiner that the importance of advocacy and working together is “at an all time high.” 

“It’s not just one type of people that are understanding that we have to have high quality public schools and we have to advocate for it now,” said Hutchison, a member of a variety of advocacy groups including Citizen Action and the League of Women Voters. “The Wisconsin State Legislature showed us that they are not advocates for public schools.”

Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly told attendees in a video message she was grateful for the partnership with WPEN and advocates during the budget cycle that concluded in early July, when Gov. Tony Evers signed the 2025-27 state budget. 

“You are without question the strongest and most consistent advocates for public schools in our state. You are the link between policy and practice. You lift up what’s working and you fight for what’s needed,” Underly said. “Your voices have been loud, clear and grounded in what matters most kids, and you’ve reminded Wisconsin that public education isn’t just a line item. It’s a promise.” 

The budget set state aid for districts for the next two years. To the disappointment of many, however, it  included no general aid increases. Increases to the special education reimbursement rate didn’t reach the goal advocates had set.

“This is the gas you put in the tank,” Milwaukee Public Schools Legislative Policy Manager Chris Thiel said about the lack of general state aid during a panel discussion. “You can’t say the funding system is broken, if you didn’t fund it.”

Anne Chapman, research director for the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials, called the lack of funding “unprecedented.” School districts have a $325 per pupil revenue limit increase, but without state funding, school districts will have to raise property taxes to benefit from it. 

Chapman noted that the state did significantly increase the special education reimbursement rate, but said the actual reimbursement would likely fall below the estimated rate of 42% in the first year and 45% in the second year. 

“When you hear the governor and others say that this budget provides $1.4 billion in spendable resources for schools, that is not state money,” Chapman said. “About $577 million of that is state money. The rest is mostly going to be borne by property taxpayers.”

Thiel noted that a recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report found that the state’s national ranking for school funding has fallen from 11th place in 2002 to 26th place now. 

“Were it not for local communities lifting their school districts up against these cuts from the state, we conceivably will be worse than 26th,” Thiel said, noting that increased local property taxes made the difference. “We didn’t get into this to do referenda every year, and we’ve got a really concerning situation.” 

Green Bay Area Public School Board Vice President James Lyerly said at the conference that without general aid and without a 60% special education reimbursement rate from the state budget, the district will have to go to referendum again. The district currently gets funding through a 10-year operating referendum that voters approved in 2017.

“It ensures that the district will once again need to seek voter support for a referendum to replace our current $16.5 million dollar per year non-recurring operational referendum that ends in 2027,” Lyerly said. The district’s current operational and recent building referendums, including one in November 2024, have ensured “our students are able to attend schools that meet their instructional needs and provide for safe learning spaces,” he said. 

“The continued underfunding of public education at the same time that there is an increased funding and expansion of unaccountable choice schools, not only creates these budget challenges, but it widens the opportunity gaps for students who rely on the comprehensive support systems that public schools provide,” Lyerly said.

The new state budget did include increases in per-pupil funding for voucher schools in Wisconsin, along with a $325 annual per-pupil revenue limit adjustment to keep parity with public schools.

Publicizing voucher programs’ cost

Advocates are turning to transparency on the cost of the voucher schools programs as the next item on their agenda.

Green Bay recently became the first municipality in the state to add the cost of private voucher schools as a line on residents’ property tax bills. 

Private school vouchers are paid out of school districts’ general state aid, and school districts have the option of raising property taxes to make up for the lost revenue. Property tax bills currently include information on the money going towards the town, the county, the technical college and local public school districts, but costs for private voucher schools are lumped in with public school costs.

A handful of Wisconsin municipalities have added inserts about voucher costs to their tax bills, but Hutchison said having it on the tax bill will be more effective at informing people, who often throw inserts away.

“[People] were totally appalled that they didn’t know that their taxes were going to support private schools and it wasn’t so much that they objected to supporting private schools, it was the lack of transparency and the knowledge they didn’t have the knowledge of where their tax dollars were going,” Hutchison said. 

The proposal to add a printed line on private voucher costs was introduced by Ald. Alyssa Proffitt. The city council voted 6-6 in April, with Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich breaking the tie to approve it. The council worked with the school district administrative staff, the school board, Brown County, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and the City Legal department to determine the legality and feasibility of adding another line to the printed city tax bill.

Genrich said at the conference that Green Bay residents will have a better understanding of how much they are paying for private schools, and he hopes the practice spreads.

“We really believe that we’ve created a template that other communities across the state of Wisconsin can use and adopt,” Genrich said at the conference. “I’ve been a supporter of this at the state level for some time. That is what we’re hoping to build towards, so we create some momentum within municipalities across the state of Wisconsin and actually get it done at the state level hopefully here in the near future.”

Genrich, a former state representative, supported a similar policy in the Wisconsin Assembly, but a bill authored by former Democratic Rep. Dana Wachs never received a public hearing. Similar bills have faced the same fate in recent years under the Republican-led Legislature.

WPEN is planning to launch an effort in the fall to help communities interested in going through a similar process. 

“If the Legislature won’t support transparency on tax bills for communities, then the communities are going to support transparency on their tax bills, and it’s going to go municipality by municipality by municipality,” Hutchison, the network’s Northeast regional organizer, said in an interview. “We’re not going to wait any longer, because this has been needed for a very long time, and we have some momentum now.”

Transparency on voucher costs is essential, she said, especially as public school districts continue to rely on property taxes for funding and must seek increases by referendum.

“We have a constitutional responsibility to fund our public schools, and people think in their communities that they’re doing that,” Hutchison said. “They’ve been misled, because the private school dollars are hidden inside of the tax bill, and all we’re asking for is to be transparent so that people can make informed decisions.” 

She said it can be difficult to ask taxpayers to vote to increase taxes if they don’t understand their tax bills.

“If you’re going to somebody’s door saying, ‘Hey, the Green Bay Area public school district or XYZ school district is going to referenda to help pay their bills because there’s no new money from the state of Wisconsin… and they say, ‘Look at my tax bill. Look how much money I’m paying in taxes to support schools.’ That’s not really the whole story,” Hutchison said.

“It’s a challenging conversation to have at somebody’s door. If I now can go to somebody’s door and say, ‘Did you see your latest tax bill? Did you see what percentage is being taken out and what dollar amount is being taken out of that amount to go to private schools?’ you may get somebody to say yes to increase their taxes because now they have a clearer picture of what’s really happening.” 

Hutchison said WPEN has a tool kit with resources on the issue. Changing the tax bill information has to start with a resolution from the school board asking the city or the township to support the effort, she said, and it then has to get approval from the city or local government. 

“We’re doing it district by district, community by community, and we’re having conversations with people that have come to us to see what we’ve done in other communities,” Hutchison said. “So we’re going to support them in how they approach this.” 

Hutchison said she has been having early conversations with some communities, including having three communities reach out following the summit. One superintendent, Amy Starzecki of Superior Public Schools, thanked the Green Bay community for its work around voucher transparency at the conference, saying Superior would be looking into the issue.

The effort to publicize private voucher costs comes as caps on Wisconsin’s school voucher programs are set to lift in the 2026-27 school year. Since 2017, the cap, which limits the percentage of students in a district who can participate, has been increasing by 1% until it hit 9% this year.

“Next year, there will be no limit. Those caps come off,” said Julie Mead, a professor emerita in UW-Madison’s department of educational leadership and policy analysis, during a session titled “It’s just not fair: Unpacking Fairness from Special Education to Funding-by-Referendum to Privatization.”

Eliminating the caps could make it hard for districts to plan, Mead said. 

“The ability of Green Bay superintendent to predict what’s going to happen next year in terms of the money coming in and going on and what their membership will be is going to be really, really difficult,” she said, “and it means our school districts are frankly going to be in a world of hurt.”

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