In the Wisconsin Senate’s last floor session of 2025, lawmakers debated and voted on bills that appear destined for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ veto pen.
One of the bills, which passed the Republican-led Assembly in September and is on its way to Evers’ desk, would prohibit public funds from being used to provide health care to undocumented immigrants. Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, the bill’s Senate author, argued it would protect Wisconsin taxpayers, citing Democratic states like Illinois where enrollment and costs of a health care program for noncitizens far exceeded initial estimates.
But several Senate Democrats lambasted the proposal as a “heartless” attempt by GOP lawmakers to gain political points with their base with 2026 elections around the corner. Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, hinted at its likely future in the governor’s office.
“It’s going to be vetoed,” Carpenter said.
Plenty of bills in the nearly eight years of Wisconsin’s split government have passed through the Republican-controlled Assembly and Senate before receiving a veto from the governor. Evers vetoed a record 126 bills during the 2021-22 legislative session ahead of his reelection campaign and 72 bills during the 2023-24 session. The governor has vetoed 15 bills so far in 2025, not including partial vetoes in the state budget, according to a Wisconsin Watch review of veto messages. The number is certain to rise, though whether it will approach the record is far from clear.
A few Senate Democrats seeking higher office in 2026 said some recent legislation that is unlikely to make it past Evers, from a repeal of the creative veto that raises school revenue limits for the next 400 years to a bill exempting certain procedures from the definition of abortion, looks like political messaging opportunities to ding Democrats. They anticipate more of those proposals to come up next year.
“For the last eight years we’ve had divided government, but we’ve had a heavily gerrymandered Legislature,” said Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, who is among at least seven candidates running for governor in 2026 and voted against those bills on the floor. “For Republicans in the Legislature, there has been no cost and everything to gain from pursuing the most radical and extreme proposals in their party.”
Evers is not seeking a third term as governor in 2026 and is entering the final year of his current term, which no longer makes him vulnerable to political fallout from vetoing bills. But legislative Democrats, particularly in the Senate where the party hopes to win the majority in 2026, can be forced into difficult decisions in their chambers where Republicans control which bills get votes on the Senate and Assembly floors.
“It was all this political gamesmanship of trying to get points towards their own base and/or put me or others, not just me, into a position to have to make that tough vote,” said Sen. Jeff Smith, D-Brunswick, of the bill banning public dollars spent on health care for undocumented immigrants. Smith, who is seeking reelection in his western Wisconsin district next year, holds the main Senate seat Republicans are targeting in 2026. He voted against the bill.
Smith said the immigration bill saw “a lot of discussion” in the Senate Democratic Caucus ahead of the floor session on Nov. 18, particularly on where Smith would vote given the attention on his seat. The bill passed the chamber on a vote of 21-12 with Democratic support from Sen. Sarah Keyeski, D-Lodi; Sen. Brad Pfaff, D-Onalaska; and Sen. Jamie Wall, D-Green Bay, who are not up for reelection next year but represent more conservative parts of the state.
“Many people thought the easy vote would be to just vote with the Republicans because it’s not going to be signed,” Smith said. “But I’ve still got to go back and explain it to my voters.”
A spokesperson for Majority Leader Sen. Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, did not respond to questions from Wisconsin Watch about how Senate Republicans consider what bills advance to the Senate floor. Neither did a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester.
In a social media post after the Senate session, Senate President Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, listed “all the things WI Senate Democrats voted against,” which included “prohibiting illegal aliens from getting taxpayer-funded healthcare.”
Scott Kelly, Wanggaard’s chief of staff, said a potential veto or putting Democrats on the record on certain issues largely doesn’t influence the legislation their office pursues.
“Our job is to pass bills that we think are good ideas that should be law,” Kelly said. “Whether other people support or veto them is not my issue. The fact that Democrats think this is a political ‘gotcha,’ well, that just shows they know it’s an idea that the public supports.”
Not all of the bills on the Senate floor on Nov. 18 seemed aimed at election messaging. The chamber unanimously approved a bill to extend tax credits for businesses that hire a third party to build workforce housing or establish a child care program. In October, senators voted 32-1 to pass a bipartisan bill requiring insurance companies to cover cancer screenings for women with dense breast tissue who are at an increased risk of breast cancer. The Republican-authored bill has yet to move in the Assembly despite bipartisan support from lawmakers there as well.
Assembly Democrats last week criticized Vos and Assembly Majority Leader Rep. Tyler August, R-Walworth, for blocking a vote on Senate Bill 23, a bipartisan bill to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage to new Wisconsin moms. Assembly Minority Leader Rep. Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, in a press conference at the Capitol called the move “pathetic.”
But health care is a top issue for Democratic voters and less so for Republicans, according to the Marquette University Law School Poll conducted in October. Illegal immigration and border security are the top issue for Republican voters in Wisconsin. About 75% of GOP voters said they were “very concerned” about the issue heading into 2026, though only 16% of Democrats and 31% of immigrants said the same.
Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center and political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said political messaging votes can have impacts on elections, especially in what will be some of the close Senate races in 2026.
“It’s kind of a messaging opportunity, not really a policymaking opportunity. It’s also maybe a way for Republicans to let off some steam,” Burden said. “They have divisions within their own caucuses. They have disagreements between the Republicans in the Assembly, Republicans in the Senate. They can never seem to get on the same page with a lot of these things, and there are often a few members who are holding up bills. So, when they can find agreement and push something through in both chambers and get near unanimous support from their caucuses, that’s a victory in itself and maybe helps build some morale or solidarity within the party.”
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
DPI announced this week that initial special education payments would reimburse schools for their special education costs at 35%. A hallway in La Follette High School in Madison. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)
Initial special education reimbursement payments to school districts this year will be about 35% of their costs — about 7 percentage points below the estimated rate approved in the state budget.
When the 2025-27 state budget was passed by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Tony Evers in July, policymakers boasted that their investments would bring the special education reimbursement rate to a historic 42% in the first year of the budget and 45% in the second year.
While school districts will still receive more aid for special education costs this year than in previous state budgets, it appears that the state funding set aside probably won’t be enough to reach the rate that was estimated when the budget was signed in July.
The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) announced in a bulletin on Monday that initial special education payments for November through March would reimburse schools 35% of their special education costs. While DPI uses a slightly lower rate to avoid overpayment and this is not the final reimbursement rate, Chris Bucher, DPI director of communications, said in an email that the agency has anticipated the rate falling below the estimate.
Special education reimbursement rates for public school districts can vary from the estimate because it is a sum certain allocation, meaning that payments come from a fixed pot of money.
During the budget process, public education advocates, DPI and Gov. Tony Evers called for that to change to a sum sufficient allocation, meaning that the amount of money provided by the state would be enough to meet the set reimbursement rate. Republican lawmakers rejected the request.
According to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo released Thursday, in 2024-25 the state had appropriated about $574 million to special education aid. When the 2023-25 state budget was passed, the appropriation was estimated to bring schools to a 33.3% rate in each year of the budget. In November 2024, DPI estimated a rate of 29.16%, and the final rate for that school year was 30.64%.
Based on cost increases in recent years, DPI projected costs would grow by 4% for its 2025-27 state budget request. It had estimated that aidable costs would be about $1.8 billion in 2025-26 and $1.9 billion in 2026-27. Those estimates were also used as Evers prepared his budget request and as the Legislature prepared the budget.
According to the new memo, DPI now projects that aidable costs in 2024-25 increased by an estimated 9% — a rate more than twice the original projection when the 2025-27 budget was being drafted.
For the 2025-27 state budget, the DPI requested about $2 billion across the biennium to cover special education costs for school at a rate of 90% by the second year of the budget and to change the funding from “sum certain” to “sum sufficient.”
Gov. Tony Evers also requested the change from sum certain to sum sufficient, though he requested increasing it to a 60% rate by the second year. The Joint Committee on Finance denied those requests instead choosing to provide $207 million in the first year of the budget to cover an estimated 42% of costs and $297 million in the second year to cover costs at an estimated rate of 45%.
Advocates called attention to the reimbursement rate in statements this week, saying the funding system needs an overhaul.
Peggy Wirtz-Olsen, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state’s largest teachers union, blamed the rate on lawmakers, saying that they “turned their backs on our most vulnerable children, failing to deliver on promised special education funding and leaving our students without the supports they need to succeed in school.”
“This shortfall will mean even more communities forced into holding school referendums in 2026 just to meet basic needs, causing uncertainty and hardship for students who deserve better from their elected leaders,” Wirtz-Olsen said in a statement.
Wirtz-Olsen said lawmakers have been “caught lying about the scant resources they are providing.”
“It’s time for these politicians to fix Wisconsin’s school funding formula and fulfill what the state Constitution requires,” she said. “Taxpayers have had enough of picking up the tab on our property taxes to make up for their refusal to fund schools. If they won’t take action for the students who most need help, educators and families will.”
Beth Swedeen, executive director of the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities, called on the state to change the way it funds school districts.
“It’s time to build a budget that is rooted in real costs and can provide budget certainty to schools and parents that the promises made by the legislature will translate into real dollars schools can use,” Swedeen said in a statement. “We should not be in this position cycle after cycle where students with disabilities and schools are undercut by accounting codes.”
A Kwik Trip station in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, was among the locations chosen for new charging stations in the first round of Wisconsin's build-out for its charging station network under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program (NEVI), part of the bipartisan infrastructure law enacted during President Joe Biden's term in office. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)
A program to expand electric vehicle charging stations in Wisconsin is getting a $14 million jolt with plans to build 26 more stations across the state.
Gov. Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation announced the expansion plan Monday.
The announcement recharges the state’selectrical vehicle charging network project, supported by the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program. NEVI, part of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law signed by then-President Joe Biden, provides grants to states to build more charging stations.
“Transportation is evolving, and departments of transportation and states have to adapt with that evolution,” said John DesRivieres, WisDOT’s communications director. “As the market and the number of folks who are driving electric vehicles grows, EV infrastructure is needed.”
NEVI funding paused after President Donald Trump took office, and Wisconsin was one of 15 states along with the District of Columbia tosue the Trump administration in May for cutting off money for the program. A federal judgeblocked the administration in June from defunding NEVI, and the Wisconsin DOT subsequentlyrestarted its program.
The $14 million in federal funds for Wisconsin’snew round of charging stations will go to projects in communities throughout the state, from Superior in the northwest to East Troy in the southeast. They include 11 locations at Kwik Trip service stations, six locations at hotels or resorts, six locations at other service station brands and a handful of other businesses.
“My administration and I have prioritized ensuring our state’s infrastructure meets the needs of the 21st Century since Day One because expanding our clean energy and electric vehicle infrastructure helps create jobs and bolster our economy, and it’s good for our planet, too,” Evers said. “Thanks to our actions to get the Trump Administration to release this critical funding that they were illegally withholding, we are thrilled to see the NEVI program continue to support these goals and further move us toward the clean energy future Wisconsinites deserve.”
The transportation department chose projects based on their location, their potential for future development, and the business site’s hours. Extended hours were given preference to accommodate longer refueling times, according to WisDOT.
Wisconsin’s plan calls for charging stations along 15 major interstate, U.S. and state highway corridors that cross the state. A WisDOTEV charging station dashboard shows the locations for all planned chargers in the state.
With the round of grants announced Monday, Wisconsin has invested a total of $36.4 million in federal funds for 78 projects.
A customer charges his electric car at a Kwik Trip service station in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. The station was included in the first round of charger stations to be built with federal funds in Wisconsin. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)
The first round,announced in May 2024, invested $22.4 million to build 52 stations. Of those, 11 are operational, 16 have been authorized for construction and the rest are in pre-construction phases.
A federal tax credit for electric vehicles that was included in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act abruptly ended, effective Sept. 30, under the Republican tax-cut and spending mega-bill enacted in July.
“There are already 37,000 EVs on the road today, and we saw that number spike as people raced to purchase EVs before the federal tax credit expired,” said Alex Beld, communications director for Renew Wisconsin, a nonprofit that promotes policies and programs to expand solar, wind and hydropower along with building electrification, energy storage and electric vehicles.
“By expanding our network of charging stations, we hope to see that number continue to climb,” Beld said. “Through this transition away from gas-powered vehicles, we can reduce emissions and support our state’s economy.”
Ananalysis by SRI International published in 2023 for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. concluded that “there is a tremendous opportunity for Wisconsin to develop a globally competitive cluster centered on the manufacturing of EVs and EV-related equipment, which in turn can help revitalize Wisconsin’s automotive manufacturing industry and drive statewide economic development.”
Beld said that jobs related to clean energy grew four times faster than the rest of Wisconsin’s economy in 2024.
“If this funding had been clawed back permanently, I think we would have still seen progress,” Beld said. “It would have certainly been slower and would have likely cost the state jobs.”
The U.S. Capitol on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, just hours before a federal government shutdown. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is over and all we got was the near-cancellation of food assistance just in time for Thanksgiving and a looming explosion in health care costs.
None of the problems that led to the shutdown have been resolved. Instead, a handful of Democrats abandoned their fight to force Congress to address the health care crisis in exchange for rolling back some of the damage the Trump administration did during the shutdown itself. Federal workers are getting their jobs back — for now — and flight cancellations will end just in time for the holiday travel season. Otherwise, we’re pretty much back where we started.
Democrats are fuming and Republicans are gloating over the end of this game of chicken, in which the party that showed it doesn’t care at all about the pain and suffering of its own constituents is the apparent winner. Stay tuned to see how long the glow of victory lasts as members of Congress go home to face the voters.
During the fruitless shutdown battle, a couple of politicians from Wisconsin who are not facing election anytime soon showed real leadership. Their focus on serving the needs of real people, not political posturing, was a breath of fresh air, and a model of the kind of public service we badly need.
Gov. Tony Evers deserves a lot of credit for acting quickly to pay out food assistance funds to nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites last Friday as soon as a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to release the money, which it had been withholding for a week. Evers acted in the nick of time. The Trump administration appealed the decision and, on the strength of an emergency ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, demanded that Wisconsin and other states that had paid out the benefits overnight claw them back. Evers issued a terse response: “No.”
Thanks to his leadership, hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites, including 270,000 kids, were spared from going hungry because of the Trump administration’s capricious cruelty. With the shutdown over, the battle over food assistance has ended and the USDA has said full nutrition benefits will begin flowing to states again within 24 hours of the shutdown’s end. But as Evers said when he seized the moment and released the funds, “It never should’ve come to this.” The feds had the money to prevent kids from going hungry all along. Trump made a deliberate decision to cut off aid, and then to demand that states pay only partial benefits, on the theory that doing so would punish Democrats for refusing to reopen the government on Trump’s terms.
Evers deserves a lot of credit for his decisive action to protect Wisconsinites from harm.
Another Wisconsin politician who has been working overtime to stave off disaster for residents is U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
Baldwin has spent her entire career working to expand health care access, including writing the provision of the Affordable Care Act that allows children to stay on their parents’ health insurance until they reach the age of 26. She has a reputation for doggedly working across the aisle and, during the shutdown, she never gave up trying to get Senate Republicans to agree to extend ACA tax credits.
This week, when eight Senate Democrats joined the Republicans on a resolution to reopen the government that didn’t include any language about the coming spike in health care costs, Baldwin forced a Senate vote on an amendment to extend the ACA credits for one more year. Many Senate Republicans had told her they knew the expiration of those credits would drive health care costs through the roof in their states.
In her floor speech introducing her amendment, Baldwin said:
“My Republican colleagues are refusing to act to stop health care premiums from doubling for over 20 million Americans. I just can’t stand by without a fight.”
Even as people across the country express shock and dismay, “Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have simply refused to address the biggest increase in American premiums they’ll likely ever experience,” Baldwin said.
“I’m getting calls daily from Wisconsinites begging me to stay in this fight,” she added. She told her Senate colleagues about a couple from Door County who told her their premiums are going up by over $550 per month because of the failure to extend the ACA tax credits. “Everything is already too expensive. So where are they supposed to find 6,500 extra dollars in their budget?” she asked.
Another couple from Butternut, Wisconsin, told her their premiums are going from $400 per month to more than $5,000 per month — “that’s $55,000 more a year,” she said. “As they wrote to me, ‘health care tax breaks are not just numbers on paper. They are a lifeline that allows us to sleep at night knowing that we won’t lose everything if one of us gets sick.’”
Baldwin was back in the state Wednesday where, as Erik Gunn reports, she is holding a series of town hall meetings with people affected by rising health care costs. She is holding out hope that some of her Republican colleagues will come around on the issue. She refused to answer questions about whether she thinks Sen. Chuck Schumer should be ousted from his position as Minority Leader because of the end of the shutdown fight.
Characteristically, she is keeping her head down and working to build bipartisan support — as she did, successfully, when she persuaded enough Republicans to join her to pass the Respect for Marriage Act protecting same-sex and interracial couples — instead of using it to score political points.
As we move past the shutdown power struggle and into the real fight over people’s lives, we need more of that kind of leadership.
Green Bay Correctional Institution. (Photo by Andrew Kennard/Wisconsin Examiner)
When a prison built in the 1800s is still housing people in 2025 with the same aging infrastructure, we have to be honest, the system is broken. Wisconsin’s prisons have been in crisis for years, and for the first time in a long time, we’re seeing a small but important step toward change.
Gov. Tony Evers recently received bipartisan approval to overhaul Wisconsin’s aging prison system and close the outdated Green Bay and Waupun prisons. The overhaul strategy includes a $15 million project investment and outlines a four-year process to reduce the number of beds, modernize facilities, and shift the focus toward rehabilitation and safety. That’s progress, but 2029 is too far away, and Evers’ plan lacks the kind of decarceration measures needed to actually reduce the prison population and make Wisconsin safer.
The reality inside our prisons doesn’t have four years to wait. People are dying. Staff are exhausted. Families are breaking under the weight of a system that punishes more than it prepares people to come home. Every delay costs lives and wastes taxpayer dollars that could be used to help people rebuild instead of being locked away.
I know this firsthand because I lived it. I spent part of my incarceration inside Green Bay Correctional Facility, one of the oldest and most overcrowded prisons in Wisconsin. The facility was built in 1898 with a design capacity of about 17,000 people statewide, yet Wisconsin’s prison population has hovered above 22,000 for years. That means thousands of people crammed into cells meant for far fewer. Walking those halls, you can feel the age of the place, the air thick with humidity, the bitter cold in winter, and the lack of ventilation that makes it hard to breathe. The walls are cracking, the infrastructure is failing, and the environment itself strips people of their dignity.
Those conditions don’t make anyone safer. They don’t prepare people for reentry. They create desperation, both for both the incarcerated and the staff working inside. The best way to ensure a safer Wisconsin is to get the people who are ready to reenter society out of our prisons and into reentry. Overcrowded and understaffed prisons overtax our correctional officers and make prisons unsafe for officers and incarcerated people. In addition, understaffing makes it harder to ensure that everyone gets the programming that they need. The Federal First Step Act and CARES Act Home Confinement have both proved that bringing the right people back early can result in lower recidivism, better public safety and safer and more effective prisons.
If Wisconsin wants to lead on justice reform, this can’t just be a construction project. ... Real reform means giving people a path forward, not just warehousing.
I was one of the many people affected by Wisconsin’s Truth in Sentencing law, which eliminated parole and early release. That law has kept countless people behind bars longer than necessary, removing the hope and incentive that parole once provided.
If Wisconsin wants to lead on justice reform, this can’t just be a construction project. Real reform means reducing the number of people behind bars, ending excessive revocations, expanding reentry programs, and investing in housing, treatment, and mental health care. It means giving people a path forward, not just warehousing.
According to thePrison Policy Initiative, Wisconsin imprisons about 663 people per 100,000 residents, far more than Minnesota (173) or Illinois (341). Despite years of promises to reform, the state’s prison population has remained between 21,000 and 23,000 people for nearly two decades.
Nearly 40% of new admissions each year come from revocations, not new crimes, meaning thousands are sent back to prison for breaking supervision rules like missing curfew, losing housing, or failing a drug test. That’s roughly 4,000 to 5,000 people every year, based on Department of Corrections data. I lead a statewide Smart Justice campaign focused on ending these excessive revocations, because it’s one of the biggest drivers of mass incarceration in Wisconsin.
Add to that the worst racial disparity in the country. Black residents are imprisoned at 11 times the rate of white residents, according to theSentencing Project, and it’s clear that our problem isn’t just old buildings. It’s old thinking. Reducing prison beds without changing these policies is like draining a bathtub while leaving the faucet running. Until we reform supervision, expand early release and invest in reentry and community support, the system will keep refilling itself.
Closing prisons built in the 1800s is a step in the right direction, but it has to come with urgency and intention. We can’t keep reacting; we have to start transforming. The same energy that went into passing this plan must go into implementing it quickly and with input from the people most affected by it, those who have lived behind those walls, their families and the communities most affected by incarceration.
As we head into a new election season, this issue must be front and center for every candidate running for governor. Wisconsin deserves leaders who will move us forward, not just talk about reform, but act on it. The next administration should be judged on whether it has the courage to close outdated prisons, expand second chances, and build a system rooted in rehabilitation, dignity, and justice.
Gov. Evers was right when he said, “We’ve got to get this damned thing done.” But getting it done means more than moving money; it means moving with purpose. Justice reform isn’t about buildings; it’s about people.
Wisconsin’s motto is Forward. It’s time for our justice system and our next governor to finally live up to that.
Gov. Tony Evers speaks to reporters at a food pantry in La Crosse on Monday. (Screenshot/CSPAN)
Gov. Tony Evers reiterated Monday that Wisconsin won’t pull back the money that the state distributed to its FoodShare program late last week.
“They [the federal government] want that money back — they’re not getting it back,” Evers said in a short news conference at a La Crosse food bank. “It’s for the people that are part of this program.”
The Evers administration moved swiftly Thursday evening to funnel $104.4 million to Wisconsin’s FoodShare program after a federal court ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fully fund November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments.
Wisconsin FoodShare participants spent $9.9 million of the benefits on groceries Friday, according to the Evers administration.
By Monday, however, the administration said that it waslacking sufficient SNAP funds to reimburse retailers after the U.S. Treasury blocked the federal benefits payment to Wisconsin on Friday.
USDA said it would fully fund November’s SNAP payments in response to Thursday’s court order. Instead, however, the Trump administration petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the order and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson put iton hold for 48 hours.
On Saturday the Trump administration directed states toreturn a portion of their SNAP funds to the federal government.
The directive “underscores the arbitrary and capricious nature of their conduct in this matter and demonstrates the need for immediate relief,” the motion states. “USDA must make full benefits available to SNAP beneficiaries without delay, and the November 8 guidance should be enjoined.”
On Monday afternoon, Evers toured WAFER Food Pantry in La Crosse, where he spoke with reporters about USDA’s order to states to pull back funds pushed out to electronic benefit cards used by SNAP recipients, including FoodShare users in Wisconsin.
“That’s embarrassing. That’s embarrassing for any president of the United States,” said Evers in a news conference that wastelevised on CSPAN.
“He [Trump] can claw all he wants,” Evers said. “It’s not going to happen. They have no authority to do that.”
Evers said that grocery stores should not have to wait for FoodShare funds that they are due when customers make purchases on their electronic benefits cards. “They should be getting reimbursed like they always have,” he said.
The state Department of Health Services and the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection both issued statements Monday warning retailers and grocery stores that are part of the FoodShare program that they cannot reject customers with funds legally loaded onto their QUEST benefit cards, and businesses cannot turn away people using the cards.
“While there haven’t been reports of people being turned away or of price gouging thus far, we want to make sure everyone is clear on the expectations. No one in Wisconsin should have to worry about their next meal,” said DATCP Secretary Randy Romanski.
In a letter Sunday toWisconsin’s congressional delegation, Evers called the administration’s clawback attempt “a shocking and disturbing request—and one that should be condemned by every person, regardless of their political beliefs or party.”
Evers noted that the state’s three Democratic federal lawmakers have spoken up in opposition to the administration’s actions.
“I find it deeply troubling the rest of you have failed to do so,” he wrote, referring to Wisconsin’s seven Republican Congress members, “and I implore you to change that today.”
The Saturday Morning Market, in St. Petersburg, Florida, on April 14, 2012. (Photo by Lance Cheung/USDA)
Following a late Friday emergency ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Trump administration has instructed states that authorized full November nutrition assistance benefits to return a portion, another unprecedented reversal for a program that helps 42 million people afford groceries.
A Saturday memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service said states should fund 65% of benefits for users of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, often called food stamps.
Those that had authorized full payments in line with earlier administration guidance should “immediately undo” that action, according to the memo.
“To the extent States sent full SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized,” the memo said. “Accordingly, States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025. Please advise the appropriate FNS Regional Office representative of steps taken to correct any actions taken that do not comply with this memorandum.”
President Donald Trump and top administration officials have said they cannot pay full SNAP benefits during the government shutdown that began Oct. 1 and instead, under court orders, are using a contingency fund to make partial payments.
Shutdown chaos surrounds SNAP
Saturday’s guidance from Patrick A. Penn, the department’s deputy under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, marked the latest turnaround in a chaotic few days for the agency, states that administer SNAP and the millions of Americans who depend on it to afford food.
States — including Wisconsin and Kansas — that issued full benefits did so under a Friday memo, also signed by Penn, that said states should authorize full payments for SNAP, consistent with a Thursday ruling in federal court.
Kansas, Wisconsin, Oregon govs express dismay
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, in a late Friday statement expressed disappointment with the administration’s appeal to the Supreme Court and noted the state had authorized full payments earlier in the day for all eligible Kansans.
“These Kansans, most of them children, seniors or people with disabilities, were struggling to put food on their plates,” she said. “Why the President would petition the highest court to deny food to hungry children is beyond me. It does nothing to advance his political agenda. It does not hurt his perceived enemies. It only hurts our most vulnerable and our reputation around the globe.”
In a Sunday statement, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, flatly refused to try to claw back any authorized benefits. The state acted in compliance with a court order, he said.
“After we did so, the Trump Administration assured Wisconsin and other states that they were actively working to implement full SNAP benefits for November and would ‘complete the processes necessary to make funds available,’” he said. “They have failed to do so to date.”
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said her state will not comply.
“Oregon acted lawfully, given the federal court’s directive and the communications with the USDA, and my decision to ensure SNAP benefits went out quickly was in direct alignment with my food emergency declaration,” said Kotek, a Democrat. “I am disgusted that President Trump has the audacity to take taxpayers’ money away from them when they are in crisis. I have a question for the President: What would he prefer to spend the money on over groceries for people in need? This is ridiculous, immoral, and Oregon will fight this every step of the way.”
U.S. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, said in a statement: “Let’s be clear about what this is — the Trump administration is demanding that food assistance be taken away from the households that have already received it. They would rather go door to door, taking away people’s food, than do the right thing and fully fund SNAP for November so that struggling veterans, seniors, and children can keep food on the table. It is incomprehensible, incompetent and inconsistent with our values as Americans.”
Court action
The earlier order, from U.S. District Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island, told the department to use sources outside the contingency fund to make full November payments by Friday. The order was appealed to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
But Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, acting on behalf of the high court, granted the administration’s request for an emergency stay on Friday night, speeding up the process for what Jackson said would then be an “expeditious” decision by the appeals court but also changing things yet again.
No longer, for the moment, required by a court order to pay full November benefits, the administration instructed states in the Saturday memo to have the vendors that process payments to the electronic benefit transfer cards withhold part of the month’s allotment.
“States must not transmit full benefit issuance files to EBT processors,” Penn wrote. “Instead, States must continue to process and load the partial issuance files that reflect the 35 percent reduction of maximum allotments detailed in the November 5 guidance.”
Shutdown negotiations
SNAP funding has been a key issue during the shutdown.
In a plan published Sept. 30, the USDA said it would continue to pay for the roughly $9 billion per month program through its contingency fund. The administration reversed itself 10 days later, telling states there would be no SNAP available for November.
A bipartisan U.S. Senate bill filed Sunday would end the shutdown. It includes provisions to fully fund SNAP, the contingency fund and the $23 billion children nutrition programs fund that may be a source of emergency funding for SNAP if the shutdown persists.
Kansas Reflector Editor in Chief Sherman Smith, Wisconsin Examiner Editor in Chief Ruth Conniff and Oregon Capital Chronicle Editor in Chief Julia Shumway contributed to this report.
A sign in a convenience store in Hyattsville, Maryland, advertises that it accepts SNAP benefits. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
According to Gov. Tony Evers’ administration, over 330,000 Wisconsin households were paid their November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by Friday morning.
The release of the funds comes as the federal government shutdown entered day 38 on Friday; it’s the longest shutdown in American history.
The lapse in federal funding for SNAP, known as FoodShare in Wisconsin, took effect on Nov. 1 — leaving nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites, including 270,000 kids, without access to food assistance. Two court orders last week directed the Trump administration to pay SNAP benefits by a Wednesday deadline.
Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr., a federal judge in Rhode Island, ordered the Trump administration Thursday to pay the full month of food assistance benefits for November. McConnell said the Trump administration missed its chance to make partial payments after it failed to release funds by the deadline.
Shortly after the court decision was released, the Evers administration announced it was taking steps to get the funds out the door as soon as possible.
“My administration worked quickly to ensure these benefits could be released as soon as possible so that our kids, families, and seniors have access to basic food and groceries without one more day of delay,” Evers said in a statement Thursday evening. “But let’s be clear — it never should’ve come to this. Wisconsinites should’ve never been without food assistance, period, and they wouldn’t have been if President Trump and the Trump Administration had listened to me and so many who urged them to use all legal funds and levers to prevent millions of Americans from losing access to food and groceries.”
The Evers administration said Friday morning that it used the same process it typically uses to process benefits, submitting information to its SNAP payment vendor, which processes payments to QUEST cards, a few hours after the court decision to ensure payments would go out as soon as possible.
The funds became available to households at midnight. According to the administration, a total of about $104.4 million was issued for 337,137 households. It said the payments went out before the Trump administration requestedthat a federal appeals court block the order from McConnell on Friday morning. The emergency stay has not been granted as of Friday afternoon.
The administration received notification from the federal Food and Nutrition Service on Friday morning that it was working to implement November benefits in accordance with the Thursday court order.
The Evers administration said it is still monitoring the situation for any issues that may arise related to processing last night’s payments.
Evers said the actions of the Trump administration are “contemptible” and called on federal Republicans to work with Democrats to end the government shutdown. Last week, Evers had also declared a state of emergency due to the lapse in funding for food assistance, directing state agencies to do everything they could to support Wisconsinites.
“Wisconsinites simply cannot afford another month of Republican dysfunction in Washington,” Evers said. “It’s time for Republicans to get back to work and do the right thing by working across the aisle to end the federal government shutdown to ensure Wisconsinites continue to have access to basic needs, including affordable healthcare and food assistance, moving forward.”
Gov. Tony Evers said Wisconsin is restoring benefits for nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites who receive federal food aid.
The move means the Wisconsinites who rely on food assistance “will not have to wake up tomorrow worried about when or whether they are going to eat next,” Evers said in a Thursday evening statement.
Evers’ announcement came hours after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as FoodShare in Wisconsin.
The federal government had halted November payments for the program amid the government shutdown. More recently, the administration opted to make partial payments under previous court orders last week. A Wednesday statement from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said the partial payments could add delays because states had to calculate what reduced payments would look like for individuals and get that information to a vendor that distributes the funds.
On Friday morning, the Trump administration filed a motion with a federal appeals court asking for an emergency stay of the Thursday night court order.
Evers’ statement said the state Department of Health Services anticipates benefits would be available Friday morning to FoodShare recipients.
“My administration worked quickly to ensure these benefits could be released as soon as possible so that our kids, families, and seniors have access to basic food and groceries without one more day of delay,” Evers said in a statement. “But let’s be clear — it never should’ve come to this.”
Evers, a Democrat, said the Republican Trump administration should have “listened to (Evers) and so many who urged them to use all legal funds and levers to prevent millions of Americans from losing access to food and groceries.”
Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback told WPR that the state is working to access “readily available federal funding, pursuant to the court’s order.” She said, as of Thursday night, the administration had submitted the necessary information to ensure residents can get their FoodShare benefits “as early as after midnight.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s announcement last month that benefits would be paused was a break from past precedent for the USDA, which had used emergency funds to pay SNAP benefits in previous government shutdowns. Wisconsin was part of a multistate lawsuit seeking to compel the USDA to continue funding the program.
The lapse in benefits put pressure on Wisconsin recipients of the benefit, as well as food pantries and other service providers. On Thursday prior to the judge’s ruling and Evers’ announcement, the Milwaukee County Board approved $150,000 in assistance for the 234,000 people in that county who receive the benefits.
On Nov. 1, Evers declared a state of emergency and a period of “abnormal economic disruption” in response to the ongoing shutdown and potential lapse in federal food assistance. The executive order directed state agencies to take all necessary measures to prepare for a potential delay in FoodShare payments. It also directed the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to enforce prohibitions against price gouging.
Senate Republicans and Democrats have been deadlocked over a short-term federal funding bill since Oct. 1. Democrats, like U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, are demanding the bill include an extension of COVID-19 era Affordable Care Act enhanced tax credits. Without them, Democrats and Evers estimate ACA insurance premiums would spike significantly. Republicans in the Senate are demanding that Democrats vote on a “clean” funding bill.
On Wednesday, Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johson called on his GOP colleagues to kill the Senate’s fillibuster rule, which requires 60 votes in order to pass certain legislation. With a 53-seat majority, Republicans can’t pass their funding bill without Democratic support. Johnson’s comments represent a flip from 2022 when he accused Democrats trying to kill the filibuster of wanting “absolute power.”
Wisconsin candidates now have a path to get off the ballot besides dying, thanks to a proposal Gov. Tony Evers signed into law on Friday.
The proposal was triggered by 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s failed attempt to withdraw from the ballot in a bid to boost President Donald Trump’s candidacy. The case made its way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which rejected Kennedy’s argument after a lower court ruled that death was the only way for nominees to drop off the ballot.
Under the measure that Evers, a Democrat, signed into law, candidates can now get off the ballot as long as they file to withdraw at least seven business days before the Wisconsin Elections Commission certifies candidates ahead of the August and November elections and pay processing fees to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The measure doesn’t apply to the February and April elections.
Many county clerks had opposed an earlier version of the legislation because the originally proposed deadline to drop out would have disrupted tight timelines to prepare, print and send off ballots on time. That deadline would have allowed candidates to get off the ballot any time before the election commission certified candidates’ names.
To address those concerns, Rep. David Steffen, the Republican author of the measure, amended the proposal to require candidates to let the commission know at least seven business days ahead of time. The law also would charge anybody impersonating a candidate to get off the ballot with a felony.
The measure passed the Assembly with a voice vote. It passed the Senate 19-14, with just two Democratic votes in favor.
Steffen called the new law a win for Wisconsin voters, adding in a statement that it will “reduce unnecessary voter confusion.”
Clerks say they can adjust to ballot law
The new law won’t change operations much, said Wood County Clerk Trent Miner, a Republican in a county of about 74,000. Miner’s office programs and prepares the county’s ballots, which he said would make readjusting the ballots easier.
La Crosse County Clerk Ginny Dankmeyer, a Democrat, said a candidate dropping out at the last minute would still lead to extra hours of work since ballots are generally ready to be printed by then. But Dankmeyer added that it’s still doable and won’t stress her out. She said the new deadline is far better than the originally proposed one.
The Wisconsin law prohibiting withdrawal in cases besides death stood out nationwide as unusually strict. The state used to allow nominees to drop off the ballot if they declined to run, but it changed the policy in 1977 to the one that was active until Evers signed the new law last week.
Many other states allow nominees to drop off the ballot between 60 and 85 days before an election. Some states require polling places to have notices clarifying candidates’ withdrawal if they drop out after ballots are already printed.
His lawyers requested that clerks cover up his name on the ballot with stickers, a proposal that clerks said could lead to tabulator jams and disenfranchised voters. Kennedy still received 17,740 votes, or about 0.5% of the vote. Trump won the state by a little less than a percentage point.
Federal funding for SNAP ran out on Nov. 1, and the cuts are affecting about 700,000 Wisconsinites who rely on SNAP. A “SNAP welcomed here” sign is seen at the entrance to a Big Lots store in Portland, Oregon. (Getty Images)
Gov. Tony Evers has declared a state of emergency in Wisconsin due to federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as FoodShare in Wisconsin, being cut off over the weekend.
“Wisconsinites and Americans across the country are now scrambling, trying to figure out how to feed their families,” Evers said in a statement. “There’s no excuse for it, and this is a direct result of Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration, who’ve done nothing to help. As the courts agree, the Trump Administration could’ve stopped this from happening, but they didn’t, and now, Wisconsin’s kids, families, and seniors are worried about whether or when they’re going to eat next. This shouldn’t be happening.”
Evers issued the declaration on Friday evening and ordered state agencies to take actions within their powers to provide support to Wisconsinites.
Federal funding for SNAP ran out on Nov. 1, and the cuts are affecting about 700,000 Wisconsinites who rely on SNAP.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a $5 billion contingency fund for SNAP, but the Trump administration had claimed it couldn’t use it to fund regular benefits during the shutdown.
Two judges ruled on Friday that the Trump administration should use the contingency funds. It has until Wednesday to do so. The Trump administration said Monday it would partially fund SNAP following the rulings, though it is unclear how quickly SNAP beneficiaries will receive funds and how much they will receive.
Until then, Evers said the executive order would help ensure Wisconsin agencies can do what they can within their power to support Wisconsinites.
The order directs state agencies to take any and all necessary measures to address the emergency by prohibiting price gouging due to loss of FoodShare funding and economic disruptions and ensuring resources are available for Wisconsinites, including information about emergency aid and consumer protection.
“The federal government shutdown has gone on long enough — it has to end,” Evers said. “Republicans must start working across the aisle to end the federal government shutdown and extend tax credits that will lower the cost of healthcare so Wisconsinites and Americans across our country have economic stability and certainty, and the Trump Administration must take action and do so quickly to fix the damage they’ve caused and ensure folks can get basic food and groceries they need to survive without any further delay.”
Evers is limited in the steps that he can take unilaterally to fill gaps and address the loss of funds. Some states, including Connecticut, Louisiana, Virginia and Vermont, have taken steps to partially fund SNAP using state and local dollars while federal funds are unavailable. For Wisconsin to take similar steps, however, it would require cooperation from the Republican-led Legislature and Evers.
A bill would need to pass both houses of the Legislature to appropriate funds and be signed by Evers.
Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said in an interview with WISN-12 on Oct. 26 that it was unlikely that state lawmakers would take action to backfill SNAP.
“My heart goes out to people, but this is a federal issue, and I don’t see the state having the resources to do that,” Felzkowski said. “I just wish that the Democrats would sign this continuing resolution and vote for it, and let’s move on. They shouldn’t be playing games like this. You don’t hold people hostage over these kinds of issues, so no, I don’t see us stepping in.”
The government shutdown is entering Day 34 with no end in sight,
During a virtual press conference on Monday, a group of Wisconsin legislative Democrats criticized Republicans for letting SNAP funding lapse and for not taking more actions during the state budget to ensure that state programs support food assistance and farmers, saying they’ve fallen short when it comes to providing necessary aid for Wisconsinites.
“The federal government is using hunger to negotiate, and I think that’s immoral,” Rep. Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) said.
Rep. Jenna Jacobson (D-Oregon) noted that the federal funds the Trump administration has agreed to release will not fully fund SNAP.
“The funds being released — it’s only a partial payment, so there will still be families and kids that go hungry and yet Wisconsin’s portion of FoodShare is about one-third of the White House ballroom,” Jacobson said, referencing the renovations that Trump has undertaken in recent weeks to demolish the East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom. “We could get it funded.”
Pfaff highlighted a number of measures that Democratic lawmakers have proposed this year, including free school meals for students, funding for a food security grant program, which would assist food banks and funding for a farm to fork grant program, which would provide state funding to help connect local entities with cafeterias to nearby farms to provide locally produced foods.
“Every single one of these measures were either completely eliminated, or as in the case of the Farm to Fork program, severely cut by the Republican-controlled Legislature, which struck $20 million out of our Food Security Grant program, which would be very helpful right now,” Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) said.
Asked whether the state Legislature or Evers should play more of a role as the shutdown continues and SNAP isn’t funded, however, Pfaff said the lawmakers were “not here today to talk about that.”
“What we are here today is to talk about what the [state] Legislature has within its jurisdiction right now, there’s bills that are ready to go,” Pfaff said.
Gov. Tony Evers just made proposed legislation designed to help local EMS — and therefore, the public — the law of the land. The move comes as EMS agencies across the state continue to feel the pressure from rising costs and an increasing number of 911 calls.
“Nobody should ever call for help in an emergency and have to wonder whether help is going to come,” Evers said in a news release. “We must continue to invest in and support Wisconsin’s EMS professionals.”
One provision requires the state’s technical college system to give grants to schools that offer EMS courses. It also provides for educational reimbursements to individual EMS students or the agencies that sponsor them.
“This is a huge step forward for emergency medical services,” wrote Alan DeYoung, executive director of the Wisconsin EMS Association, in a news release. The new law is “removing the financial barriers to entry into EMS and expanding the pipeline of professionals who want to advance their skills and knowledge.”
In another law, Evers signed off on an increase in the maximum reimbursement EMS agencies are allowed to receive when patients are treated but not transported. EMS agencies traditionally get most of their funding from calls involving patient transports and very little from non-transports. The same law removed a disincentive for areas that opt to form joint EMS or fire crews with neighboring communities.
The new legislation is a win for EMS and the communities that are served, DeYoung wrote.
Trouble in Wisconsin EMS industry
“In 10 years, I don’t know where the fire, police and EMS service is going to be.”
Christopher Garrison, Sun Prairie’s fire and EMS chief
So says Christopher Garrison, Sun Prairie’s fire and EMS chief.
Fewer volunteers, more 911 calls and the rising costs of medical care are stressing EMS agencies statewide.
“It’s a vital service,” said Tyler Byrnes of the Wisconsin Policy Forum about EMS. “More people are trying to use it, and the revenue to pay for it is not growing quite as quickly.”
EMS activations in the U.S., which include 911 calls and events like scheduled ambulance transports, increased by about 25% between 2021 and 2023, according to data from the National Emergency Medical Services Information System.
Not addressing funding and staffing challenges may “soon have a real impact on public safety,” according to a report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum published in 2021. Recruitment, difficult for all departments, “is reaching a crisis point for many volunteer and combination departments.”
Alan DeYoung, executive director for the Wisconsin EMS Association
DeYoung, representing the Wisconsin EMS Association, has received reports of some EMS agencies in Wisconsin not responding to as many as 80% of their calls.
When an agency can’t respond, ambulances stationed farther away usually take the call. It stresses the system and can slow response times for everyone.
A lot of it has to do with volunteers, who have historically made up the bulk of EMS staffing. About 65% of Wisconsin EMS agencies, many of them rural, still employ volunteers, according to a report from the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health.
Volunteers have subsidized the taxpayers for years, DeYoung said. But declining volunteer rates mean something has to give.
That probably means higher taxes to pay for professional EMS responders, or worse EMS service than you used to get, experts say.
The “biggest issue” is the availability of volunteer and part-time staff, Garrison said. It’s a generational difference, he continued. Younger generations simply place a higher premium on work-life balance and family.
The job is demanding and intense, and the schooling required for paramedics is “ridiculous,” he continued. “We see death every day. It’s hard on people.”
Ideas exist to relieve some pressure.
Some of them include charging repeat 911 users a “utilization fee,” promoting EMS as a profitable career with benefits and paying volunteers.
The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonprofit in Wisconsin.
State Street in Wauwatosa flooded out. (Photo courtesy of Baiba Rozite)
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) is raising an alarm after Wisconsin was denied flood mitigation funds by the Trump administration. The assistance, which was denied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), would have helped the state prepare for situations like the record-breaking floods that swept through southeastern Wisconsin in August.
“The risks of severe flooding will only increase due to climate change, and our community needs to be prepared,” Moore said in a statement Thursday. “FEMA’s ill-conceived decision denies our state the opportunity to take proactive efforts to prevent future flooding and damage, which saves homeowners and taxpayers dollars in the long run.”
Research shows that severe storms and flooding will increase in Wisconsin due to climate change. Shortly after the August floods, which inundated parks and left over 1,800 homes damaged or destroyed, Wisconsin Policy Forum noted a “dramatic increase” in extreme rain and flooding events, resulting in higher payouts for flood insurance.
Although the Trump administration approved a first round of disaster funds to assist individual homes and small businesses, additional support to help repair public infrastructure was also denied in late October. Counties in areas represented by both Democrats and Republicans were denied additional assistance.
“State and local governments cannot do it alone,” said Moore. “I expect Gov. Evers will rightly appeal this denial, and I hope that request will get bipartisan support in our congressional delegation. As our communities continue to recover, it is clear there is a need to build our communities back stronger and more resilient. I will continue advocating for Wisconsin’s needs at the federal level and push back against these ill-advised decisions.”
Wisconsin became the 36th state to limit cellphones and other electronic devices in school Friday when its Democratic governor signed a bill requiring districts to prohibit phone use during class time.
The measure passed with bipartisan support, though some Democrats in the Legislature said controlling gun violence should be a higher priority than banning cellphones.
In signing the bill, Gov. Tony Evers said he believes that decisions like this should be made at the local level, but “my promise to the people of Wisconsin is to always do what’s best for our kids, and that obligation weighs heavily on me in considering this bill.”
Evers said he was “deeply concerned” about the impacts of cellphone and social media use on young people. He said cellphones could be “a major distraction from learning, a source of bullying, and a barrier to our kids’ important work of just being a kid.”
This school year alone, new restrictions on phone use in schools went into effect in 17 states and the District of Columbia. The push to limit cellphone use has been rapid. Florida was the first state to pass such a law, in 2023.
Both Democrats and Republicans have taken up the cause, reflecting a growing consensus that phones are bad for kids’ mental health and take their focus away from learning, even as some researchers say the issue is less clear-cut.
Most school districts in Wisconsin had already restricted cellphone use in the classroom, according to a Wisconsin Policy Forum report. The bill passed by the Legislature on Oct. 14 would require school districts to enact policies prohibiting the use of cellphones during instructional time.
Of the 36 states that restrict cellphones in school, phones are banned throughout the school day in 18 states and the District of Columbia, although Georgia and Florida impose “bell-to-bell” bans only from kindergarten through eighth grade. Another seven states ban them during class time, but not between classes or during lunch. Still others, particularly those with traditions of local school control, mandate only a cellphone policy, believing districts will take the hint and sharply restrict phone access.
Under the Wisconsin bill, all public schools are required to adopt a policy prohibiting the use of cellphones during instructional time by July 1. There would be exceptions including for use during an emergency or perceived threat; to manage a student’s health care; if use of the phone is allowed under the student’s individualized education program; or if written by a teacher for educational purposes.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters to get our investigative stories and Friday news roundup.This story is published in partnership with The Associated Press.
Gov. Tony Evers | Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner
Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill Friday that will limit cell phones in schools, making Wisconsin the 36th state in the nation to do so, and a bill that will make it easier for candidates for office to remove themselves from ballots.
A Wisconsin Policy Forum report from May found that most school districts already restrict student cellphone usage to common areas, though policies vary widely across the state.
Under the new law, 2025 Wisconsin Act 42, school districts will have until July 2026 to implement a policy that bans cellphones during instructional times. The policy will need to include exceptions for emergencies, for educational purposes and cases involving student health care, individualized education plans (IEPs) or 504 plans (learning environment accommodations).
Evers said in a statement that the decision about whether to sign the bill weighed heavily on him, especially given his belief that “decisions like this should be made at the local level by local school districts”. However, he said he is “deeply concerned” about how cell phone and social media use are affecting students, including their mental health, school outcomes and social skills.
“Our kids are struggling today, perhaps now more than ever. It’s really tough to be a kid these days, and we know that cellphones can be a major distraction from learning, a source of bullying, and a barrier to our kids’ important work of just being a kid,” Evers said in a statement. “While I wish the Legislature would have taken a different approach with this legislation, I will never stop fighting for Wisconsin’s kids and working to do what’s best for them, which is why I am signing this bill into law today.”
Evers also pointed to widespread support for cellphone ban policies in his statement.
Pew Research recently found that 74% of U.S. adults support banning middle and high school students from using cellphones during class — an increase from 68% last fall. A Marquette Law School poll found that 89% of voters support banning cellphones during class periods.
Evers also takes action on 19 other bills
Evers also signed Assembly Bill 35, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 43, to make it easier for candidates to withdraw themselves from a ballot.
Under the law, candidates for office in Wisconsin will be able to withdraw their candidacy in a general or primary election and not be included on the ballot if they file a sworn statement.
The change to Wisconsin law was proposed after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was not allowed to remove himself from the presidential ballot in 2024 after he dropped out and endorsed President Donald Trump. State law then said that candidates could only have their names removed if they were dead.
The new law will allow candidates to remove themselves, but they’ll be responsible for paying the Wisconsin Elections Commission a $1,000 fee. Non-statewide candidates will need to pay $250.
Under the law, a person could face a Class G felony with a maximum penalty of up to $25,000 and imprisonment for up to 10 years if they intentionally filed a false statement withdrawing a person’s candidacy.
Evers also signed Senate Bill 309, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 41, which clarifies statute to say that 911 call centers and dispatchers who transfer a caller to the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline are generally immune from civil liability for any outcomes resulting from the transfer.
“Our 911 dispatchers play a vital role in the safety and security of our state, but they often don’t have the time or resources available to provide the response necessary for somebody experiencing a mental health crisis,” Evers said. “By offering much-needed protection to 911 dispatchers who transfer calls to the 988 Lifeline, this bill allows for a better and safer crisis response by ensuring crisis calls go to the service providers who are trained to provide appropriate care and resources to those who need it most.”
The law specifies that the immunity doesn’t apply if an injury is the result of an act or omission that constitutes gross negligence or willful misconduct by the dispatcher.
Another bill signed by Evers, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 46, seeks to address the reckless driving issue in Wisconsin by allowing local governments to implement ordinances that will allow officers to immediately impound a vehicle used to drive recklessly and retain the vehicle until all outstanding fees, fines and forfeitures are paid.
Evers said in a statement that the law will “hold bad actors accountable” and help keep roads and communities safe.
“Whether it’s distracted driving, speeding, or erratic and aggressive behaviors, reckless driving puts our kids, families, and communities in harm’s way,” Evers said. “Tackling reckless driving has been a bipartisan goal in recent years, and I’m glad to see this trend has continued this session.”
Evers also vetoed several bills.
AB 5, which would have required school districts respond to material inspections requests within 14 days
AB 39, which would have required state employees to work in person for 80% of their week,
A handful of bills — AB 162, AB 168 and AB 169 — that would have made changes to unemployment and workforce development programs.
SB 25, which would have prohibited a court from allowing a complaint to be filed in a John Doe proceeding against a police officer who is involved in a shooting if the district attorney determines there is no basis to prosecute the officer.
SB 184, which would have barred local governments from implementing restrictions on a cars and vehicles based on its energy source
The full list of bills upon which Evers took action can be found here.
In Wisconsin, the last time there was a commutation — a reduction of a criminal sentence by the governor’s authority to grant clemency — it was during Republican Tommy Thompson’s administration (1987-2001). Thompson issued seven commutations in addition to 202 pardons.
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
Subsequently, with the exception of former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who served from 2011 to 2019, governors have offered hundreds of pardons.
Gov. Tony Evers set a record for the number of pardons he’s offered during his seven years in office at 1,640.
However, like his fellow Democratic Gov. James Doyle, who issued 326 pardons, Evers has not issued any commutations.
Members of WISDOM, a non-profit faith-based organization that works to end mass incarceration, say Evers told them in 2023 that he would begin issuing commutations.
However, Evers has never made an official statement on his position concerning commutations. He did not respond to a request for a comment on the matter from the Wisconsin Examiner.
Evers ran for office promising to reduce Wisconsin’s prison population. After a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic, the prison population is experiencing an upswing. There were 23,495 people in prison in Wisconsin as of Sept. 26, compared with 23,292 when Evers took office on Jan. 7, 2019. Nearly every prison in the state reports a population exceeding the facility’s official capacity.
Criminal justice advocacy groups like WISDOM and Ex-incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO) of Wisconsin have noted that one way Evers could address the prison population is by offering commutations, especially for those who have served long sentences and have proven to be low risks to return to society.
In 2023, Beverly Walker of WISDOM led a team that included legal scholars to study how commutations were conducted in neighboring states and prepared a proposal for how Wisconsin could begin implementing commutations again.
“We wanted to offer [Evers’] legal team something that could be advanced and not be a hindrance that they could move forward with and be implemented,” said Walker.
Walker said the proposal had two components:
The commutation would make the resident eligible for parole, with a parole board considering the application and making a recommendation.
The governor could issue a direct commutation resulting in a shortened sentence, including possible release from prison.
“We said if you are uncomfortable releasing people from prison, we ask that you just make them eligible for parole,” said Walker. “Allow them to go before the parole board, and the parole board make the decision on their eligibility based on what they see.”
“A lot of these people will never see the light of day without a commutation,” she said. “But a lot of these people have done college, gotten degrees, have been doing amazing work inside prison, and some have even been allowed to work outside of the fence and are just doing great, exhibiting great behaviour. They have transformative stories, and they have proved that they have put in the work.”
Walker’s team is asking Evers to consider commuting the sentences of people serving long-term sentences in prison whom the group identified for their good behavior and good prospects for release. In anticipation of release, Walker’s team also researched the availability of work opportunities, housing and even resources such as food pantries.
Commutation candidates
In response to a request from the Examiner for information on the candidates, Walker said her team decided not to release their names for fear of damaging their chances. WISDOM’s Sherry Reames, a retired University of Wisconsin-Madison English professor and volunteer on the commutations committee, offered a general description of all the present candidates for commutation.
According to Reames, most of the candidates were convicted of a serious crime, mostly first-degree intentional homicide (either alone as party to a crime) in the 1990s when they were young men, between 20 and 22.
Most the candidates were sentenced to decades in prison and will not be eligible for parole until the 2040s.
“Historically a life sentence in Wisconsin had allowed for the possibility of parole after about 15 years, a length of time which the Sentencing Project and other authorities have determined is about long enough to punish most crimes, especially by young offenders,” said Reames, “but it was the ‘tough on crime’ 1990s when our commutation candidates were convicted.”
Walker also said the candidates have used their years in prison to change their lives.
“Some of them initially had a hard time adjusting to the prison rules, but they have matured into model citizens, who lead and train other workers and earn positive reviews from staff,” said Reames. “Some have been continuously employed by Badger State Industries (now BSE) for a decade or more at a time, while others have rotated through the whole gamut of prison jobs (kitchen, laundry, custodial, library, clerk, maintenance, tier tender, etc., etc.). What they all have in common, however, are their obvious work ethic and self-discipline.”
Reames also said some candidates have obtained their high school degrees in prison and then certification as electricians, barbers, carpenters, bakers or building-service managers.
Some have also earned college credits from four-year universities, she said.
“Several have completed Trinity International University’s whole four-year degree program in Biblical studies with a minor in psychology, laying the foundation for careers as pastors and counselors,” said Reames, “and others have completed the necessary training to assist younger prisoners as certified peer mentors and tutors.”
Some also participated in Restorative Justice and Victim Impact programs.
Post announcement
When Evers announced this summer that he wasn’t going to run for another term, advocates expressed renewed interest in pressing him for commutations before he leaves office.
Walker told the Wisconsin Examiner that her group is engaged in an ongoing dialogue with the governor’s legal staff. In September, while acknowledging gratitude for all the pardons Evers has issued, Walker also expressed frustration over the lack of action on commutations.
“I am challenging him (Evers) to uphold these things that he has said,” said Walker. “He made these campaign promises that he was going to reduce the prison population, that he was going to do all these things as it pertains to people incarcerated and that included commutations, and it has been over two years and I don’t want to be disappointed, and at what point will I be able to be proud of this man that I elected?”
At the end of October, however, Walker was more upbeat about the possibility of a commutation: “It does look promising,” she said.
Marianne Oleson, operations director for EXPO, said her advocacy group also sees a window of opportunity in Evers’ last year in office and has also discussed commutations with the governor’s office and with legislators and their aides.
“Whenever we have the opportunity, we put out eblast constantly; we put out social media, “ said Oleson.
“We have individuals who are currently incarcerated, who have been incarcerated for decades, who have zero infractions (disciplinary reports generated within prisons) that have gone over and beyond, done everything that has been asked of them to do,” she added. “ … they’re caught in this loop because of Truth in Sentencing. If they’re not going to be paroled, give them a commutation. And then there’s individuals who have life sentences that were really, quite frankly, only due to being party to a crime where these individuals were very young at the time, and their situations deserve at least to be considered and looked at.”
Truth in Sentencing is a tough-on-crime policy from the 1990s that, in Wisconsin, requires a mandatory period of prison time be served before release, with no discretion given to a parole board that in previous years had the authority to review the status of prisoners and could authorize early release.
The reality today for those sentenced after Dec. 31, 1999, when Truth in Sentencing took effect, is that the possibility of early release has become very remote.
A commutation by the governor would be one legal way to shorten the confinement and extended supervision for both those sentenced before and after Truth in Sentencing was implemented.
However, in Wisconsin, there is currently no process for applying for a commutation.
There is a process to apply for a pardon through the Governor’s Pardon Advisory Board, but it requires that the sentence of confinement and extended supervision have been fulfilled, followed by a five-year period of a clear record. If one meets the condition for a pardon in Wisconsin, there is no need for a commutation because the sentence has been fully served.
“When I have approached the governor’s office to even discuss commutations, I’m automatically referred to the pardon application,” said Oleson. “You are comparing apples to oranges. A pardon eliminates the conviction, a blank slate; a commutation maintains the conviction, maintains the accountability, but says you’ve served enough time. You no longer should be serving decades or years longer. You have proven you have served enough time. You still hold the conviction, but you are not chained to the DOC.”
Other voices for commutation
The ACLU of Wisconsin is encouraging Evers to exercise his authority to offer commutations in Wisconsin.
“For decades, commutations have been vastly underutilized at the state level,” said David Gwidt, deputy communication director. “Commuting sentences has gone from a relatively routine practice historically to an exceedingly rare one since the rise of mass incarceration, as governors on both sides of the aisle are reluctant to commute sentences out of fear they will be labeled as ‘soft on crime’ for doing so. But that’s starting to change in other states.”
Governors in New Jersey, Oregon, California, Alabama, and Oklahoma, have all used their commutation authority in recent years, Gwidt added. “Commutation is a tool that can help decarcerate our overpopulated prisons, rectify unjust, wrongful or excessively long sentences, and offer incarcerated people a pathway to redemption,” he said. “We hope Gov. Evers uses his remaining time in office as an opportunity to grant commutation and clemency to those who earn a chance at freedom.”
Speaking as a member of a panel discussion on solitary confinement and conditions inside Wisconsin prisons, on Sunday, Oct. 12 in Madison, state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison), a candidate for governor, said commutations should be used for those who have been incarcerated for decades and are no longer a threat to society.
“Just in general, I think the clemency powers have been very underutilized in Wisconsin,” she said. “We have people who have been incarcerated for decades and decades. People age out of crime… and now you have people, some of whom have terminal and chronic illnesses. They are in their 60s, their 70s, their 80s, and they could easily and very safely live back with their loved ones after many decades of incarceration. And yet they are being denied this and then state taxpayers are being asked to essentially fund their incarceration and their health care.”
National discussion
In a July 13, 2025 op-ed in the New York Times, “Governors, Use Your Clemency Power,” CUNY law professor Steven Zeidman wrote:
“President Trump is making shameless use of his constitutional clemency power, rewarding insurrectionists, cronies, campaign contributors and sundry others. But this is not the only problem. Mr. Trump’s acts of commission are paralleled by American governors’ acts of omission. Even though they control the bulk of the country’s prison population and typically have the power to grant clemency, many governors have consistently failed to exercise the power of forgiveness, to all of our detriment.”
Zeidman notes that of the two million people currently in confinement in the United States, most are in state prisons, under the authority of governors.
Zeidman, who has pursued over 100 commutations in New York and won 21, talked to the Wisconsin Examiner about the reluctance he sees in governors to exercise their constitutional authority.
Addressing the perception of being soft on crime, Zeidman said it might be easier for Republicans who have established a tough-on-crime posture to offer commutation. That might be why the last commutation in Wisconsin was under Thompson, a tough-on-crime Republican.
According to a 2023 report, “Executive Clemency Power in Wisconsin” by Jillian Slaight for the Legislative Reference Bureau, Thompson commuted the sentence of seven people serving parole, stating, “further supervision would serve no useful purpose.”
The same report found that Gov. Patrick Lucey, a Democrat who served from 1971 to 1977 issued 177 commutations, including one to a man who had failed to provide child support. Lucey stated that sending the man back to prison prevented him from working and providing support.
Democratic Gov. Gaylord Nelson, who served from 1959 to 1963, issued 27 commutations for people he considered “rehabilitated.”
Cautionary tales vs. data
Zeidman and others who advocate for commutations argue that those eligible for commutation should undergo rigorous screening, including having members of the victims’ families and the district attorney participate in the commutation process.
“There should be a real careful vetting process,” he says, adding, “I would say to Wisconsin, have a very careful vetting process, go over it with a fine-tooth comb, and at the end of the day, it’s not going to be none (who are eligible for commutation) and it’s not going to be thousands either.”
Zeidman and the advocates say reincarceration rates are low for those who have served long sentences.
The Wisconsin DOC’s data on reincarceration shows a notable decrease for those who have served five years or more in prison.
A study prepared for the New York City Council in 2023 called “Justice on Aging” also noted older residents in prison tend not to return: “Nationwide, 43.3 percent of all released individuals recidivate within three years, while only seven percent of those aged 50-64 and four percent over 65 return to prison for new convictions—the lowest rates among all incarcerated age demographics.”
“It’s a fact, people age out of crime,” Zeidman says.
Another argument for restoring the possibility of early release is that rewarding good behaviour with commutations motivates more good behavior in prison.
“Give people an incentive to improve themselves and get on with their lives,” says Tom Denk, an advocate for WISDOM who has served time in prison.
“It does seem that too many governors are thinking about clemency and commutation in particular as a political act instead of an act of mercy or grace,” says Jennifer Soble, executive director of the Illinois Prison Project, who represents clients in Illinois who have a case for early release. “And so they are shying away from commutations on the statistically very unlikely event that a commutation could end up harming them politically, and that’s a real tragedy, because we are talking about real human beings who are living their lives in prison, many of whom are doing so under the extraordinarily unjust circumstances.”
Soble says many in Illinois prisons received long sentences, even life sentences, under older laws, but if processed today, their sentences would not be as extreme.
As an example of how laws have changed in Illinois, she says, formerly, any death resulting during a pursuit of a crime by law enforcement, such as the police chasing a suspect and firing a weapon, killing an innocent person, could result in murder charges to the suspect being pursued, even if the suspect had not directly participated in the death.
“And the only way for those folks to get out is through clemency and there’s no other path,” she says, “and so although I understand political caution, especially in these very challenging times, that caution cannot come at the expense of a person’s entire life.”
Zeidman also notes there is movement across the country to take a second look at sentences. In Wisconsin, a bill that stalled in 2024 would review the life sentences without parole for those who were convicted while they were under 18 years of age but were prosecuted as adults.
“The prison system is intentionally sort of secreted away,” says Soble. “Incarcerated people are not visible on purpose. And so your average person walking down the street is not thinking about, you know, is there or is there not a reasonably plausible way for an incarcerated person who shouldn’t be in prison to come home?”
Before he left office, President Joe Biden issued one of the largest commutations of all time for 2,500 people in the federal Bureau of Prisons system who had committed non-violent crimes.
“The recidivism rate of that group has been extraordinarily low,” says Soble of the 2,500 Biden commuted. “That effort saved taxpayer dollars. It made good sense. It was a good policy decision. It was also a just and humane decision, but governors at the state level have been just pretty unwilling to follow suit, even in cases that feel very, very obvious.”
Criminal Justice Fellow Andrew Kennard contributed to this report.
Correction: This report has been updated to reflect that most, not all of the candidates WISDOM is advancing were convicted as young men and won’t be eligible for parole until 2040.
The Waupun Correctional Institution, the oldest prison in Wisconsin built in the 1850s, sits in the middle of a residential neighborhood (Photo | Wisconsin Examiner)
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
The State of Wisconsin Building Commission on Tuesday approved releasing $15 million to prepare preliminary plans and a design report for major changes to Wisconsin’s prison system requested by Gov. Tony Evers. Wisconsin prisons have long been criticized for aging facilities, overcrowding and deaths.
Republican lawmakers on the commission complained that Evers has not incorporated their ideas in his plan, but the commission ultimately voted unanimously to release the money to pay for the first step in the process of realizing it.
At a press conference before the Building Commission meeting, Rep. Rob Swearingen (R-Rhinelander) said Republican lawmakers’ goal is “to ensure we have the information needed” for informed decisions about facility upgrades, prison capacity and responsibly closing the Green Bay Correctional Institution.
Money for the planning will come from the state budget, which included the $15 million released by the commission Tuesday.
Under the project, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections would be able to close the Green Bay Correctional Institution, the department’s request to the commission states. Upgrades would be made to infrastructure at five other facilities, including the troubled Waupun Correctional Institution.
The aging Waupun and Green Bay prisons have generated a public outcry over livingconditions, as well as the deaths of several people incarcerated at Waupun and criminal charges filed last year against Waupun staff.
Republicans criticize Evers’ approach
“Currently, [the Department of Corrections] is in a world of hurt,” Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said at the Republicans’ press conference. She cited overcrowding at men’s and women’s facilities, facility infrastructure problems and the death of Lincoln Hills youth counselor Corey Proulx last year.
Felzskowski referenced the prison proposal Evers put out in February and said he never reached out to the Legislature.
“The Republicans in this building have plans, proposals that we’ve been working on for a long time, that we could’ve worked with the governor in a bipartisan fashion,” Felzskowski said.
Sen. André Jacque (R-New Franken) said that “what we have before us is, unfortunately, not a serious proposal.”
“…We look at a scenario where the governor says, ‘My way or the highway,’ when we know he’s not going to be in the governor’s mansion come 2027,” Jacque said, saying “it’s unfortunately a plan doomed to failure unless some additional steps are taken.”
Jacque attempted to add projects to the original motion: expansion of Taycheedah Correctional Institution, expansion of medium and minimum security beds at Jackson Correctional Institution and closure of Green Bay Correctional Institution by Dec. 31, 2029. But his motion failed with four members in favor and four opposed.
“Let’s just get something goddamn done here, please,” Evers said during the commission meeting. “…We got to fix the system, and we have an opportunity now.” In a statement, Felzkowski said she is cautiously optimistic following the building commission meeting and looks forward to “having productive conversations to move Wisconsin’s corrections system in the right direction.”
What’s in the plan?
Under the project, the Waupun prison would become a medium security prison, and it would have upgraded housing units and enhanced vocational programming. Gov. Tony Evers said he wants to revamp the prison into a “state-of-the-art ‘vocational village.’”
The troubled Lincoln Hills School, which has remained open as a juvenile facility long after a deadline for closure has passed, would be converted to a 500-bed men’s medium security facility.
Medium-security Stanley Correctional Institution, which is northeast of Eau Claire, would switch to maximum security, while John C. Burke Correctional Center in Waupun would become a women’s facility. Sanger B. Powers Correctional Center in northeast Wisconsin would receive housing expansion and kitchen replacement that would increase its capacity.
The request to the commission included an anticipated budget and schedule, which put the total cost at $325 million and final completion in January 2031. By releasing the planning money that had been included in the state budget, the eight-member commission, chaired by the governor and comprised of legislators from both parties, took the first step in the process. But Republicans and Evers continue to disagree on next steps. Evers promised Tuesday to include legislators in discussions throughout the process.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ sweeping plan to overhaul Wisconsin’s aging prison system, which includes closing a prison built in the 1800s, moved forward Tuesday with bipartisan support despite complaints from Republican lawmakers that their concerns weren’t being addressed.
The bipartisan state building commission unanimously approved spending $15 million to proceed with planning for the Evers proposal. Republicans objected, saying his plan was “doomed to failure,” but they voted for it in the hopes it could be changed later.
Evers voiced frustration with Republicans who said they weren’t part of development of the plan.
“We’ve got to get this damned thing done, that’s the bottom line,” he said.
Republicans have opposed parts of the plan that would reduce the overall capacity of the state prison system by 700 beds and increase the number of offenders who could be released on supervision. The GOP-led Legislature called for closing the troubled prison in Green Bay by 2029, but Evers vetoed that provision earlier this year, saying it couldn’t be done without getting behind his entire plan.
The building commission’s approval on Tuesday for spending the $15 million in planning money starts that process.
Republican members of the building commission complained that Evers was plowing ahead without considering other ideas or concerns from GOP lawmakers. Republican state Sen. Andre Jacqué objected to reducing the number of beds in the prison system that he said is currently “dangerously unsafe.”
He called it a plan “doomed to failure” and “not a serious proposal.”
“I feel like we’ve decided to plow ahead without the opportunity for compromise,” Jacqué said. “We’re merely asking that any ideas from our side of the aisle have the option of being considered.”
A GOP proposal to expand the scope of the plan was rejected after the commission, evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, deadlocked.
Evers said any Republican who wanted to be involved in the process going forward could be. Republicans said ahead of the vote that they were not included in discussions that led to the current proposal.
“Those other options will be discussed,” Evers said.
Department of Corrections Secretary Jared Hoy said that approval of the planning money was needed to keep the momentum going for closing the Green Bay prison, which Republicans support.
The entire plan, once fully enacted, would take six years to complete and cost an estimated $500 million. Building a new prison, as Republicans had called for, would cost about $1 billion. Evers is not seeking a third term next year, so it would be up to the next governor to either continue with his plan or go in a different direction.
The multitiered proposal starts with finally closing the troubled Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake juvenile correctional facilities in northern Wisconsin and building a new one near Madison at the site of a current minimum-security prison. The Lincoln Hills campus would then be converted into a medium security adult prison. The prison in Green Bay, built in 1898, would be closed.
The plan also proposes that the state’s oldest prison, which was built in Waupun in 1851, be converted from a maximum-security prison to a medium-security center focused on vocational training. The Stanley Correctional Center would be converted from a medium- to a maximum-security prison and the prison in Hobart would be expanded to add 200 minimum-security beds.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters to get our investigative stories and Friday news roundup.This story is published in partnership with The Associated Press.
Gov. Tony Evers, shown here in a press gaggle in March, said Monday that health insurance rates on the ACA market are set to skyrocket in Wisconsin. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Last updated 10/28/2025, 1:51 p.m.
The cost for health care coverage purchased on HealthCare.gov in Wisconsin will rise for some insurance policies by anywhere from 45% to 800% for 2026, depending on where a person lives, Gov. Tony Evers announced Monday.
The increased rates will be made worse with the end of enhanced federal subsidies, provided in the form of tax credits, that have lowered insurance costs through the marketplace since 2021, Evers and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) said during a virtual press conference Monday morning. The enhanced subsidies expire at the end of December.
Clockwise from upper left, Reps. Gwen Moore and Mark Pocan, Gov. Tony Evers and Sen. Tammy Baldwin joined a virtual news conference Monday morning to discuss premium increases for policies purchased on HealthCare.gov under the Affordable Care Act. (Zoom Screenshot)
“In 2025, 88% of Wisconsinites [who] enrolled in coverage on HealthCare.gov qualify for tax credits, saving an average of $664 a month,” Evers said. “And without these enhanced tax credits, health care premiums for Wisconsinites are going to skyrocket, period. Many Wisconsinites will see their premiums double, and some of them will see staggering increases.”
HealthCare.gov is the federal insurance marketplace, created under the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) to improve health insurance access for people without health coverage from an employer or from government programs.
More than 310,000 Wisconsinites purchased health insurance through the marketplace for 2025, according to the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI). HealthCare.gov open enrollment for 2026 starts Nov. 1.
OCI released a list Monday with examples of rate increases for patients of various ages and under selected scenarios based on age, family size and incomes. The examples compared rate increases across eight counties.
Evers said a statewide average increase wasn’t available “because it’s going to impact lots of people in a lot of different ways.”
The comparisons made by OCI all reflected health plans in the Silver category on HealthCare.gov. Silver plans have a “moderate” deductible and require patients to pay 30% of the cost of care (see sidebar, HealthCare.gov insurance plan categories).
In a few scenarios and locations, rate increases will be lower than 10%. Those are exceptions, however. Most scenarios and locations showed premium increases ranging from more than 30% on up. Some increases were well over 100%, and one example showed an increase of more than 800% in one county.
The comparisons reflect the premium cost after any subsidies are applied.
The ACA included subsidies on the cost of insurance from the beginning for people with incomes up to 400% of the federal poverty guideline.
The enhancements that were put in place in 2021 and expire at the end of December included increases in the subsidies for the original group. They also extended subsidies to people with incomes above 400% of the poverty guideline, to avoid an “eligibility cliff” at those higher incomes.
In the comparisons, the 2025 premiums include the effect of the enhanced subsidies, while the 2026 premiums reflect the return to the original subsidy formula.
According to OCI’s report 2026 premiums will increase:
Between 39% in Waukesha County and 85% in Barron County for a 26-year-old with an income of $48,000 (subsidy continues, but reduced).
Between 16% in Marathon County and 43% in Barron County for a 26-year-old with an income of $65,000 (subsidy ended).
Between 18% in Brown County and 84% in Barron County for a 40-year-old with an income of $65,000 (subsidy ended).
Between 132% in Waukesha County and 391% in Barron County for a 60-year-old with an income of $63,383 (subsidy ended).
Between 221% in Waukesha County and 812% in Barron County for a 60-year-old couple with an income of $85,658 (subsidy ended).
Between 2% in Waukesha County and 57% in Barron County for a family of four with a household income of $128,000 (subsidy continues, but reduced).
Between 102% in both Waukesha and Dane counties and 312% in Barron County for a family of four with a household income of $130,000 (subsidy ended).
In both family examples, the parents are ages 48 and 47 and children ages 8 and 12.
Nationwide, some 22 million Americans will see their premiums double on average, Baldwin said. She cited projections that 4 million Americans “will look at that price tag and decide to drop their insurance altogether because it’s simply too expensive. It’s more than they can afford.”
KFF, a nonpartisan, nonprofit health policy news and analysis organization,reported Oct. 3 that seven out of 10 people nationally who buy health coverage through the federal marketplace said they would not be able to afford insurance without the enhanced subsidies.
Democrats in Congress have named extending the subsidies as one of their conditions for Democratic support of the Republican majority’s legislation to end the current federal shutdown.
In response, GOP leaders in Congress have called on Democratic lawmakers to sign on to their spending bill to restart the government and then negotiate to extend the subsidies.
Baldwin said Democrats won’t accept “a wink and a nod” that the tax credit talks should come after the government reopens. She said she’s heard privately from Republicans in the Senate who agree that Congress should extend the subsidies.
With 78% of Americans, according to one poll, “who believe we need to address this, and many of my Republican colleagues want to do so, then we need to have an agreement to extend the tax credits as we reopen the government,” Baldwin said.
Restaurant owner Dan Jacobs speaks at a round table with Gov. Tony Evers in Milwaukee Monday about increased health insurance premiums at HealthCare.gov. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)
Later Monday in Milwaukee, Evers held a round table with business owners, advocates and lawmakers to discuss the HealthCare.gov rate increases.
“If you’re seeing these jumps in 26-year-olds, across the board, I don’t know how we afford this,” said Dan Jacobs, owner of the Milwaukee restaurant DanDan. Jacobs said about two-thirds of his employees have health insurance, most of them probably purchasing it through the marketplace.
His business subsidized the insurance premiums that full-time employees and managers bought through HealthCare.gov for 2025, he said, but with the premium increases, reported Monday, “we’re not going to be able to afford to do that,” Jacobs told Evers.
Kara Pitt-D’Andrea, who operates a nonprofit child care facility in Milwaukee with about 25 employees, told Evers, “100% of us are on the ACA or Medicaid.”
She called health coverage a moral imperative rather than an act of charity. “To say to people, ‘We refuse to come to the table to create a sustainable option for you’ is the equivalent of saying, ‘You are unimportant in the game of business that we are playing,’” Pitt-D’Andrea said.
HealthCare.gov insurance plan categories
Health plans sold through the marketplace are assigned to one of four categories, nicknamed “metal levels”: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.
Apage at HealthCare.gov on the metal levels explains that the categories do not reflect the quality of care provided. The categories are based on how much a patient shares in the cost of care covered by a plan.
Regardless of their metal level, all plans must cover the same 10 essential health benefits, including preventive services.
Gold and Platinum plans have low deductibles, with patients paying 20% of the cost of care out of pocket with a Gold plan and 10% of the cost with a Platinum plan.
Bronze plans have a high deductible and patients pay 40% of the cost of care.
Silver plans have a “moderate” deductible and patients pay 30% of the cost of care out of pocket.
Patients who qualify for cost-sharing reductions with a Silver planbased on their income have a low deductible and pay 6% to 27% of the cost of care out of pocket rather than the regular Silver plan share of 30%.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ plan to overhaul Wisconsin’s prisons is set for a crucial vote this week that could determine whether the state can meet a 2029 closure of the Green Bay Correctional Institution and the long-awaited shutdown of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake youth facilities.
The State Building Commission at a public meeting Tuesday is expected to vote on whether to release $15 million for advancing Evers’ plan, an amount the Legislature included in the 2025-27 biennial budget. Subcommittees will meet prior to the full commission Tuesday afternoon, which could signal how Republican members may vote on the money for Evers’ plan. Republican lawmakers were tight-lipped Monday morning about whether they have an alternative plan and whether they plan to roll it out Tuesday.
Evers in February announced what he called a “domino series” of projects that would include closing Green Bay Correctional Institution, converting Lincoln Hills into a facility for adults and turning Waupun’s prison into a “vocational village” that would offer job skill training to qualifying inmates. Evers describes the plan as the most realistic and cost-effective way to stabilize the state’s prison population.
The Green Bay prison has been roundly criticized as unsafe and outdated, Lincoln Hills has only in recent months come into compliance with a court-ordered plan to remedy problems dating back a decade, and Waupun has had lockdowns, inmate deaths and criminal charges against a former warden.
The $15 million would fund initial plans and a design report that would allow capital projects in Evers’ proposals to be funded in the 2025-27 budget, according to the governor’s office. It would also prevent delays of Evers’ plan while he is still in office. Evers is not seeking reelection next year, and Wisconsin will have a new governor in 2027.
But it’s unclear how the eight-member commission, which includes four Republicans, will vote on whether to release the $15 million for the governor’s plan. Sens. Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, and Andre Jacqué, R-New Franken, declined to comment while still reviewing the proposals. Reps. Rob Swearingen, R-Rhinelander, and Robert Wittke, R-Caledonia, did not respond to questions from Wisconsin Watch.
In addition to Evers, the commission includes Sen. Brad Pfaff, D-Onalaska; Rep. Jill Billings, D-La Crosse; and citizen member Barb Worcester, who served as one of Evers’ initial deputy chiefs of staff.
Pfaff, who said he will support Evers’ request, said he is “cautiously optimistic” that the $15 million will get approved with the necessary bipartisan support for it to pass. It’s not a final policy decision, Pfaff said.
“I think it’s important to know that the proposal that’s being brought forward is a design and planning stage, so it’s not the end-all or be-all,” Pfaff said.
At least one Republican, Rep. David Steffen, R-Howard, has asked fellow party members on the commission to support Evers’ request. Howard represents a district near the Green Bay Correctional Institution.
“I believe that the release of the $15 million will be important in moving corrections planning forward in our state,” Steffen wrote in an Oct. 14 letter to the Republican commission members.
Corrections plans in the Legislature
The funding for Evers’ prison plan, which was included in the governor’s original budget proposal, totaled $325 million. During the budget process the Legislature approved just $15 million for corrections projects and a 2029 closure of the Green Bay Correctional Institution.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, criticized the governor for not including GOP lawmakers in the process and suggested the party would form its own plan.
“The idea of letting thousands of people out of jail early, tearing down prisons and not replacing the spots, I can’t imagine our caucus will go for it,” Vos told reporters in February.
A spokesperson for Vos did not respond to questions from Wisconsin Watch about whether the party started a process for forming its own plan. Evers in July partially vetoed the 2029 deadline for the Green Bay Correctional Institution and criticized Republicans for setting a date without providing a plan to close the prison.
While lawmakers on the State Building Commission have since been tight-lipped about which way they plan to vote, leaders in both Waupun and Allouez — on whose land Green Bay Correctional sits — haven’t been shy to express their support for the plan.
Waupun Mayor Rohn Bishop said he favors any plan that will keep Waupun Correctional Institution open. With three prisons within its jurisdiction, Waupun has been called Prison City in honor of its major employers.
“We take pride in the fact it’s here,” Bishop said of the 180-year-old prison.
Under the proposal, Waupun’s prison would turn from a traditional, maximum prison to what’s been called a vocational village that would offer job-skill training to those who qualify. The idea is modeled after similar programs in Michigan, Missouri and Louisiana.
“The first and most important thing is to keep the prison here for the economic reasons of the jobs, what it does for Waupun utilities, and how our wastewater sewage plant is built for the prison,” Bishop said. “If it were to close, that would shift to the ratepayers.”
In recent years, complaints about dire conditions within the cell halls have mounted, with inmates describing a crumbling infrastructure and infestations of birds and rodents. Under Evers’ proposal, Waupun’s prison would have to temporarily close while the facility undergoes renovations.
Meanwhile, under Evers’ plan, Green Bay’s prison is slated to close. In Allouez, where the prison stands, village President Jim Rafter said the closure can’t come soon enough.
“I’m more optimistic than ever that the plans will move forward this time,” Rafter said, pointing to the bipartisan support he has seen on the issue.
For Rafter, his eagerness to close the prison is partly economic: The prison currently stands on some of the most valuable real estate in Brown County, he said, and redeveloping it would be a financial boon for the village of Allouez.
But it also comes from safety concerns for both correctional officers and inmates.
“GBCI historically has been one of the most dangerous facilities across Wisconsin, built in the 1800s, and it has well outlived its usefulness,” Rafter said. “Its design doesn’t allow for safe passage of inmates from one area to the other. So safety is a huge concern.”
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