Last month, the Wisconsin town of Hazelhurst postponed discussion of a proposed ordinance due to a typo. The meeting agenda had incorrectly listed “wake board” instead of the intended “wake boat.” Said town chairman Ted Cushing, “I’m not going to violate the Open Meetings Law.”
It was the right call, one that affirms my belief that public officials in Wisconsin are, by and large, intent on complying with the state’s openness laws. But, sadly, this is not always the case.
Recent weeks have brought forth two of the most egregious violations of the public’s right to know that I have seen in more than three decades of tracking openness issues on the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.
The first happened in the village of St. Francis, south of Milwaukee, on June 2. Megan Lee, a reporter for television station TMJ4, and photographer Dan Selan tried to attend a meeting of the St. Francis school board. The district superintendent, Deb Kerr, confronted Lee, in an exchange that Selan captured on video.
“You are not allowed to come to our meetings because you did not give us any notice or tell us why you were here,” declared Kerr, saying she had just spoken with the district’s lawyer. “Like you said, it’s an open board meeting, but you’re not filming.”
When Lee pressed for an explanation, Kerr replied, “I’m going to ask you to leave now, and if you don’t leave, I’ve already told you, I will call the police.” Thankfully, this did not occur.
For the record, no one is required to give advance notice before attending a public meeting. And the state’s Open Meetings Law, at 19.90, expressly directs all public bodies to “make a reasonable effort to accommodate any person desiring to record, film or photograph the meeting,” so long as it is not disruptive.
Kerr, a one-time candidate for state school superintendent, did apologize, sort of, saying “I wish I had handled it differently.” TMJ4 has filed a verified complaint against the school district with Milwaukee County’s corporation counsel, the first step toward possible legal action.
The second transgression involves Steven H. Gibbs, a circuit court judge in Chippewa County. Gibbs recently issued an order that not only barred the media from recording witness testimony at pretrial evidentiary hearings but also instructed that they “may not directly quote the testimony of the witnesses, and may only summarize the content of the testimony,” or else face contempt proceedings.
“Wow, this is quite the court order,” said Robert Drechsel, a UW-Madison professor emeritus of journalism and mass communication and expert on media law and the First Amendment, when I asked for his thoughts. He cited a 1976 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart, which limited judges’ ability to impose constraints on media, requiring that they consider less restrictive alternatives and ponder whether the order would be effective.
That was not done here. And, in fact, requiring summation over quotation “would be more likely to introduce a risk of error and possible prejudice,” Drechsel said. “So no, I do not think the judge can prohibit the media from directly quoting what they hear during an open court proceeding. And I don’t think it’s a close call.”
Judge Gibbs, asked under what authority he was forbidding direct quotation, cited a Wisconsin Supreme Court rule that allows judges to “control the conduct of proceedings” before them. Gibbs said he believes in the First Amendment and freedom of the press but “my concern is a fair jury pool in this matter not tainted by any media reports” about evidence that may or may not be introduced. He did not explain how threatening the media for trying to be as accurate as possible would achieve this end. (Here are links to Gibbs’ and Drechsel’s full responses.)
The truth is that public officials, even if they’re well intentioned, sometimes broadly overstep. Let’s just be grateful that this is the exception and not the rule. You can quote me on that.
Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (wisfoic.org), a group dedicated to open government. Bill Lueders is the group’s president.
Your Right to Know: When transparency is disregarded is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republicans who control the state Legislature announced a deal Tuesday on a new two-year budget that cuts income taxes, increases funding for the Universities of Wisconsin despite a threatened cut and raises fees to pay for transportation projects.
The deal in the battleground state, where Evers and Republicans have a long history of not working together, emerged the day after the deadline for enacting a new budget. However, there is no government shutdown in Wisconsin when the budget is late. The Legislature is scheduled to pass it this week.
Evers called the deal “a pro-kid budget that’s a win for Wisconsin’s kids, families and our future.”
Here is what to know about Wisconsin’s budget deal:
Evers and Republicans agreed to $1.3 billion in income tax cuts largely targeting the middle class. More than 1.6 million people will have their taxes cut an average of $180 annually.
Republicans pushed for cutting taxes given the state’s roughly $4.6 billion budget surplus.
The deal would expand the state’s second lowest income tax bracket and make the first $24,000 of income for people age 67 and over tax-free. It also eliminates the sales tax on electricity, saving taxpayers about $178 million over two years.
Republican legislative leaders praised the deal as providing meaningful tax relief to the middle class and retirees.
“This budget delivers on our two biggest priorities: tax relief for Wisconsin and reforms to make government more accountable,” Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said in a statement.
And Senate Republican Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu praised it as a compromise that cuts taxes but also stabilizes the state’s child care system and strengthens schools by increasing special education funding.
The Universities of Wisconsin would see a $256 million increase over two years, the largest funding increase for the UW system in about two decades. UW Regents had asked for an $855 million overall increase, and Republicans in June floated the possibility of an $87 million cut.
The deal also imposes a faculty minimum workload requirement and calls for an independent study on the system’s future sustainability.
Republicans will be voting on a plan Tuesday to close the 127-year-old Green Bay Correctional Institution by 2029 as Evers proposed. However, it’s not clear what other elements of Evers’ prison overhaul plan Republicans will endorse.
That part of the budget was not under the negotiated deal with Evers, which means he could make changes to it with his powerful partial veto.
There will be $200 million in additional tax revenue to pay for transportation projects, but Evers and Republican leaders did not detail where that money would come from.
The agreement increases funding for child care programs by $330 million over two years, a third of which will be direct payments to providers. The money will replace the Child Care Counts program started during the COVID-19 pandemic. That program, which provides funding to child care providers, expired on Monday. Evers, Democrats and child care advocates have been pushing for additional funding to address child care shortages throughout the state.
Funding for K-12 special education programs will increase by $500 million.
State employees, including at the university, would get a 3% raise this year and a 2% raise next year.
The budget deal was reached after Republicans killed more than 600 Evers proposals in the budget, including legalizing marijuana, expanding Medicaid and raising taxes on millionaires.
Democrats said Republicans were forced to compromise because they didn’t have enough votes in the Senate to pass the budget without Democratic support.
Democrats gained seats in November under the new maps drawn by Evers and narrowed the Republican majority in the Senate to 18-15. Two Republican senators said they planned to vote against the budget, resulting in Senate Democrats being brought into the budget negotiations with Evers and Republicans.
“What we are seeing playing out in this budget is the consequence of Wisconsin’s new fairer maps — legislators working together to find compromise and make meaningful progress for the people of Wisconsin,” Democratic Sen. Jodi Habush Sinykin said in a statement.
Republican budget committee co-chair Sen. Howard Marklein said, “This budget has involved an awful lot of compromise.”
The deadline for finishing the budget was Monday, but unlike in other states and the federal government there is no shutdown in Wisconsin. Instead, the previous budget remains in place until a new one is signed into law.
The Legislature’s budget-writing committee was voting on the plan Tuesday. The full Legislature is set to meet starting Wednesday to give it final passage.
Once the budget clears the Legislature, Evers will be able to make changes using his expansive partial veto powers. But his office said Evers would not veto any budget provisions that were part of the deal he reached with Republicans.
Evers, who is midway through his second term, has said he will announce his decision on whether he will seek a third term after he has signed the budget. He has 10 business days to take action on the spending plan once the Legislature passes it.
Associated Press writer Todd Richmond contributed to this story.
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.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers reaches budget deal with Republicans to cut taxes, fund university system is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Sauk County’s public nursing home will remain county-owned — for now. That’s after a resolution to begin closing the facility failed to advance to the full county board during a meeting that ended in chaos last week.
It was the latest twist during a relentless campaign by local residents to keep county control of services that have existed locally in some form since the 1800s. Heading into a special meeting Thursday, proponents of keeping the Sauk County Health Care Center public feared defeat.
The Sauk County Board of Supervisors was expected to vote on a resolution to close the nursing home if it weren’t sold. The meeting drew more than 80 attendees to the county board room. Several held signs, declaring “SAVE OUR SAUK CO. HEALTH CARE,” and “WE LOVE OUR SAUK COUNTY NURSING HOME.”
Instead, no vote took place, and the board adjourned the meeting within two minutes without allowing public comment.
Organizers yelled “shame on you” as board members left the room.
“You won,” County Board Chair Tim McCumber shouted at the chanting organizers. “The damn nursing home hasn’t been sold, and it hasn’t been closed.”
Tensions have escalated since last year, when the board approved selling the nursing home to the for-profit Aria Healthcare. Opponents sued the county to halt the sale. The litigation and broader opposition prompted Aria, which did not respond to a request for comment, to back out this month, according to Thursday night’s tabled resolution.
Board members supporting a sale call it the best way to keep the facility open as costs increased. Opponents argue the board should prioritize investing in the home, rather than risking inferior privatized care.
Similar debates have unfolded in at least four other Wisconsin counties over the last two years. St. Croix found new revenue streams to keep its nursing home public, while Washington County sold its facility to a private nursing home chain. Lincoln County approved a sale this month, and Portage County continues seeking buyers.
Wisconsin still maintains more county-owned nursing homes than most states, but that number has shrunk in recent years, concerning nursing home residents and their loved ones.
County-owned nursing homes tend to be better staffed, have higher quality of care and draw fewer complaints than facilities owned by for-profits and nonprofits, a 2024 WPR/Wisconsin Watch analysis of U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data shows.
Sauk County’s nursing home has a history of high care ratings, but those have recently slipped. Federal inspections between October 2024 and April yielded three “immediate jeopardy” citations related to patient care. Those citations, the most severe type, dropped the facility’s overall rating to “much below average,” CMS data shows.
Meanwhile, the nursing home has struggled with staffing, losing 10 employees since May 23, including its director of nursing, Thursday’s resolution said. More expensive contractors, many from out of town, are filling in.
“We need to do everything to make sure that that facility is as successful as it used to be,” said Judy Brey, a leader of the citizen group suing the county.
Her group filled the board room Thursday night.
By tabling the resolution, the board preserved the status quo.
“It’ll be county-run until we have more patient care problems out there and the state intervenes, or we’re able to sell it,” said McCumber, who has had family stay at the facility.
While Thursday’s resolution had left room for Aria or another company to buy the home before finalizing its closure, some board members — even proponents of a sale — were not comfortable voting to potentially close it, said Supervisor Terry Spencer.
Spencer, who favors a sale, sits on the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, one of three committees that met before the full board meeting and took no vote on the resolution.
“If it’s going to fail on its own, we’ll just let it fail on its own, and then we’ll close it,” Spencer said. “But I’d rather see it try than just say we’re closing our doors.”
Sauk County has operated a care facility in some form since 1871 — using it to treat diseases ranging from smallpox in the early 1900s to Alzheimer’s in the 1990s, according to the county’s website. Around 50 people live in the facility today, including Robert Leopold, 84, who has been there about a year. He and two other nursing home residents came to the board meeting to speak out against a closure.
“We (nursing home residents) play cards, we have fun, and it’s one big family,” Leopold, a retired teacher and longtime 4-H volunteer locally, said with tears in his eyes.
“If we have to go someplace else, we’re all going to be a family gone,” he added. “I just hope the board realizes what a beautiful facility they’ve got and be proud of it and do something with it.”
The meeting’s rapid adjournment left no opportunity for Leopold — who was attending his first board meeting during the nursing home debate — or others to publicly voice their perspectives. Brey and others shouted demands that the board allow public comment, pointing out that nursing home residents had traveled 30 minutes to be there.
McCumber responded: “Shame on you for dragging people out of a nursing home.”
“(Nursing home residents) showed up and they wanted to speak, but nobody gave them the chance,” Brey replied. “That is despicable.”
While energized by Thursday’s outcome, residents are bracing for a future attempt to sell or close the home.
But McCumber said the county’s best option, Aria, likely won’t buy the facility until what he calls a “frivolous” lawsuit is dropped or dismissed.
Aria received board approval to purchase the facility in September, but the county still needed state approval. The Department of Health Services previously blocked Aria from buying another nursing home, citing past citations that, the department said, “demonstrate a history of noncompliance,” according to the Cap Times.
Aria’s four Wisconsin nursing homes have federal ratings ranging from “much above average” to “much below average.”
The state ultimately approved the Sauk County purchase in May, but the lawsuit prompted Aria to instead seek a leasing agreement with the county.
While the county board approved that arrangement, the state health department required additional approval, according to the resolution. The original state-approved sale plan required Aria to take over the nursing home by July 1. Moving forward with a sale or lease after that deadline would require a new license application, which can take up to 60 days.
Aria told county officials it no longer wished to continue due to misrepresentations of the company online and “unwarranted attacks” that could interfere with business operations and patient care, according to the resolution.
Asked about the potential for a future Aria purchase of the nursing home, resident Mary Camp responded: “You don’t want to know.”
The 79-year-old has lived there for four years and described it as the “best place in the world.”
“I thought it was terrible they were going to sell,” Camp said. “I don’t think (Aria is) going to buy it now. I don’t know. I hope not.”
Her favorite part about her home? The people. At least twice a day someone asks her how she’s doing, and “it’s fantastic,” she said. Her 56-year-old son lives there too.
As they peer into an uncertain future, Brey said she has no plans to slow down her group’s work. As Thursday’s meeting ended, she collected donations for legal fees during a discussion about next steps, including potentially campaigning to recall board members who favored a sale.
“I feel the power of people being together and united on this,” Brey said. “They know we mean business.”
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Sauk County organizers fight off nursing home closure — for now is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
As part of the Green Team at Chippewa Falls High School, students pick a two-year passion project related to sustainability. This year’s students chose to make Camp Nawakwa in Cornell more sustainable.
The post Chippewa Falls students help northern Wisconsin camp become energy efficient appeared first on WPR.
Last school year, enrollment dropped to about 10,500 students. District officials predict enrollment will continue to decline based on birth trends.
The post Waukesha school district contemplates closing schools as enrollment declines appeared first on WPR.
The global biohealth company Catalent announced Tuesday an expansion of its Madison facility to better support drug development and trials.
The post Madison biohealth facility announces expansion, help from state tax credits appeared first on WPR.
Wisconsin health providers are urging residents to be mindful of fireworks-related injuries this holiday weekend after seeing a nationwide increase last year.
The post After uptick in firework injuries, Wisconsin medical providers urge safety on July Fourth appeared first on WPR.
Democrats in Wisconsin's congressional delegation railed against proposed cuts to social safety net programs in President Donald Trump's budget bill passed by the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, who switched his vote to support the plan, hailed the passage but said work to reduce federal spending has "only just begun."
The post How is Wisconsin’s congressional delegation reacting to Senate passage of Trump budget bill? appeared first on WPR.
The final state budget for 2025-27 will include a date to decommission the notorious Green Bay Correctional Institution, increase funding for the Universities of Wisconsin system by $256 million and cut taxes by $1.5 billion.
The post State budget heading to Wisconsin Legislature for approval after final committee hearing appeared first on WPR.
St. Joseph's Hospital in Chippewa Falls will officially reopen this fall under new ownership by a regional health cooperative.
The post St. Joseph’s hospital set to reopen in western Wisconsin city under new owner appeared first on WPR.
The auto repair industry is dominated by men. But on Madison’s northside, Dutch’s Auto Service veers from that reality. Learn how the women-owned auto repair shop may be unique but […]
The post ‘Good service and honest repairs’: The owners of Dutch’s Auto Service talk car repair in a male-dominated industry appeared first on WPR.
Senate Republicans hauled President Donald Trump’s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill to passage Tuesday on the narrowest of votes, pushing past opposition from Democrats and their own GOP ranks after a turbulent overnight session.
The post Senate passes Trump’s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill as Vance breaks 50-50 tie appeared first on WPR.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it will review whether Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's lawsuit seeking to shut down a section of an aging pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel belongs in state court.
The post US Supreme Court to decide whether shutting down Michigan pipeline is a state or federal fight appeared first on WPR.
A Wisconsin nonprofit is pushing to get books back into prisons after a DOC directive ending the effort. | Getty Images Creative
The nonprofit Wisconsin Books to Prisoners (WBTP) and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) are carrying out a pilot project that involves sending used books to prisoners.
This might lead to the nonprofit regaining the ability to send used books to incarcerated people in DOC facilities around the state. Meanwhile, WBTP says it has experienced an issue with packages of new books, which were not banned, being sent back.
Last year, the department enacted a used book ban. The DOC has cited concerns about drug smuggling, leading to scrutiny of how effective the ban might be and whether the impact on prisoners’ access to books was justified. Camy Matthay of Wisconsin Books to Prisoners told the Examiner in September that the ban hobbles the project.
The agency said in late September that it used to make an exception for WBTP to send used books “due to the organization being based in Wisconsin with leadership who were responsive and willing to work with DOC.” Wardens and librarians could accept used books from certain trusted sources for donation to the institution libraries.
In late September, the DOC said that under a policy announced in January, the department could no longer accept used books from anyone — including WBTP. The department said “that policy is now being enforced when it comes to library donations as well as books sent to persons in our care.”
In March, the Examiner reported on concerns regarding mail between incarcerated people and attorneys, including the question of the accuracy of the drug tests used on materials coming into prisons.
According to incident reports and a statement from the DOC in late September, three separate shipments in February and March 2024 that were allegedly from Wisconsin Books to Prisoners had multiple items testing positive for drugs.
In an email to Wisconsin Books to Prisoners in August, Sarah Cooper, former administrator of the DOC’s division of adult institutions, said the concern was not with WBTP but with people who would impersonate the nonprofit.
“Unfortunately, those who wish to send drugs into the prisons do so under the guise of legitimate agencies, organizations and even legal entities,” Cooper said.
WBTP said the group expects to be formally approved to resume shipping new and used donated books to people incarcerated throughout Wisconsin upon the successful completion of the second phase of the pilot.
“We are cautiously optimistic that WBTP will be back or close to our full operations by September 2025,” the nonprofit said in a statement Friday.
WBTP said it has participated in a pilot program at Oakhill Correctional Institution over the past few months. The nonprofit said that during phase one, it sent three packages of books, one third of which were used books. The books were added to the library collection, making them available for checkout by those who requested them.
The pilot program aims to allow DOC to test and refine its screening process for donated reading materials to ensure safety, DOC communications director Beth Hardtke said in an email to the Examiner.
Starting July 1, WBTP will be able to send requested materials directly to individuals at Oakhill Correctional Institution instead of the institution library, Hardtke said.
“The goal is to eventually allow WBTP to send reading materials to individuals at any DOC facility — safely,” Hardtke said. She mentioned a safety concern about people coming into contact with intoxicating substances.
In a statement in late September, the department said staff reviewed contraband incident reports that facility staff had flagged as drug-related between Jan. 1 2019 and Sept. 19, 2024.
The DOC said that not all incident reports flagged as drug-related turn out to be drug-related, and that “some drug-related incidents recorded through a medical record or conduct report may not be reflected in these numbers.”
The department said there had been 214 incidents of drugs being found on paper from Jan. 1 2019 to Sept. 18, 2024 “including in books and letters shipped to DOC facilities.”
WBTP said it was told by DOC that it would continue mailing brand-new books to meet requests made by readers. Many of those packages have been returned to them, WBTP said. The status of some packages is not known, and the nonprofit is investigating the issue. In its statement, WBTP said it has “engaged in discussions” with DOC administrative staff, “in opposition to their policy banning the donation of used reading materials.”
“WBTP remains committed to pursuing every possible avenue to challenge this censorship,” the nonprofit said.
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The U.S. Capitol on June 30, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — The final “big beautiful bill” approved by Senate Republicans Tuesday included some last-minute changes on hot-button issues such as safety net programs and clean energy tax credits.
Senate Republicans had wrangled for weeks to deliver legislative text to satisfy concerns from lawmakers who objected to cutting Medicaid, the federal-state insurance program for low-income families and some individuals with disabilities.
Other sticking points included threats that the health cuts pose to rural hospitals, and tax revisions that hamper clean energy jobs and investment, most of which are in states that elected President Donald Trump to his second term.
The lawmakers debated amendments for more than 24 hours. Even with final changes, now under consideration in the House, three Republicans held out: Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Vice President JD Vance cast the tie breaking vote.
Here are several rewrites that popped up in the bill’s final minutes and hours:
Senate Republicans doubled the amount for a rural health “transformation program,” or money to compensate rural hospitals for the funds they would lose as a result of the proposed Medicaid cuts.
The latest proposal sets aside $50 billion, up from $25 billion, and moves up the distribution timeline to begin in 2026, up from 2028.
Collins had unsuccessfully introduced an amendment to bump the fund to $50 billion. Despite some support from GOP colleagues, the amendment was blunted by a technical budget point of order.
The Maine Republican still voted “no” Tuesday on the final bill.
The lawmakers also made a late change to how and when states would begin to shoulder the responsibility for costs of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
According to the new version, if a state’s payment error rate in 2025 multiplied by 1.5 is equal or greater than 20%, then that state would be permitted to wait until 2029, rather than 2028, to begin footing a portion of the bill for food assistance. A state’s accuracy rate is the annual measurement of over- or underpayments to recipients.
Nine states would hover in the territory of meeting that threshold, according to the Department of Agriculture’s latest error rates published Monday. They are: Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Oregon.
Alaska had the highest payment error rate of all states in both 2023 and 2024. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s final decision on the bill was largely unknown until she cast a “yes” vote Tuesday.
A late amendment to strike the language offered by Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota failed 45-55.
Critics say the measure incentivizes states to keep the payment error rates high this year.
GOP senators late Friday added a clean energy excise tax into the bill, taking the industry by surprise. Then it vanished.
The tax that would have been imposed on new solar and wind projects was no longer in the legislation that senators voted on around noon Eastern Tuesday.
Other text loosened a squeeze on tech-neutral tax credits meant to incentivize the installation of energy systems that do not use fossil fuels. Senate Republicans added a year of leeway for new projects to break ground and avoid cutting short two of the tax credits.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after signing executive orders in the Oval Office on April 23, 2025. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon look on. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has put on hold $6.8 billion in federal funds for K-12 schools, according to an Education Department notice obtained by States Newsroom.
The agency informed states on Monday that it would be withholding funding for several programs, including before- and after-school programs, migrant education and English-language learning, among other initiatives.
But the agency notified states just a day ahead of July 1 — the date these funds are typically sent out as educators plan for the coming school year.
“The Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities,” the Education Department wrote to states.
The notice, which did not provide any timeline, said the funds are under review and “decisions have not yet been made concerning submissions and awards for this upcoming academic year.”
The affected programs, according to the Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee, include:
States have been on the lookout for these funds. For instance, just last week, Oklahoma’s Department of Education reported that it had yet to get money from the federal government for migrant education, English language acquisition and other programs, according to Oklahoma Voice.
Adding fuel to the fire, Trump is looking to eliminate all these programs as part of his fiscal 2026 budget request. That wish list, according to a department summary, calls for $12 billion in total spending cuts at the agency.
That proposed $12 billion cut “reflects an agency that is responsibly winding down,” the document notes.
Meanwhile, a coalition of 16 states is also suing the Trump administration over the cancellation earlier this year of roughly $1 billion in school mental health grants — a different piece of school funding — to try to restore that money.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle. The states include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.
In a Tuesday statement, Washington state U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate spending panel, urged the Trump administration to immediately release the frozen funds.
“President Trump himself signed this funding into law — but that isn’t stopping him from choking off resources to support before and after school programs, help students learn, support teachers in the classroom, and a lot more,” Murray said. “The uncertainty he has created has already forced districts to delay hiring and other initiatives to help students. The only question left now is how much more damage this administration wants to inflict on our public schools.”
“Local school districts can’t afford to wait out lengthy court proceedings to get the federal funding they’re owed — nor can they make up the shortfall, especially not at the drop of a pin,” Murray added.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, blasted the administration’s actions, saying this is “another illegal usurpation of the authority of the Congress” and “directly harms the children in our nation.”
“K-12 public school leaders across the country who should have been able to start planning months ago for the summer and the upcoming school year are instead left mired in financial uncertainty,” added Weingarten, who leads one of the largest teachers unions in the country.
Carissa Moffat Miller, CEO of the Council of Chief State School Officers, said “the administration must make the full extent of title funding available in a timely manner,” in a statement shared with States Newsroom on Tuesday.
“These funds were approved by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in March,” Miller said. “Schools need these funds to hire key staff and educate students this summer and in the upcoming school year.”
In response to a request for comment on the frozen funds, the Education Department referred States Newsroom to the Office of Management and Budget, which is responsible for administering the federal budget and overseeing the performance of departments throughout the federal government.
OMB did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s inquiry.
Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, shown here in a June 17, 2025, committee hearing, proposed paring down the moratorium on state-based AI laws included in the budget bill, but the provision still proved unpopular. On Monday, Blackburn cosponsored an amendment to remove the measure. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
A moratorium on state-based artificial intelligence laws was struck from the “Big Beautiful Bill” Monday night in a 99-1 vote in the U.S. Senate, after getting less and less popular with state and federal lawmakers, state officials and advocacy groups since it was introduced in May.
The moratorium had evolved in the seven weeks since it was introduced into the megabill. At an early May Senate Commerce Committee session, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said it was in his plans to create “a regulatory sandbox for AI” that would prevent state overregulation and promote the United States’ AI industry.
GOP senators initially proposed a 10-year ban on all state laws relating to artificial intelligence, saying the federal government should be the only legislative body to regulate the technology. Over several hearings, congressional members and expert witnesses debated the level of involvement the federal government should take in regulating AI. They discussed state’s rights, safety concerns for the technology and how other governmental bodies, like the European Union, are regulating AI.
Over the weekend, Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Cruz developed a pared down version of the moratorium that proposed a five-year ban, and made exceptions for some laws with specific aims such as protecting children or limiting deepfake technologies. Changes over the weekend also tied state’s ability to collect federal funding to expand broadband access to their willingness to nullify their existing AI laws.
Monday night, an amendment to remove the moratorium from the budget bill — cosponsored by Blackburn and Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat — was passed 99-1.
“The Senate came together tonight to say that we can’t just run over good state consumer protection laws,” Cantwell said in a statement. “States can fight robocalls, deepfakes and provide safe autonomous vehicle laws. This also allows us to work together nationally to provide a new federal framework on Artificial Intelligence that accelerates U.S. leadership in AI while still protecting consumers.”
The “overwhelming” vote reflects how unpopular unregulated AI is among voters and legislators in both parties, said Alexandra Reeve Givens, president and CEO of the tech policy organization, Center for Democracy and Technology, in a statement.
“Americans deserve sensible guardrails as AI develops, and if Congress isn’t prepared to step up to the plate, it shouldn’t prevent states from addressing the challenge,” Reeve Givens said. “We hope that after such a resounding rebuke, Congressional leaders understand that it’s time for them to start treating AI harms with the seriousness they deserve.”
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