An empty high school classroom. (Dan Forer | Getty Images)
Over a year since Milwaukee Public Schools first missed a deadline to place 25 school resource officers (SROs) in schools, a judge has ordered the district to do so by Feb. 17. If the school district doesn’t comply, the district will need to appear in court to explain why it hasn’t adhered to the law.
The order comes as the result of a lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on behalf of a mother whose child attends a Milwaukee school. The complaint filed in October stated the district’s noncompliance presented a “substantial risk to her and her child’s safety.”
WILL Associate Counsel Lauren Greuel called the order a “massive triumph for parents and kids who want to go to school in a safe environment.”
“Without this ruling, MPS would have simply continued to ignore the law and parents like our client would have been left with no options,” Greuel said in a statement.
Officers haven’t been stationed inside MPS schools since 2016, and in 2020, after years of student activism, the district also ended its contract with the Milwaukee Police Department.
The law in question — 2023 Wisconsin Act 12 — provided a boost in funding to local governments and allowed the city of Milwaukee to implement an additional sales tax to help ease financial strains. However, it also included a controversial requirement that the school district place 25 SROs in schools by Jan. 1, 2024, but the school district missed that deadline.
Lawmakers and the Department of Public Instruction had previously told the school district that it needed to come into compliance with the law.
Sen. John Jagler (R-Watertown) called the ruling “great news.”
“The law couldn’t be more clear. MPS needs to put School Resource Officers back into the schools,” Jagler wrote in a post on social media. “It’s bonkers that it took a lawsuit to get MPS to follow the law.”
In addition to the February deadline, the judge also instructed WILL to amend its initial complaint and add the City of Milwaukee to the case.
MPS said in a statement that it “remains ready to implement a School Resource Officer (SRO) program as soon as officers are made available by the City of Milwaukee,” and that the judge’s decision to order the City of Milwaukee to “participate in the implementation of the SRO program at MPS is a recognition that the City plays an integral role in implementation of the SRO program.”
“MPS remains committed to working collaboratively with the City to build a sustainable SRO program,” the district said.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson previously told WISN 12 that the city was working with the district on the issue, but appeared opposed to having the city cover the majority of the funds.
“Usually when you go to a restaurant and you order a meal, the chef doesn’t prepare your meal and then pay the bill. That’s essentially what we’re being asked to do, the taxpayers of the city of Milwaukee,” Johnson said. “We’ll continue to work with MPS leadership to get it sorted out.”
A DPI fiscal estimate, submitted to lawmakers while Act 12 was a bill, found that 25 SROs would likely cost $2 million. “The cost to MPS would depend on what is agreed upon by the City of Milwaukee and MPS, but if we assume an equal share between the two entities, the additional cost to MPS could be at least $1.02 million annually,” the estimate stated.
Charlene Abughrin, the parent whom WILL represents, said in a statement she was “grateful” WILL brought the lawsuit.
“I will sleep better knowing that my child, and others, will be protected once MPS begins to comply with the law,” Abughrin said.
State Superintendent Jill Underly with Madison La Follette High School Principal Mathew Thompson and Madison Public School District Superintendent Joe Gothard in the hallway at La Follette in September 2024. Photo by Ruth Conniff/Wisconsin Examiner
Wisconsin lawmakers are seeking to reset the state’s testing standards to what they were in the 2019-2020 school year after the Department of Public Instruction implemented new performance level standards last year — a decision that DPI Superintendent Jill Underly has repeatedly defended.
The co-authors on the bill — Sen. John Jagler (R-Watertown), Rep. Robert Wittke (R-Caledonia) and Rep. Todd Novak (R-Dodgeville) — say it’s needed to “reinstate” high academic standards in Wisconsin. In a statement, Jagler accused DPI of making the decision to change the way the state measures academic standards in a nontransparent way.
“These changes were made behind closed doors in advance and revealed only when the test scores were announced,” Jagler said in a statement. “Not surprisingly, the massive uptick in artificial performance gains was confusing at best and misleading at worst. We also lost, because of these changes, the ability to compare performance from previous years.”
The changes and reactions
Wisconsin students take standardized tests every year with third graders through eighth graders taking the Forward test, which was first created in 2016, and high school students taking the ACT and PreACT Secure. The tests are meant to help inform schools, teachers and families about “what students know in core academic areas and whether they can apply what they know.”
According to DPI, evaluating standards is a routine process. Specifically, every seven years the state reviews, and may update, its state standards in various subject areas to ensure they remain current. This process happened for English, Language Arts (ELA) in 2020 and math in 2021.
The new standards meant that DPI also needed to reevaluate the Forward exam and corresponding performance level standards and “cut scores” — the minimum scores needed to qualify for categories including “advanced” and “developing.” The DPI started the process of reevaluating cut scores in 2023.
A similar process for setting standards took place in June 2016 when the Forward exam was administered for the first time, under the guidance of then-Superintendent and now-Gov. Tony Evers.
Last year, two changes were made to the cut scores after an evaluation process.
First, new terms were established to describe student achievement — “advanced,” “meeting,” “approaching” and “developing.” Previously, the terms, which were established in 2016, were “below basic,” “basic,” “proficient” and “advanced.”
The new terms were announced in early June 2024 after DPI received feedback in December 2023, including 800 responses and 500 comments to a survey sent to educators, administrators, parents, families and education groups.
“I’ve often heard confusion from parents, families, and legislators on what performance terms on tests meant in regard to where students are at academically,” Underly said at the time. The new terms, she said, are “not only clearer, it also recognizes the endless potential each of our students has as learners.”
The second change was to the state’s cut scores, which came after a standard-setting meeting also held in June.
According to DPI, about 88 educators — including mathematics and reading specialists, classroom teachers, school principals, curriculum and instruction coordinators and specialists, interventionists, instructional coaches, gifted and advanced coordinators and CESA staff — participated in the standard-setting meeting. The group included representatives from each of Wisconsin’s CESAs, the five largest school districts, private schools in the school choice program and rural, suburban, and urban school districts. The group then submitted a recommendation to the state superintendent, which was approved later in June.
The new cut scores switched the state from a 3-digit number to a 4-digit number score for the math and ELA test and changed the test scores needed to qualify to be placed in each performance level. For example, under the previous cut scores, a third-grade student would need a 624 on the ELA test to be considered “advanced.” Under the new cut scores, a third-grade student would need a 1622 on the ELA test to be considered “advanced.”
Under the new standards, the 2023-24 test results showed that the public school student proficiency rate in ELA was 48% and Wisconsin students had a proficiency rate of 49% in math. In the previous year, public school student proficiency rates in ELA and math were at 38.9% and 37.4% respectively.
The changes mean that the test was no longer aligned with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Prior to the changes Wisconsin’s scores were aligned to NAEP, and its performance level expectations were among the highest in the nation. Underly has said tying Wisconsin’s standards to NAEP’s created a “misalignment” in how success was measured and that the state’s standards were excessively high when compared to other states.
The changes, however, drew pushback from Evers and Republican lawmakers, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester).
“I hate to even talk about things that aren’t my purview anymore in the Department of Public Instruction but I just think there should have been some information and dialogue happening with all sorts of people before that decision,” Evers said at a press conference in January. “It’s hard to compare year to year if one year you’re doing something completely different. “I think it could have been handled better.”
“Superintendent Underly wants to make it harder for parents to understand when their school is succeeding or failing,” Vos said at a press conference earlier this month. “She wants to make it easier for failing schools to somehow seem like they’re succeeding.” He said he wants to see “speedy discussion” and “bipartisan support” for raising Wisconsin’s educational standards.
“I would hope that no one, the most liberal person or the most conservative person, would want to dumb down our standards so kids aren’t able to read, and the parents aren’t able to even know whether or not their kids are succeeding,” Vos said.
Critics of the change have also complained that the new cut scores “lowered” educational standards in Wisconsin and have made it difficult to compare data to earlier years.
Republicans’ proposal
Republicans’ new proposal would require that Wisconsin revert its educational assessments to using the cut scores, score ranges and qualitative terms that DPI used for report cards published for the 2019-2020 school year.
The bill would also require DPI to align the Forward exam cut scores, score ranges and pupil performance categories to the cut scores, score ranges and pupil performance categories to those set by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
When it comes to the PreACT and ACT with Writing in English, Reading, and Mathematics, the bill would require DPI to use the same cut scores, score ranges, and pupil performance categories that DPI used in the 2021-22 school year and for DPI to use the terms “below basic,” “basic,” “proficient” and “advanced” for pupil performance categories on these assessments.
“There is no doubt we have many great schools in Wisconsin but when every school is given a ‘C’ or better it makes it impossible to have an honest discussion of where we need improvement,” the lawmakers wrote.
Wittkes said in a statement that it was “troubling” to see “changing testing protocols is the path the State Superintendent has chosen in response to students’ poor reading and math performance.”
“Let’s set the bar as established by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) and make a better effort to understand student needs for academic improvement,” Wittke said.
Underly has repeatedly defended the changes, and did so again in a statement rejecting the claims that Wisconsin’s standards were lowered and criticizing lawmakers for seeking to interfere with the changes that were made.
“As I have repeatedly said, standards have not been lowered,” Underly said, adding that the process for changing the standards was “transparent” and changes reflected the recommendations of experts.
“The updated assessment, developed with significant and transparent communication with the field, is more accurate and reflective of student performance for Wisconsin families,” Underly wrote.
“As it relates to report cards, we share legislators’ belief that the system can be improved but the right answer is not to look to the past, but to work together to create the best system for the future,” Underly said. “It’s disappointing but unsurprising that some politicians believe they know better than our educators. When historic numbers of teachers are leaving our state or classroom altogether, they should be investing in education, not picking political fights on false premises.”
Underly is running for a second term as DPI superintendent and faces two challengers — Brittany Kinser and Jeff Wright — in a February primary. Both candidates said they support the bill.
Kinser said she “strongly” supports the effort to restore the standards that were in place under Evers.
“As a former teacher and principal, I know students rise to the expectations set for them,” Kinser said in a statement. “Lowering standards deprives our kids of the opportunity to be college- or career-ready, and that is unacceptable in Wisconsin. Our kids deserve more, not less, and I look forward to working with the legislature to pass this proposal.”
Wright said the changes came at “the worst possible time” given that schools are still trying to assess students’ progress after COVID, but said it’s “unfortunate” that lawmakers are stepping in.
“This is happening because of the absence of system-wide collaboration and open communication,” Wright said. “I look forward to working with our Legislature as a nonpartisan problem solver to do what is right for our schools.”
Gov. Tony Evers delivers his seventh State of the State address while standing in front of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate President Mary Felzkowski. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner
In his seventh State of the State address Wednesday night, Gov. Tony Evers started to outline his budget priorities — declaring 2025 the “Year of the Kid” and laying out investments and policies to support children and their families.
The address came at the start of a legislative session in which Republicans continue to hold majorities in the state Senate and Assembly, though with smaller margins than last session, and a $4.5 billion budget surplus remains unspent. Wisconsin also has about $1.9 billion in the state’s rainy day fund.
“We begin the new year with a new Legislature elected under new, fair maps,” Evers said in his address. “For the first time in a generation, this Legislature was not elected under some of the most gerrymandered maps in America. I am hopeful this will mean more collaboration, more partnership, a little less rancor and a renewed commitment to do right by the will of the people.”
Evers announced an array of proposals to support schools, including by providing free meals to students, expanding mental health resources, supporting child care for families and implementing better gun violence prevention measures.
Bipartisan collaboration will be necessary for Evers to accomplish the priorities he laid out, and the road could be difficult as Republican lawmakers were mostly critical following the address.
“What we heard tonight was Gov. Evers’ longest State of the State address and it was chock full of liberal wishes, empty promises and a whole lot of things that are not going to happen in Wisconsin,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) told reporters.
“The things the governor talked about tonight, every single thing that he talked about, was a new government program, new government spending,” Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August (R-Walworth) said. “I really am at a loss for words at how ridiculous the things he talked about were tonight.”
Highlighting lower taxes
Before speaking about his proposals, Evers highlighted the state of taxation in Wisconsin, pointing to a recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report that found the local and state tax burden has fallen to the lowest level on record.
“Just two decades ago, Wisconsin was in the top five states for our tax burden and the taxes Wisconsinites paid as a share of their income. Today, Wisconsin is in the bottom 16 states in the country,” Evers said. “We have seen the largest drop in our tax burden of any state over the last 20 years.”
Evers said tax cuts have been a bipartisan priority. He noted that he has proposed tax cuts in each of his budget proposals targeted at middle class Wisconsinites. He has also accepted some of the proposals that Republicans have sent him. Evers’ emphasis on the state’s declining tax burden came as Republicans have said their top priority for the next state budget will be to further cut taxes.
August accused Evers of taking credit for work that Republicans did — pointing out that Evers vetoed Republicans’ major tax proposals last session.
“[Evers] actually vetoed the biggest tax cut that has ever been proposed in the state of Wisconsin. He vetoed that,” Rep. Tyler August told reporters. “Everything that he took credit for tonight economically was because of legislative Republicans’ work over the last 20 years. He’s an educator, he should know you can’t take credit for somebody else’s work.”
Evers pivoted from taxes to his vision for increasing spending and implementing new policies that would help children across the state.
“I will soon introduce our next state budget, laying out our state’s top policy priorities for the next two years. Every budget I have ever built began first by doing what is best for our kids, and this one will be no different,” Evers said.
Proposals to support kids in school
“If we want to improve our kids’ outcomes, then we have to shorten the odds,” Evers said. “If we want our educators and schools to be able to do their very best work in the hours our kids are with them, we have to set them up for success, and we have to start by making sure our kids can bring their full and best selves to our classrooms.”
Evers said he would propose “historic investments in K-12 education” and “meaningful” investments in early childhood education, the University of Wisconsin system and the state’s technical colleges.
Evers also called for lawmakers to release $50 million that was allocated in the last budget to support new literacy efforts in classrooms. Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee have withheld the money due to disagreements over exactly how the money should be spent, and if the money isn’t released before June 30, it will lapse back into the state’s general fund.
“Our kids and their futures are too important for petty politics,” Evers said. “Republicans, release those investments so we can get to work improving reading outcomes statewide.”
In addition, Evers said that he would propose ensuring that children have access to food and clean water by reintroducing his “Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids” plan, which would provide free lunch and breakfast in schools, as well as by seeking to address the issue of lead in water.
“Making sure our kids are healthy — physically and mentally — is a crucial part of improving outcomes in our classrooms. But we have to connect the dots between school achievement and the challenges our kids are facing at home and in our communities,” Evers said. “Take lack of access to clean and safe drinking water, for example. There is no safe level of lead exposure for kids.”
Evers is proposing that the state dedicate $154.8 million for his “Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids” initiative. The initiative, he said, would use the money to provide free breakfast and lunches to students as well as for other programs including modernizing “bubblers” in schools to remove harmful contaminants.
Evers called for urgency when it comes to addressing a mental health crisis among Wisconsin children.
“The state of our kids’ mental health continues to be concerning for me, both as a governor and as a grandfather. A kid in crisis may be distracted or disengaged and may not be able to focus on their studies, if they are able to get to school at all,” Evers said.
Evers noted that the 2023-25 state budget included $30 million for school-based mental health services, but it was “just a fraction of what I asked the Legislature to approve.” His renewed call for more mental health resources comes as children in Wisconsin have reported increasing levels of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts over the last decade, especially among girls, kids of color and LGBTQ youth.
Evers said he’ll propose dedicating almost $300 million to supporting mental health services in schools. This would include about $168 million for comprehensive school mental health services aid, $130 million to modify the existing aid for school mental health programs to provide 20% reimbursement for the costs of pupil services professionals, $500,000 for peer-to-peer suicide prevention programs and $760,000 to increase the amount and types of mental health trainings provided to schools.
“Making sure our kids are healthy—physically and mentally—is a crucial part of improving outcomes in our classrooms. But we have to connect the dots between school achievement and the challenges our kids are facing at home and in our communities,” Evers said.
Violence prevention — including for gun deaths
Highlighting the recent school shooting in Madison and the recent death by suicide of a former state lawmaker, Evers said gun violence prevention will be another priority this year.
“Thirty-seven days ago, a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison took the lives of Erin and Rubi — a student and an educator — who woke up and went to school that morning and will never return home. Six others were injured, and countless lives will never be the same,” Evers said.
Evers urged lawmakers to come together to work to prevent the next school shooting.
Specifically, Evers called for a law that would require background checks for any person seeking to purchase a gun, and implementing “red flag” laws in Wisconsin so “law enforcement and loved ones” have a way to remove guns from people who pose a risk to themselves or others.
“We aren’t here in Madison to quibble about the semantics of the last shooting. We are here to do everything we can to prevent the next one,” Evers said. “We do not have to choose between respecting the Second Amendment or keeping kids, schools, streets and communities safe.”
Evers said that he would also propose a $66 million investment to support services for crime victims statewide and help critical victim service providers, which would help address recent reductions in federal funding under the Victims of Crime Act.
Evers also outlined proposals that would help address deaths by suicide, and spoke about the recent loss of Former Milwaukee Rep. Jonathan Brostoff, who died by suicide in November.
“We are so deeply saddened that he is no longer with us,” Evers said before asking the room to recognize Brostoff’s wife and parents, who stood in the gallery looking over the lawmakers.
According to the Department of Health Services, Wisconsin reported 932 deaths by suicide in 2022 with almost 60% of those deaths involving a firearm.
“If you talk to someone whose loved one died by suicide, many will tell you their loss was not a foregone conclusion. That maybe — just maybe — if the person they loved had just made it through one more dark night to see with certainty that the sun again would rise, things might have ended up differently,” Evers said. “I’m asking this Legislature to give the next family and the next one, and the family after that, hope for that same opportunity.”
Evers proposed the creation of a “Self-Assigned Firearm Exclusion” (SAFE) Program, which would allow people to temporarily and voluntarily register to prevent themselves from purchasing a firearm.
Evers also called for lawmakers to reimplement a law that would require a 48-hour waiting period for buying firearms.
“The window for intervention is very short. Being able to purchase and possess a gun in minutes significantly increases the risk of firearm suicide — and firearm homicide, as well,” Evers said.
Republican lawmakers said they likely wouldn’t take up any of Evers’ proposals related to guns.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) talks to reporters after Gov. Tony Evers’ State of the State address Wednesday evening in the state Capitol. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Vos said that there are already some measures in place including background checks and that some money has gone into helping schools protect against shootings. Background checks are required for purchasing a handgun or long gun from a licensed dealer, but aren’t required for private sales or at gun shows.
“Unfortunately, sometimes people do bad things and there’s only so much that we can do to prevent it,” Vos said.
Vos said that everyone feels “bad for Jonathan Brostoff’s death,” but accused Evers of using it as a “cheap political stunt to try to get a piece of legislation passed.” He said Evers’ response “demeans Jonathan’s death.”
Lower costs for family through supporting child care
“There are a lot of ways we can lower everyday, out-of-pocket costs to make sure Wisconsinites and working families can afford basic needs,” Evers said.
Describing child care as “too darn expensive,” he highlighted a bipartisan bill that he signed into law last year that will expand the child care tax credit once it goes into effect this year.
Evers also said he will propose investing $480 million to continue the state’s Child Care Counts program, which has provided funding assistance to eligible child care providers to support operating expenses, investments in program quality, tuition relief for families, staff compensation and professional development. The program was started in March 2020 using federal funds and Evers wants to keep it going with state funds. He also wants to dedicate another $20 million to other programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and he wants to use the budget to create the framework for community-based 4K.
Cautions against forgetting immigration history
Evers cautioned Wisconsinites about forgetting the state’s historical ties to immigrants during his address, appearing critical of President Donald Trump, who was inaugurated on Monday and immediately issued orders sending troop to the U.S.-Mexico border, calling for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and even attempting to end constitutionally protected birthright citizenship.
“A lot has happened in Washington in the last 72 hours, and I know there is a lot of angst about what may happen in the days, months and years ahead,” Evers said. “I want to talk about what that means for Wisconsin and how we move forward together.”
“Wisconsin began as a land of many people, of many origins, each important and none any better than any other,” he continued, “and that is still who we are 177 years later. The state of Wisconsin was born of immigrants, but today, there are those who would have us forget this fact.”
“Let’s agree to be honest about the fact that, in this state, some of our state’s largest — and most important — industries and companies have always welcomed the hard work of immigrants,” Evers said. “Let’s agree to be honest about the fact that the story of our state’s success today is told in the labor of over three million Wisconsinites, including tens of thousands of workers whose only transgression to date was not having the good fortune of being born in this country.”
Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul have joined a multi-state federal lawsuit that was filed in Massachusetts to challenge the order trying to deny birthright citizenship.
Republicans, meanwhile, were supportive of Trump’s work, saying that Wisconsinites voted in favor of it when the state voted for Trump in November.
“[Evers is] clearly pushing back against the president. He’s lashing out because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were not only resoundly rejected by the American people, but by the state of Wisconsin,” August said, adding that Republicans would be ready to lead on the issue of immigration in Wisconsin.
Vos said that a proposal will be coming from Republicans next week that will require cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ensure that “if someone is here illegally and committed a crime” they are deported.
Vos said that he is “open” to the idea of repealing birthright citizenship.
“I certainly think that there’s a legal case to be made. It wasn’t enacted until sometime, I think, around the year 1900, so it’s only been part of our country for about half of our nation’s existence,” Vos said.
Apart from immigration legislation, Vos said that Republican priorities would include a tax relief proposal, which he says would provide $1,000 to Wisconsinites, and a proposal to ensure “high educational standards” if there is an increase in funding for schools.
Evers will deliver his budget address and announce his full 2025-27 budget proposal on Feb. 18.
Assembly members being sworn in in January 2025. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner
Wisconsin Assembly committees look different this session with new committee names and several old committees now made up of fewer members. The differences will affect the way legislation is shaped.
Each session the Assembly Speaker has the responsibility for determining the number of members per committee, unless a rule specifies otherwise. The Speaker also determines the ratio of majority to minority members on each committee. The committees are essential to the lawmaking process given that they are where bills are first moved to be discussed after being introduced, where bills receive public input and are debated by lawmaker before ever being considered for a vote by the full body.
Democrats have complained about losing members on committees despite winning additional seats in the full body. Despite Republican’s narrower majority this session, in some cases Democrats make up a smaller proportion of members on committees than they did in the last session.
“Unfortunately, Assembly Republican Leadership has chosen to begin the legislative session in a highly partisan fashion, reducing Democratic positions on the vast majority of committees despite the people of Wisconsin choosing to replace ten incumbent Republican legislators with Democrats in the last election,” Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) said in a statement announcing Democratic committee membership. “I hope my Republican colleagues will choose to shift course and join Democrats in putting the people of Wisconsin over partisan politics in the coming legislative session.”
Neubauer’s staff said they were not consulted by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) about the committee sizes or ratios.
Rep. Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) said there was a “general understanding” that with more members in the house overall, Democrats were expecting that to be reflected in committees. Democrats picked up 10 additional seats in the Assembly, making the body about 55% Republican and 45% Democratic.
Instead Republicans and Democrats both lost seats on some committees, but the losses were exaggerated for Democrats, who now make up a smaller percentage of representation on several committees. For example, the Campaigns and Elections Committee last session had six Republican members and three Democrats. This session the committee is made up of five Republicans and two Democrats — or a 71% Republican to 29% Democratic makeup.
Vining described the change to committee membership as a punishment.
“We were penalized for maps that the Republicans actually passed themselves…,” Vining said. “They're penalizing us for having more seats and I think that's unfair to Wisconsinites.”
Vining said having diverse representation on committees matters because of how it shapes the way legislation turns out.
“Our job in committee is to vet bills. We're supposed to bring our perspective to the room and bat it around and figure it out… We need voices in the room,” Vining said. “When you have less voices in the room, I would argue that there's less there to vet a bill, to put a bill into the best form that it could possibly be in for the Wisconsin people.”
Vining is the ranking member on the Assembly Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention Committee this session. She also sits on the Children and Families, Health Aging and Long Term Care and Small Business Development committees.
The Mental Health committee is one where Democrats lost representation. The committee last session had eight Republicans to four Democrats — meaning Democrats made up 33% of the committee. This session the committee includes seven Republicans and three Democrats — bringing Democrats to only 30% of the committee.
One Democrat not returning to the Mental Health committee, Vining noted, is Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde (D-Milwaukee).
“I have one less member, which means I have one less microphone around the state of Wisconsin,” she said, “one less community that's represented on the mental health committee and one less person going out to destigmatize mental health, so yeah, that's a loss.”
Rep. Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa). Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner
Vining said Omokunde’s absence is also notable given that one of the goals of the committee this session will be to discuss the issue of male loneliness. She noted that he has done a lot of work within the Black Caucus on Black mental health, including Black men's mental health.
“We'll find another way to keep that conversation going and I'm sure he will because he is fantastic at that,” Vining said. Still, she said that it is important to have ethnically diverse representation and gender representation on committees.
“Something I'm very aware of is we have two wonderful women who are joining me on the mental health committee but all the Democrats are women,” Vining said.
It’s not just Democratic lawmakers who have expressed disappointment about committee memberships this session.
Rebecca Aubart, executive director of Ladies of SCI, a nonpartisan prison reform advocacy group, said the situation is upsetting to the group. The group has been working to improve the state’s correctional system, including by advocating for an ombudsman to serve as a watchdog.
“This isn't what Wisconsin voted for. We voted for more fair representation. We voted for both of the sides to have to come together because it was going to be more fair representation,”Aubert said. “This seems like such a power struggle that just makes me sick.”
Aubert said the group had been waiting for several months to see how committees would turn out this session given the new legislative maps, and so they could return to their advocacy work. She said she was looking forward to there being new discussions with fresh ideas this session, and feels like that may not end up being the case.
“Most of our meetings are between 65% and 68% Republican, because that is who has been in control, but the Democrats have really good points too and are very sympathetic and their voices aren't heard,” Aubert said. “They have a lot of good ideas that would help straighten out corrections, but their voices are still going to go unheard.”
“If we want new legislation to come through, everything comes through the committee first, and then it goes to everybody else. I just don't think the people of Wisconsin are aware that even though our votes changed a lot in the Assembly, it actually didn't change anything because of how these committees are picked.”
Aubert said that she thinks there should be rules that the Speaker should have to follow, including that the partisan balance on committees should match the Assembly as a whole.
Vining noted that she encouraged her Republican colleagues in a public statement to push back on the decision made by their leadership.
Vos did not respond to requests for comment from the Examiner.
Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) is leading the newly formed Government Operations Accountability and Transparency (GOAT) committee and also serves as vice-chair of the Assembly Colleges and Universities committee. In an interview discussing her new roles this session, Nedweski said she didn’t think the fluctuation in the committee memberships were intentional or political.
Nedweski said having fewer people on committees isn’t a disadvantage given that the committee process is public and anyone is still welcome to show up to committee meetings.
“People who are interested in being on that committee are there and, you know, if there's legislation that comes before the committee that people who are not on the committee are interested in, they can always come and testify and you know, be a part of discussion,” Nedweski said. “No one's being locked out of anything.”
New committees highlight Assembly priorities
Other changes this session include several new and revived Assembly committees, highlighting some of lawmakers’ priorities in the coming months.
Vos put a special emphasis on the GOAT committee this session. In a statement, he said the committee — with Nedweski at the helm — would help the caucus’ focus on its “renewed goal of identifying and addressing government inefficiencies.”
Nedweski said the committee is the result of “demands from the people” and a “mainstream interest in fiscal conservatism and government efficiency.” She said part of the interest in having Wisconsin lawmakers take on the work was driven by President Donald Trump announcing the creation of a federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). While a committee existed last session focused on government operations and accountability, Nedweski said it wasn’t very active and the new committee will be.
Rep. Amanda Nedweski. Photo courtesy of her office.
“We had so many people reaching out saying ‘Who's going to be the state DOGE?’” Nedweski said. “I think there are opportunities around every corner to find quick and easy ways for improvement for some things and then certainly there are much bigger problems that could take solutions that are multi-year.”
Nedweski said her background in corporate finance and doing work that involves finding efficiencies inspired her to want to take on the role of chairing the new committee.
“In the private sector, there are natural forms of accountability driven by bottom lines, and government just doesn't have those built in, but we should,” Nedweski said.
The committee is still exploring what exactly its work will include, but Nedweski said it will focus on issues big and small. Ultimately, she said she wants to ensure that the state is using the taxpayers’ resources efficiently and effectively.
One issue she said the committee will likely look at is the number of state employees who are working remotely, which has been a contentious issue over the last several years.
“Are we getting the most productivity out of those people who are working from home? How do we measure that, and if we're seeing that it's not the most productive situation, why aren't those people back in the building?” Nedweski said. “Maybe they are productive, maybe that's the best situation for them, but then what do we do with that physical building? If the solution is we don't need in-person employees, then we don't need to pay for the space either, and I think we have a responsibility to the taxpayer to make sure that we're not wasting.”
Nedweski said other committees could also bring issues to GOAT to explore.
“Our intention is to have the entire body involved in this process where maybe… we're going to maybe do a joint hearing with the education committee, or the college's committee,” Nedweski said. “How do we use our resources within GOAT to help them further explore some of the areas that they identify for us that are in need of oversight, transparency, accountability or efficiency?”
Another issue Nedweski mentioned as an area of interest is “administrative bloat” in Wisconsin’s K-12 schools and in the University of Wisconsin system.
She also mentioned looking at programs and laws as they sunset. She noted that Texas has a Sunset Advisory Commission, a mission that the GOAT committee takes on.
“There's all these statutes on the books that maybe there's appropriations tied to, and sometimes things fly under the radar and are there any circumstances — and I can't say that there are — are there any circumstances where we have continued to fund something that was supposed to end? Maybe GOAT has an arm of that... where we're diving into the weeds and looking at where we spend money and should this have ended five years ago?”
One revived committee this session is the Assembly Small Business Committee. Last session, it became part of the Jobs, Economy and Small Business Development Committee.
Vining said she commends Vos for bringing the committee back because it gives a greater opportunity to speak about the issues affecting Wisconsin small businesses.
“Ninety-nine percent of Wisconsin businesses are small businesses. We're a small business state. We should have a small business development committee. We should be talking about how access to capital is more difficult for women and people of color,” Vining said.
The Assembly is also reviving the Assembly Urban Revitalization Committee this session with Rep. Bob Donovan (R-Greenfield) serving as its chair. Donovan, who served as a Milwaukee alderman for about 20 years, said he is excited about the opportunity.
“It's certainly fair to say that Milwaukee has some neighborhoods that are very challenged, and we need to work on that, but I suspect other cities around the state may be suffering from the same challenges, so I'm hopeful that we can work a number of initiatives to help revitalize those struggling neighborhoods,” Donovan said.
Donovan said that the “sky's the limit” when it comes to the issues the committee may look at, but that public safety concerns, educational issues and housing, including more home ownership, are some areas that he is interested in exploring.
As the committee’s work is only just starting, Donovan said that he has requested that the Legislative Reference Bureau provide the committee with some information about revitalization efforts that have gone on in other cities across the country as well as about what the 2017 committee did.
“I've always believed we don't need to reinvent the wheel. If something is working in another community, I see no reason why we couldn't make it work here in Wisconsin,” Donovan said.
Donovan said that he is prepared to communicate with local leaders in Milwaukee and other cities. He said he already had a “very good” conversation with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley about some concerns at the county level when it comes to parks and other services.
“[I] just wanted to open up or continue the lines of communication,” Donovan said.
Other new committees include the Commerce Committee, the Constitution and Ethics Committee, the State and Federal Relations Committee, the Public Benefit Reform Committee and the Science, Technology and AI Committee.
Legislative Democrats led by Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer introduced a package of bills aimed at helping with the cost of prescription drugs, school meals and housing. Photo by: Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner
Legislative Democrats started to present their vision for helping with high costs in Wisconsin Thursday, announcing bills that aim to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, food for school children and housing for low-income homeowners and renters.
The proposals — bundled together in what the bill authors called the “Lowering Costs, Improving Lives” package — are the first from legislative Democrats this session, who are back with bolstered numbers. With the most recent elections, Assembly Democrats added 10 seats, bringing their caucus to 45 out of 99 members and Senate Democrats gained 4 seats for 15 out of 33 total members. Republicans still hold majorities in both houses.
Freshman Rep. Ryan Spaude (D-Ashwaubenon) said at a press conference that the package of bills is “just the first of many proposals to come that will help Wisconsinites, who are struggling with the cost of living.”
At a press conference, Spaude introduced the first bill, aimed at alleviating the cost of prescription drugs and increasing price transparency.
Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison), the lead Assembly author on the bill, told the Wisconsin Examiner that Democrats wanted to come up with “targeted” and “tangible” legislative solutions for addressing costs.
“Drugs are a thing that hits us all and it doesn’t matter if you’re middle class or even if you’re very economically secure,” Subeck said. “Whether [it’s] an inhaler, whether it’s blood pressure medicine, whether it’s medicine for a complex condition, like psoriatic arthritis, people are on these medications all their life. It’s not just a one-time sudden expense. It is an expense that hits you over and over and over again every month when you fill your prescription.”
According to a KFF poll, about 28% of Americans who take prescription drugs report difficulty affording their medications. The poll also found that about three in 10 adults report not taking their medicines as prescribed at some point in the past year because of the cost, including 21% who say they have not filled a prescription, 21% who took an over-the counter drug instead and 12% who say they have cut pills in half or skipped a dose because of the cost.
The bill would seek to address the issue through a few avenues. First, the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance would be required to take several actions including creating an Office of Prescription Affordability to administer new initiatives related to consumer assistance and prescription drug and supply chain regulation, studying the viability of creating a state prescription drug purchasing entity and awarding grants to health care providers to develop a tool for prescribers to disclose the cost of prescription drugs for patients.
It would also authorize Wisconsin’s drug repository program to partner with other states’ programs to allow participating pharmacies in Wisconsin to receive drugs from other states and vice versa.
The proposal also seeks to make insulin more accessible by prohibiting health insurance policies and governmental self-insured health plans from charging more than $35 for insulin and requiring insulin manufacturers to establish a program to ensure those in urgent need access insulin at a pharmacy.
Some of the other provisions in the bill include allowing pharmacists to count up to 10 hours of volunteer work at free or charitable clinics toward continuing education requirements, eliminate cost-sharing payments for prescription drugs for BadgerCare enrollees and creating a prescription drug affordability board.
The policy proposals aren’t new to the Wisconsin Legislature as the ideas came from the recommendations of a 2019 task force organized by Gov. Tony Evers to study reducing prescription drug prices. Subeck sat on the committee alongside other lawmakers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, health care providers and retailers.
During the task force, Subeck said she heard “the very real and truly heartbreaking stories of individuals who were deciding between buying food and filling their prescription, seniors who were skipping doses.”
Previous legislation to carry out some of the proposals has failed in the Republican-led Legislature. Subeck noted that a Republican, though he is no longer a member, was a part of the task force, and said she is hopeful her current Republican colleagues will “change their tune” this session to push the proposals forward.
“I get that there’s philosophical differences on different provisions but at the end of the day, I thought we all wanted to reduce costs. I thought we all wanted that,” Subeck said.
Reviving Healthy School Meals for All
The second bill — coauthored by Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison) and Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) — would use state money to provide free school meals to all Wisconsin students, including those at public and private schools.
Sen. Sarah Keyeski (D-Lodi), who introduced the proposal at the press conference, said feeding children is essential for helping them succeed in school and supporting their mental health.
“An unacceptable number of kids today are facing hunger in our state,” Keyeski said. “No child should be in school with an empty stomach or worrying about where their next meal is coming from.”
Rep. Christian Phelps (D-Eau Claire), who comes to the Legislature with an education advocacy background and some experience working in a public school, echoed this point in an interview with the Examiner. He said he used to notice that students who had behavior and attention span changes during the school day hadn’t had a nutritious meal.
“My personal experience is that there is no shortage of difficulty that kids have, that when you dig into it you then find out that it’s been a while since they had their last meal,” Phelps said. “It’s heartbreaking, but it’s not rare.”
Keyeski also emphasized that the proposal could help families with costs.
“If this proposal were implemented — and I sure hope it is — a Wisconsin family could save approximately $154 per month per child. That’s $1,848 annually,” Keyeski said. “With this bill, we have an opportunity to help students thrive and lower costs for working families at a time when every dollar counts.”
The amounts noted by Keyeski were calculated using the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Paid Lunch Equity Tool. According to the tool, an average school meal for the 2024-25 school year costs $3.85, and if a family were purchasing two meals a day for 20 days, the cost would be about $154 per month per child.
President of the School Nutrition Association of Wisconsin and mother of two Kaitlin Tauriainen said the savings would allow her to put more money back into her community.
Beyond the economic impact, however, Tauriainen said universal free school meals would help level the playing field for students. She said even with current programs there are students who may need the help, but don’t qualify or who qualify but don’t eat the meals due to the stigma that can be attached.
“We have kids who qualify for free meals who aren’t taking them because they’re afraid someone will figure out they’re low-income. We focus deeply on the mental health of our students, but then put them in a position where they’d rather skip a much needed meal than risk the off chance that a peer might find out that they’re low income, [and] share it on social media,” Tauriainen said.
Expand Homestead Tax Credit
Democrats’ final proposal aims to provide tax relief through expanding the homestead tax credit, which supports low-income homeowners and renters.
Currently, the homestead tax credit is available to households making less than $24,680, including low-income workers, people over age 62 and people with disabilities. The maximum credit currently allowed is $1,168.
Democrats want to raise the maximum qualifying income to $35,000 starting in the 2025 tax year, and index the income limit and other factors used to determine the credit amount to keep pace with inflation.
“It is especially critical for seniors who are living on a fixed income, who often do not have the resources to keep up with rising costs. Inflation has increased over the last several years. This tax credit has failed to keep up. Our bill would expand the Homestead Tax Credit to support Wisconsinites who are struggling with the cost of housing,” Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) said.
Subeck said the three proposals span issues that hit every Wisconsinite.
“It doesn’t matter where in the state you live — where you fall on the economic spectrum. It doesn’t matter whether you’re old or young, all of us are impacted by prescription drug costs. All of us are impacted by housing costs and all of us are impacted by food costs,” Subeck said.
Assembly Republicans speaking about the voter ID constitutional amendment proposal at a press conference Tuesday. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner
The Wisconsin State Assembly passed a proposal Tuesday that could enshrine voter ID requirements in the state constitution if the majority of Wisconsin voters support it. The passage sets it up to go to Wisconsin voters in April — on the same ballot as a consequential election for the state Supreme Court.
The proposal passed 54 to 45 along party lines, with Republicans voting in favor and Democrats against. It was first introduced last week and quickly received public hearings before being passed by the Senate.
Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Weston) said during a press conference ahead of the session that he authored the proposal to “ensure that the people of Wisconsin have full confidence in the security and integrity of Wisconsin elections.” He noted that voter ID tends to poll well.
Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa) said that there are “plenty of reasons” to pass the proposal, including being able to get it to the voters for the next available election in April. Wisconsin doesn’t have fall elections this year, so the next opportunity after that would be in 2026.
According to the proposal, the question will be asked to voters as follows: “Shall section 1m of article III of the constitution be created to require that voters present valid photographic identification verifying their identity in order to vote in any election, subject to exceptions which may be established by law?”
Wisconsin is one of nine states in the U.S. that already have a strict voter ID requirement. However, lawmakers are taking the additional step of attempting to enshrine it in the state constitution for fear the Wisconsin Supreme Court could overturn the existing law.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has had a liberal majority since August 2023, and the Court may soon consider overturning other laws including Act 10, which ended collective bargaining rights for most public employees, and a challenge to an 1849 law that has been interpreted as a felony ban on abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Rep. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown) said during floor debate that lawmakers “have been getting lawsuited out of relevance” and that they must “resist our laws becoming lawsuits.”
“We are the lawmaking body in the state of Wisconsin,” Knodl said.
With Justice Ann Walsh Bradley retiring at the end of her term this year, a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court is up for grabs and puts the ideological balance of the Court in play. Judge Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel, a former attorney general, are running for the seat.
Democrats accused Republicans of wanting the voter ID measure on the ballot because of the Supreme Court race, and were critical, saying there are other priorities that lawmakers could be acting on.
“I’m disappointed that the majority has decided to make this the very first piece of policy that the Assembly takes up this session,” Assembly Minority Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) said. “It is a transparent effort to preserve power for one party and to give an advantage at the ballot box in April.”
Neubauer said the amendment was to the “detriment” of voters “who have a more difficult time, obtaining an ID and casting their ballot.”
“We know that voter ID laws are frequently enforced in a discriminatory manner and that they disproportionately impact people of color, those with disabilities and people living in rural communities,” Neubauer said.
Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) said the proposal is about using the constitutions to “take away the rights of people” and that there are people in her community who can’t get an ID.
“This is about voter suppression,” Sinicki said.
Republicans pushed back on the arguments, saying voter ID laws don’t infringe on people’s ability to cast their ballots and that the proposal was ready to go.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) pointed out that “zero bills” have been introduced by the Democrats so far this session in response to the accusations that Republicans were taking action on the wrong issue.
Chair of the Assembly Campaigns and Elections Committee Rep. Dave Maxey said there has been an evolution of identification throughout history and said voter ID was just one step.
“Who knows? One day, we might have microchips planted in our arms to prove who we are. I’m not advocating for that future this year… In Wisconsin, voter ID requirements are already helping to save our elections, but enshrining these laws into our constitution would further affirm our commitment to election integrity.” He said the amendment will “preserve these protections for generations to come.”
Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) argued that voters don’t face significant obstacles to voting due to the voter ID laws, and pointed to Wisconsin’s voter turnout rates as proof. About 73% of Wisconsin voters cast ballots in the 2024 November elections.
“This is about making sure that a rogue Court cannot strike down a common sense law that is supported by over 80% of Americans from across the political spectrum, so rather than trying to scare Wisconsinites with outlandish claims of voter suppression, and rather than assuming that Wisconsin voters are not smart enough to obtain an ID, I encourage our colleagues… to actually look at the data.” Nedweski said.
In response to the Assembly floor session, Gov. Tony Evers repeated his recent pitch to lawmakers to allow the voters themselves to place constitutional amendments on the ballot.
“Poll after poll has shown Wisconsinites support common sense policies like protecting reproductive freedom, expanding BadgerCare, legalizing marijuana and gun safety reforms, among other critical efforts. Republicans have repeatedly rejected those policies, often with no deliberation, debate, or vote. That’s wrong,” Evers said. “If Republican lawmakers are going to continue ignoring the will of the people and legislating by constitutional amendment, then they should give the people of Wisconsin the power to pass the policies they want to see at the ballot box.”
Gov. Tony Evers announced the creation of the Office of Violence Prevention. Later, that day Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said it wouldn't be effective. Evers and Vos pictured at Evers' 2024 State of the State. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner.
Gov. Tony Evers signed an executive order Tuesday to create the Wisconsin Office of Violence Prevention in response to the December shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison where a teacher and a student died and six others were injured.
Evers spoke about troubling gun death statistics in Wisconsin and across the country. According to Everytown for Gun Safety, the rate of gun deaths has increased 54% from 2014 to 2023 in Wisconsin, compared to a 34% increase nationwide. A recent report by the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE) Educational Fund, a leading gun violence prevention organization, found that guns claimed the lives of 830 Wisconsinites, including 529 firearm suicides and 277 firearm homicides, in 2022.
“Violence is a statewide problem with statewide consequences for people and families across our state,” Evers said at a press conference Tuesday morning, adding that people across Wisconsin deserve a comprehensive response. He said that the Office of Violence Prevention will be one important step in combating the problem.
Evers is directing $10 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money for the office, which will be housed in the Department of Administration. Its work will include administering grants to school districts, firearm dealers, law enforcement agencies, nonprofits and government agencies to support violence and gun violence prevention efforts. Those who receive grants could use the money for expenses including supporting law enforcement investigations, using crime gun intelligence tools, implementing suicide prevention education to identify people in crisis, promoting and administering safe storage and gun buyback programs and implementing suicide prevention and firearm safety training in schools.
Other responsibilities of the office will include helping coordinate state and local agencies to “ensure a whole-of-government approach to prevent violence, including gun violence statewide,” providing technical assistance to local violence prevention and intervention efforts; and developing public education campaigns to promote safer communities and identifying opportunities to improve statewide policies or laws.
While the office will be launched using federal money, Evers is proposing that Wisconsin make the office permanent in the 2025-27 state budget with ongoing state funding, but Republican lawmakers appeared opposed to the effort.
The proposal is unlikely to get the support of Republican lawmakers, who said the office wouldn’t help the issue.
“It takes a bureaucrat to think that another government agency is actually going to be effective,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Racine) said about the office Tuesday afternoon. “I think what we need to do is to increase funding for our police and public safety services, not create a whole bunch of touchy-feely bureaucrats that are going to go around wasting time, wasting money.”
Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) also appeared skeptical that the office would be effective in helping prevent violence, and pointed to a similar local office in Milwaukee, saying it hasn’t worked.
“Let me get this straight, Milwaukee’s Office of Violence Prevention was so ineffective at preventing violence that they fired the director and renamed the office,” Wanggaard said in a statement. The office is now called the Office of Community Wellness and Safety, and its director recently resigned. “Now, Governor Evers wants to replicate that failure at the state level?”
Evers said that he will also propose the “most sweeping, comprehensive package of gun safety reform and violence prevention efforts” that he’s ever introduced while in office in his 2025 budget. He said additional details will be announced in the coming weeks.
“In 2025, that just cannot continue to be the case,” Evers said.
“I have no problem making sure that criminals are not able to access firearms, but I also want to make sure that if people have not committed a crime, they are not artificially held back from legally obtaining a firearm to protect themselves,” Vos said.
Democratic state lawmakers and local officials expressed support for Evers’ proposals.
Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (R-Racine) said that the office will help move Wisconsin forward when it comes to preventing gun violence.
“We should be doing everything in our power to keep our communities safe,” Neubauer said. “It’s far past time we take action on common sense policies to build a safer Wisconsin.”
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the issue of gun violence is a “public health” problem. She said the city has seen improvement through its violence prevention team, which in the last year helped over 100 people, including some who engaged in violence, some who were victims of violence and others who were affected by violence. She said the team works to address the root causes of violence and the aftermath of violence.
“We do not have to accept living like this,” Rhodes-Conway said. “Violence is contagious and if you can contain it by supporting the folks who are touched, we have a chance to reduce violence in our communities.”
Rhodes-Conway said she was grateful that Evers was creating and funding the statewide office to help support Madison’s efforts as well as other communities across the state.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said that he was “deeply grateful” to Evers for making violence prevention a statewide priority and is looking forward to working with his administration to help make the county and Wisconsin safe.
“Gun violence continues to devastate communities across Milwaukee County and beyond,” Crowley said. “However, we have seen encouraging progress, including reduced homicide rates and positive outcomes from targeted violence prevention efforts, such as the Advance Peace program.”
Young girl staring out her window | Getty Images creative
Hannah Brecke, a youth leader and student at Port Washington High School, said she has dealt with mental health issues for “as long as I can remember,” but her troubles were exacerbated in middle school when her mother was placed in the hospital due to an illness. She said she started attending school less because of her anxiety about her mom, and when her mother passed two weeks later, she didn’t know how to handle it.
“I cried every night for my mom for two years. I wanted to die… I slept all day, didn’t talk to anybody and disappeared from society. I didn’t want to get better. I wanted to suffer like this because if I didn’t, I felt that it meant I didn’t miss and love my mom,” Brecke said.
It wasn’t until her sophomore year, Brecke said, that she realized she “wanted to live” for her mom. It was then she said that she started attending therapy and was prescribed medication to help her with her mental health.
“Even if the meds didn’t help, at least I could say, I was trying. About six months into taking my meds, I began to notice that I wanted to do things more. I wanted to talk to people more,” Brecke said. “My grief will never go away, but at least now it is manageable.”
Brecke and Kayla Winston, a student at Case High School, told their stories of dealing with mental struggles during the Office of Children’s Mental Health (OCMH) annual briefing Friday.
Brecke and Winston are just two Wisconsin youths, who have dealt with mental health struggles in recent years. This year’s annual briefing provided an opportunity to assess 10-year trends in youth mental health and to discuss solutions Wisconsin could try to address ongoing challenges. The Office of Children’s Mental Health was created by 2013 Wisconsin Act 20 and launched its work in early 2014 to help coordinate mental health initiatives across the state and track data about children’s mental health to inform its efforts.
OCMH Director Linda Hall said listening to young people’s stories and their answers about how to address what’s happening with youth mental health is essential for tackling ongoing concerns.
“Our young people are living through so much and it’s very different from the world that most of us grew up in,” Hall said during the briefing.
Amy Marsman, OCMH’s senior research analyst, highlighted a number of concerning trends to notice over the last 10 years. They included a 42% increase in the number of youth reporting symptoms of depression, a 29% increase in those reporting anxiety with two-thirds of female high school students reported having problems, a 21% increase in those reporting self-harm and a 41% increase in those reporting that they’ve considered suicide.
“Sometimes, in an effort to diminish emotional pain, people purposely hurt themselves. It may be cutting, burning or bruising oneself without wanting to die, and these self-harm rates have increased statewide since 2014,” Marsman said.
Other areas of concern highlighted by the report include half of children age 3 to 17 with a mental health condition not receiving treatment; an increase in the number of young adults age 18 to 25 with mental health illnesses; the majority of doctors not asking parents with children age 0 to 5 about learning, development or behavioral problems; a decline in the number of teens with a trusted adult at school and a decline in the number of teens who feel like they belong in school.
Winston of Racine Case High School highlighted some of the ways she was able to find support when she began having mental health problems after starting high school a couple years into the COVID-19 pandemic. She said joining band helped give her a sense of belonging at the school. She said her peers helped support her through some of the struggles that she dealt with and that having a trusted adult in school was also important.
Winston said that she also eventually started therapy to help with her depression.
“I had to do a lot of learning about myself,” Winston said.
Hall highlighted some of the stressors affecting Wisconsin youth, including academic pressures, gun violence, political divisiveness, racism and discrimination and climate change.
The annual briefing highlighted some areas of improvement over the last five years, including that the number of psychiatrists in Wisconsin and the number of school-based mental health professionals have increased.
“Though the number of school-based mental health professionals has increased, totals are still below recommended levels and their services are not reimbursed at sustainable rates,” Marsman said. “Fixing school mental health reimbursement rates is key to addressing Wisconsin’s youth mental health crisis since the majority of Wisconsin kids who receive services get them at school.”
Potential policy solutions
At the briefing, Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Weston), who chairs the Assembly Children and Families Committee and sits on the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention Committee, along with Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) highlighted several potential policy proposals that could help address ongoing mental health issues among children.
One proposal, which Snyder said he spoke with a pediatric psychologist about, is implementing universal wellness screenings starting at the age of 5. He said a screening could serve as a “great opportunity” to allow young children to speak to someone, and that if they continue until the age of 18, the program could be connected to schools.
“As we’ve seen from the data, a lot of the data points we get come from kids that just go through puberty or in their teens, but what was going on before that? Snyder said.
Snyder added that he is interested in providing more mental health funding for schools as well as investments in adult care.
“If somehow we get the child back on the road to recovery, you don’t want to send them back into an environment that hurts the work you were able to accomplish,” Snyder said.
Snyder and Johnson both discussed creating psychiatric residential treatment facilities — or PRTFs — in Wisconsin. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has described them as long-term facilities that typically offer treatment for children diagnosed with psychiatric conditions, including bipolar disorder, disruptive behavior disorders, substance use disorders, severe emotional disturbance or post-traumatic stress disorder.
The lawmakers participated in a study committee in 2024 that examined the current state of Wisconsin’s emergency detention and civil commitment laws as they applied to children and came up with some suggestions for improvement. The creation of these facilities was one major point of discussion, along with the issue of youth being sent out of state for treatment.
Wisconsin does have three youth crisis stabilization facilities, but those are short-term facilities with a maximum of eight beds. There are currently no residential psychiatric treatment facilities in the state.
“We need to do better of ensuring that we have these residential treatment centers right here in this state where [youth are] closer to home, they’re closer to their families and once they get out, they can continue that continuum of care without it being piecemealed and in some cases just missed all together,” Johnson said.
Johnson said she also wants to see more mobile crisis response teams across Wisconsin to take some of the burden of dealing with mental health crises off law enforcement.
“Mental health is a crisis, but it’s a crisis that’s too often met with law enforcement — individuals that don’t necessarily have the training to adequately address these issues due to no fault of their own.” Johnson said. “It puts a strain on our police department, but it also teaches our minors that having mental health [struggles] isn’t necessarily in some cases acceptable.”
Johnson said resources for these initiatives need to be statewide and not just concentrated in one part of the state.
“In some cases,…we may do a good job in Milwaukee but not necessarily a good job in the rural areas and our kids matter, no matter where they’re at,” Johnson said.
Gov. Tony Evers, pictured speaking with reporters in 2023, declared an energy emergency Thursday. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)
Gov. Tony Evers signed an executive order Thursday, declaring an emergency in Wisconsin that is meant to allow for quick and efficient delivery of residential heating fuel, including heating oil and propane, throughout the state.
Evers said in a statement that Winter Storm Blair has “impacted residents and industries alike” across the country.
“This has increased demand for heating fuel and caused strain on delivering essential products across our state, including fuel for home heating, which is critical for the health and safety of folks during the Wisconsin winter,” Evers said. “Getting residential heating fuel like propane and heating oil moving now to those who need it will help Wisconsinites remain safe as we continue to face cool and freezing temperatures in the coming months.”
The executive order states that demand for residential heating has been heightened due to winter weather and that residential heating fuel distribution terminals have reported limited supplies of product on hand, on allocation or loading off of the pipelines. According to the Public Service Commission’s Office of Energy Innovation, this has resulted in long wait times and drivers traveling longer distances to obtain fuel. The situation is making it difficult for transporters to meet demand while complying with state and federal hours-of-service requirements.
The emergency declaration will allow for a 30-day waiver of certain state and federal hours-of-service restrictions to allow suppliers to get caught up from weather-related delays.
Senate lawmakers debated the voter ID constitutional amendment on the floor Wednesday. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)
Republican lawmakers continued their swift work Wednesday to enshrine voter photo identification laws in the Wisconsin Constitution with the Senate passing the proposal on the floor and the Assembly holding a public hearing on it.
Wisconsin is one of nine states in the country with a strict photo ID requirement for voting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Republican lawmakers cited worries that future legal challenges could weaken the law as they sought to enshrine it in the state constitution.
The measure, if it passes the Assembly, will go before voters in April on the same ballot as a high-profile state Supreme Court race that will determine whether liberals maintain a majority on the court. The amendment would need a simple majority of voters to pass.
Senate passes proposal
The Senate passed the measure 17 to 15 with Republicans voting for it and Democrats against. Sen. Rob Stafsholt (R-New Richmond) was absent and didn’t cast a vote.
Democrats criticized the timing of the legislation during the floor debate, saying there are more urgent issues that lawmakers could be addressing, it is redundant given current state law and that voter ID laws create unnecessary obstacles for voters. Republicans defended the proposal as needed to ensure that the law isn’t changed anytime soon and argued that voter ID is needed to keep elections secure.
“There’s no emergency. [The requirements are] already in the law,” Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) said. She argued that lawmakers could have decided to address any other number of issues, including gun violence after a recent school shooting in her district, state funding for public schools and local services and health care costs.
“The reason that we are rushing is because there is another important election and the right-wing candidate wants to make sure that this proposal is on the ballot,” Roys said. She suggested that Republicans favor voter ID to suppress the vote and “make it more likely for conservatives to win.” Brad Schimel, the former Wisconsin attorney general who is running for a seat on the state’s highest Court, previously suggested that the state’s voter ID requirement may have helped President-elect Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson win Wisconsin in 2016, Roys noted.
Republicans have moved quickly on the proposal. A public hearing, noticed on Monday evening following lawmakers’ inauguration, was held on Tuesday morning.
Lawmakers are working to pass the measure so it can appear on the April ballot. There aren’t any statewide elections in the fall, so the next chance for it to come up would be in the spring of 2026.
Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), who coauthored the proposal, said the measure was coming forward first because it was the only one that had been introduced and was ready for action.
“We can do more than one piece of legislation at a time,” Wanggaard said.
In explaining the measure, Wanggaard said he is “unwilling” to allow the Wisconsin Supreme Court to potentially overturn voter ID requirements. During the hearing Tuesday, he pointed out that since the state Supreme Court shifted from a conservative to a liberal majority in 2023, there have been challenges to the state’s 1849 law that banned abortion for a time following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and to Act 10.
Wanggaard also rejected claims that voter ID stops people from voting.
“This doesn’t deter people from voting,” Wanggaard said. “This actually helps to continue to support the importance of your votes.”
Republican lawmakers also argued that identification is needed to access many things in society including checking out library books and getting on an airplane.
Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) questioned why of all the election-related proposals, this was the first one that they were discussing.
“If you want to lead off on elections, which, frankly, I’m surprised you’re doing because there’s no Senate Elections Committee this session, but if you want to lead off on elections, how about Monday processing?” Spreitzer asked. A bill failed last session that sought to allow election clerks to begin processing absentee ballots on the Monday before Election Day as a way of speeding up the process.
The proposal now needs to pass the Assembly, which held a press conference and public hearing on the issue ahead of the Senate floor session.
Assembly begins consideration
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said during a press conference that the Assembly intends to vote on the measure next week on Tuesday. He said the proposal is a way to allow voters to have the final say on voter ID requirements.
“It’s become an accepted practice as something that prevents fraud and it certainly should never be overturned by anyone but the will of the people,” Vos said. The Wisconsin Elections Commission has found that voter fraud is a rare crime and most recently reported 30 instances of fraud in 2023-24 elections out of more than 4 million votes cast.
Republican lawmakers have been using constitutional amendments in recent years to circumvent Gov. Tony Evers while addressing their legislative priorities. In 2024, Wisconsin voters saw five constitutional amendment questions on their ballots. Three passed and two were rejected.
In reaction to the trend, Evers announced earlier this week that in his budget proposal he will include a requirement for the Legislature to allow Wisconsin voters to bring forth constitutional amendment proposals without the input of lawmakers. Vos rejected Evers’ proposal Wednesday, saying he doesn’t believe in that process. He said the current process is more rigorous, open and transparent since it requires committee hearings and the involvement of legislators.
“D-O-A. Dead on arrival. It’s never going to happen,” Vos said.
Evers criticized Vos’ comments, insisting that Wisconsinites should have the ability to lead ballot initiatives.
“Republican lawmakers in the next week are set to add yet another constitutional amendment to the ballot while telling Wisconsinites they can’t have that same power,” Evers said in a statement. “If Republicans are going to continue to legislate by constitutional amendment, then they should be willing to give Wisconsinites that same opportunity. Pretty simple stuff.”
The latest constitutional amendment proposal would add language in the state constitution requiring that qualified electors present a photo ID issued by the state, by the federal government, by a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band, or by a college or university in Wisconsin when voting.
The amendment would require acceptable forms of ID to be specified in law, authorize lawmakers to pass laws establishing exceptions to the photo ID requirement and require that a person unable to present valid ID before voting on Election Day must be given the opportunity to cast a provisional ballot and present a valid photo ID at a later time and place.
During the public hearing in the Assembly Campaigns and Elections Committee, Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Weston) said he coauthored the amendment to “ensure that the people of Wisconsin have full confidence in the security and integrity of Wisconsin’s elections.”
Snyder said the upcoming Supreme Court election is not the main reason he and his colleagues proposed the measure, noting it passed the Legislature the first time in November 2023 and was introduced even earlier.
However, control of the Court as a whole and recent challenges to Wisconsin laws — including to abortion laws and Act 10 — influenced the decision to move the measure forward.
“When we have another Legislature making laws,” Snyder said, referring to the state Supreme Court, “We need to put this into our Constitution to secure it.”
Rep. Lee Snodgrass (D-Appleton) said it was “offensive” to her that the proposal is one of the first to be considered.
“I knocked a bunch of doors this summer… Not one person said to me, ‘I really want to make sure that we enshrine voter ID into the constitution,’” Snodgrass said.
The barriers that people could face in obtaining an ID came up again during the hearing.
League of Women Voters of Wisconsin Executive Director Debra Cronmiller urged lawmakers to avoid measures that place undue burden on the voter or erect barriers to voter participation, and explained that while getting a state ID may not require paying a fee at the DMV, the process of getting one isn’t necessarily free or easy for all voters.
“Accessing the DMV to secure state ID is not equally available to all eligible voters,” Cronmiller said. “Some voters face barriers such as a lack of public transportation, long distances, shortened hours, and ADA barriers that the DMV is aware of but has failed to correct in all the years since the law was passed.”
Cronmiller said that casting provisional ballots can be another obstacle as the information about them is not always readily available or updated online and some voters need to be walked through the process. A provisional ballot is one issued to a voter who is unable to provide the poll workers with documentation as required by Wisconsin or federal law. A provisional ballot can be marked at the time, but is set aside and not counted until the voter either returns to the polling place during polling hours to show a photo ID or present a valid voter ID at their clerk’s office before 4 pm on the Friday after the election.
Cronmiller said there are other solutions to election issues, including automatic voter registration and full funding of elections, that lawmakers could be looking at.
Rep. Scot Krug (R-Nekoosa) questioned how the League of Women Voters could oppose voter ID when polling suggests that many support it. Krug and other Republicans repeatedly pointed to recent Pew Research Center polling that found that 81% of voters nationally support requiring voters to show a government-issued photo ID.
“The League of Women Voters, as one of the biggest advocacy groups of women in the state of Wisconsin, is going to take an official position you’re anti-photo ID?” Krug asked.
“It has been a part of our official positions for decades. Voting rights are voting rights,” Cronmiller said. “Anything that stands in the way of an eligible voter to execute their right is opposed by the League of Women Voters.”
Sen. Van Wanggaard and Rep. Patrick Snyder testified about the voter ID constitutional amendment proposal Tuesday. (Screenshot via WisEye)
Wisconsin Senate Republicans — worried about potential future actions that could weaken current laws — pushed forward a proposal Tuesday to amend the state constitution to require that voters provide photo identification when casting their ballots.
The state implemented voter ID laws fully for the first time in 2016, requiring voters to show a valid photo ID when casting their ballots. Republican lawmakers said they want to add it to the state constitution to make it harder to repeal the requirement and harder for the state Supreme Court to overrule the law. With the measure added to the constitution, it would take another constitutional amendment to remove it.
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee passed the measure Tuesday, despite Democrats complaining that it was being rushed through, is redundant given current state law and that voter ID laws are harmful.
The Senate plans to consider the measure as a whole Wednesday morning, so it can then be sent to the Assembly in time for it to be placed on the April ballot, coinciding with the election to fill a consequential open Supreme Court seat from which Justice Ann Walsh Bradley is retiring.
“It is no secret that liberal activists and Democrats are filing court cases left and right, trying to overturn laws that have been previously found constitutional by the Wisconsin Supreme Court and/or the federal courts,” said Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), who co-authored the proposal, during the hearing.
Wanggaard noted that since 2023, when the state Supreme Court shifted from a conservative to a liberal majority, there have been challenges to the state’s 1849 law that banned abortion for a time following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and a challenge to Act 10. He said that some have suggested online that voter ID should be challenged also.
“We can be sure that a new lawsuit challenging its constitutionality is coming to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. I cannot say for certain how the Wisconsin Supreme Court would rule on voter ID laws, but I’m also not willing to risk Wisconsin’s Supreme Court unburdened by precedent,” Wanggaard said. “The only way to ensure that… our future Supreme Courts will not overturn voter ID is to enshrine this basic election integrity law in Wisconsin’s Constitution.”
Wanggaard also mentioned past comments made by the Judge Susan Crawford, who is running for a seat on the state Supreme Court and has drawn backing from Democratic and liberal interest groups. She has opposed the state’s voter ID law in the past and called such measures “draconian.”
To protect voter ID requirements, Republicans’ proposal would add language in the state constitution requiring that to vote, a qualified elector in any election must first present a photo ID issued by the state, by the federal government, by a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band, or by a college or university in Wisconsin. The amendment would require acceptable forms of ID to be specified in law, authorize lawmakers to pass laws establishing exceptions to the photo ID requirement and require that a person unable to present valid ID before voting on Election Day must be given the opportunity to cast a provisional ballot and present a valid photo ID at a later time and place.
To enact a constitutional amendment, lawmakers must pass identically worded proposals in two consecutive legislative sessions before sending it to voters, who decide whether to ratify the change. Republicans passed the proposal the first time in November 2023.
Tuesday’s hearing in the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee was the first of the new legislative session, and Democratic lawmakers criticized both the measure and the last-minute scheduling of the hearing, which was noticed late Monday afternoon following lawmakers’ swearing-in ceremony.
Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) said she was disappointed that Republicans were rushing to impose their “policy choices on the state of Wisconsin in perpetuity,” but have been hesitant to act after other rights, including reproductive rights and the right to privacy, have been threatened.
“When those rights are stripped away by the federal Supreme Court, this body refuses to act,” Roys said. “But when we want to hurt people and make it harder for them to exercise one of the most fundamental rights in our democracy, the right to vote, we’re very, very eager to do that.”
Wanggaard said that lawmakers have “tripped over” themselves trying to make it easy to get an ID. He noted that free ID cards for voting are accessible through the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles.
“I can’t think of any other reason why they shouldn’t be able to get that identification unless they’re not lawfully eligible to begin with,” Wanggaard said.
Roys said that there can be barriers to fulfilling voter ID requirements, even if an ID itself is ostensibly free. She said those include the cost of obtaining necessary documents to get a voting ID, such as a birth certificate or proof of residence, as well as accessibility of and transportation to the DMV for an ID.
“It doesn’t really matter how many people voted or what percentage of people voted. When it comes to people’s rights, one eligible voter who is not able to exercise their right is too many,” Roys said. She pointed to the study, saying that “there is a lot of evidence that we have just in Dane and Milwaukee counties that… voters were turned away not able to vote or deterred from voting because of our restrictive voter ID laws.”
“Because they were required to have an identification card?” Wanggaard retorted. “Come on, that’s ridiculous. Go get an ID if you want to vote and that’s so important.”
Roys said she was concerned that the lawmakers were overlooking the problems that people could be facing.
“When you gloss over the actual problems that real people have, just because you didn’t experience it, I think that’s evidence of very lazy policymaking,” Roys said. “We’re not here to decide what’s the best policy… for anyone who has the privilege of sitting at this table, we are here to make policy for for a single mom who’s got a disabled kid and has limited access to transportation and lives in a rural county that doesn’t even have a DMV that’s open three days a week.”
Apart from the authors, no one at the hearing testified in favor of the proposal. Representatives from the League of Women Voters Wisconsin, Disability Rights Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and All Voting is Local testified in opposition to the resolution, with many bringing up similar concerns about accessibility for certain people, including those with disabilities, students, low-income voters
Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Weston) noted that a voter who doesn’t have ID at the polling place can still cast a provisional ballot.
A provisional ballot is one issued to a voter who is unable to provide the poll workers with documentation as required by Wisconsin or federal law. A provision ballot can be marked at the time, but is set aside and not counted until the voter either returns to the polling place during polling hours to show a photo ID or present a valid voter ID at their clerk’s office before 4 pm on the Friday after the election.
Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) said provisional ballots can pose another barrier for voters. Returning to the polls can be difficult if someone doesn’t have reliable transportation or needs to take time off from work, she said
Johnson also said she was frustrated lawmakers decided that the measure was Republicans’ first priority for the session.
“If we want to ensure that everybody has the right to vote, we could make automatic registration at the time people turn 18, which would give everybody in this state equal opportunity to vote. We can make it automatic, and we can make voter IDs free automatically… But we’re not,” Johnson said.
“This is our No. 1 priority — on top of our kids, on top of mental health, on top of lack of need and so many other issues. Voter ID is our priority,” Johnson continued. “I think it sets a precedent in this committee about the people that we send here and what we think our constituents care about.”
The Assembly Campaigns and Elections plans to meet Wednesday morning to consider the proposal.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley administered the oath of office to new members in the Assembly. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)
Wisconsin state lawmakers gathered Monday to be sworn in, marking the beginning of the 2025-27 legislative session and giving legislative leaders the opportunity to lay out their intentions for the upcoming session.
While Republicans maintain control of both chambers, the margins in both bodies will be slimmer than previously. The Assembly returns this year with 54 Republicans and 45 Democrats and the Senate returns with 18 Republicans and 15 Democrats; this includes six new state Senators and 31 new Assembly members. In the Assembly, 23 of the new lawmakers are Democrats and eight are Republicans. All of the new state Senators are Democrats.
The bodies met concurrently Monday afternoon in their respective chambers, surrounded by family and friends, to take their oaths of office. Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley administered the oath of office to new members in the Assembly, while Appeals Court Judge Maria S. Lazar administered it in the Senate.
Following the oaths, lawmakers voted to set leadership for each chamber and the calendar for the session.
Assembly lawmakers voted to officially elect Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the state’s longest serving Speaker, to serve another term in the position. Democrats nominated Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) for the position, though they were outnumbered by Assembly Republicans who had previously voted as a caucus for Vos to continue in another term.
“While we will always seek to find common ground, rest assured, we will never sacrifice our principles and we don’t expect anyone else here to either,” Vos said to lawmakers.
Vos laid out his goals for the session including passing a tax cut given the state’s $4.5 billion budget surplus, not growing the size of government by creating new programs, demanding accountability and measurable results before increasing spending, and increasing government efficiency and innovation.
“The money that we set aside for that tax cut will not be spent by this Legislature on other wants, no matter how many special interests or tax-and-spend politicians apply pressure to get it out of the treasury’s hands,” Vos said.
The wants of Vos will be in contention with those of Gov. Tony Evers and Democratic lawmakers, who have said that they hope to have more influence this session given the closer margins. Vos has said it’s possible that lawmakers will accomplish less because of the close margins.
Vos said the newly created Assembly Government Operations, Accountability and Transparency (GOAT) committee, which will be chaired by Rep. Amanda Nedweski, will lead the effort to improve efficiency. The committee was inspired by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — which is not an official federal agency — headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, working with the incoming Trump administration.
Republican leaders had a similar message in the Senate.
Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) was officially elected to her new leadership position Monday. Addressing her colleagues, she highlighted her status as the second woman in Wisconsin history to hold the Senate President position and recognized former Sen. Mary Lazich for her “dedication and strength to blaze the trail.” She then committed to helping facilitate bipartisan debate in the chamber in her position presiding over the Senate.
“In this time of sensationalized politics and 30-second Twitter clips, true debate on the Senate floor is needed more than ever,” Felzkowski said. “From this chair, I will ensure the right of the minority to be heard as they argue their case, while at the same time ensuring that the will of the majority still reigns true. I will expect and encourage robust debate, but require the dignity and respect for the rules that our constituents expect of us to have a government of the people by the people.”
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) said his top priority will be to return the budget surplus to Wisconsin taxpayers, strengthen the economy and to pass a “responsible, balanced” budget. He also took aim at Evers, who has started to outline some of his hopes for the state budget, including additional education spending.
“Wisconsin is approaching a crossroads. In one direction we can create prosperity, and in the other direction, we can create hardship,” LeMahieu said. “More than $4 billion of taxpayer money is sitting in a bank account here in Madison, while rising prices impact the families who sent us here to serve them… [Evers] wants to use that money to grow the size of government and send Wisconsin backwards.”
Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) emphasized that her goal and challenge to other lawmakers is to work with each other, constituents and experts to “achieve common sense solutions.” She highlighted affordable health care and prescription drug coverage, financial security, healthy families and safe schools as some of the goals that lawmakers likely share but disagree about how to achieve.
“Let’s make a promise today that we won’t let that partisan bickering, public squabbles, nonsense and nastiness to get into this chamber, and that is going to take work. Let’s commit to having an open door policy to listen to the ideas, no matter who has them, and talk about the real issues impacting people’s lives,” Hesselbein said. “Let’s show Wisconsinites that their legislators, that you and I, that this Senate body is a force for good and has the best interests of every single Wisconsinite at heart.”
The first half of 2025 will test lawmakers’ commitment to their promises to work together and to their policy goals as they hammer out the state’s next two-year state budget. As Evers is beginning to craft his budget proposal, Republican lawmakers are already taking issue with some of his proposals.
Evers announced Monday morning that he would urge lawmakers to create a path for citizen-led referendums to create changes to state law in his budget proposal, but Republican leaders were quick to shoot the idea down.
“The budget should be a budget, not a policy document. Instead of proposing a laundry list of policy items, [Evers] should be focusing his effort on using the state surplus to address rising costs,” LeMahieu wrote in a post on social media.
A teacher and students in a classroom. (Klaus Vedfelt | Getty Images)
The race for Wisconsin state superintendent is shaping up with three candidates, including incumbent Superintendent Jill Underly and two challengers who filed their paperwork to run Monday.
The deadline for candidates to file their ballot access papers is Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Brittany Kinser, an educational consultant and former special education teacher and elementary school principal, is the most recent candidate to enter the race. She filed her paperwork to run in December, after initially saying she wouldn’t run, and announced in a press release Monday that she turned in over 3,500 signatures to the Wisconsin Elections Commission for her candidacy.
“This is just the start of our grassroots effort to demand the best education possible for our children,” Kinser said in a statement.
According to the release, Kinser is running on a platform of “ensuring students can read, write and do math skillfully,” and that she “wants to restore high academic standards and make sure students have the skills they need for good jobs after graduation.”
According to WisPolitics, Kinser has described herself as a “Blue Dog Democrat.” Most recently, Kinser has served as CEO of Kinser Consult. Prior to this, she was the president of the City Forward Collective, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit that advocates for school choice.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she previously worked as a special education teacher and instructional coach in Chicago Public Schools for eight years before starting with Rocketship Public Schools, a national network of charter schools with locations in Milwaukee, where she worked for 10 years, including as executive director.
Democrat Jeff Wright, superintendent of Sauk Prairie School District, said he turned in over 2,700 signatures to WEC on Monday. He announced his candidacy for the position in October.
During a press conference at WEC, Wright described himself as a “nonpartisan problem solver,” saying that he wants to help improve communication and develop a more strategic plan for advancing education.
Asked about Kinser’s candidacy, Wright noted her lack of experience in a traditional Wisconsin school district.
“[Kinser] hasn’t worked in a Wisconsin public school district. It’ll be interesting to learn more about what she thinks that she wants to do for public education in the state,” Wright said. “It’ll be interesting to see how someone without the experience of leading a school district changes the race.”
Wright said that he thinks he is the best candidate in part because he has a “real wealth of experience” having taught in Chicago and rural Wisconsin and believes he will be able to bring a lot of people to the table to help tackle issues facing education.
Both Wright and Kinser will face incumbent Underly, who is running for her second term and has said she wants to ensure the state is making investments in public education. She has proposed that the state spend an additional $4 billion on public schools in the next state budget.
Underly has the endorsement of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.
Gov. Tony Evers so far has declined to endorse a candidate in the race.
“I’m not taking any position on that,” Evers told reporters during a press conference last week. The comment came after he described recent changes that DPI made to state test score benchmarks as a “mistake.”
Wright and Kinser have been critical of the changes.
The primary for the nonpartisan race is set for Feb. 18. The two candidates with the most votes in the primary will advance to the April 1 general election.
Gov. Tony Evers announcing his proposal for a statewide citizen initiative process on Friday, Jan 3 in the State Capitol. | Photo by Ruth Conniff/Wisconsin Examiner
Ahead of state lawmakers’ swearing-in on Monday, Gov. Tony Evers is proposing that the Legislature create a way for Wisconsin residents to directly create ballot measures that make statutory and constitutional changes through the referendum process.
The proposal comes ahead of a legislative session that will test the prospects for a productive working relationship among a newly slimmed-down Republican legislative majority, Democratic lawmakers, who picked up 14 seats in the recent elections and Evers.
Evers’ proposal for a “binding referendum” process would allow citizens to put proposed measures before the electorate for ratification.
Wisconsin law currently permits the Legislature to place proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot, after they pass two consecutive legislative sessions. But Wisconsin doesn’t have a way for voters themselves to introduce initiatives or place a binding referendum on the statewide ballot.
Republican lawmakers have turned to constitutional amendments in recent years as a way to bypass the governor’s veto pen. Evers said that if Republicans are going to continue to utilize that process, Wisconsin citizens should also have the opportunity to place questions on the ballot.
“Republican legislators have repeatedly ignored the will of the people of Wisconsin, the majority of whom support proposals like restoring Roe and access to safe, legal abortion, legalizing and taxing marijuana like we do alcohol, funding our public schools and implementing common sense gun safety [laws]… Instead, Republican lawmakers have repeatedly worked to put constitutional amendments on the ballot that are Republican drafted, Republican passed, all while refusing to give the same power to the people,” Evers told reporters during a Capitol press conference Friday. “Republican lawmakers shouldn’t be able to ignore the will of the people and then prevent the people from having a voice.”
Voters could soon see other proposals on their ballots in 2025, including one to add a requirement in that state constitution that voters show photo identification. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has said that he hopes this could make it to voters in April — on the same ballot as a high profile state Supreme Court race.
“If Republican lawmakers are going to continue to try to legislate by constitutional amendment, then they should give Wisconsinites the same opportunities that 26 other states have,” Evers said.
The National Conference of State Legislatures, reports that states that have a citizen initiative process allowing citizens to bypass their state legislature by placing proposed statutes and, in some states, constitutional amendments on the ballot include Wisconsin’s neighbors Michigan and Illinois. The referendum process in some states has allowed voters to act on an array of issues including codifying abortion rights following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and legalizing marijuana.
Evers’ proposal would instruct the Legislature to create a binding statewide process through a constitutional amendment that would allow voters to file petitions with the Wisconsin Elections Commission to hold a vote on proposed state laws and constitutional amendments to repeal current state law. If the Elections Commission were able to validate a sufficient number of signatures by qualified voters, then a vote on the referendum would be held at the next general election at least 120 days after the petition is filed. Evers’ proposal would require a simple majority vote to pass the referendum.
According to a memo from the Legislative Reference Bureau, Wisconsinites voted once on a measure to implement a statewide initiative and referendum process for ratification in the state constitution in 1914 with 64% of voters deciding to reject the constitutional amendment proposal.
The proposal will be included in Evers’ 2025-27 state budget, which he will present in full in February.
The budget writing process will likely be a major place for work to occur, and Evers said he sees opportunities to work with Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the new session and that he has already seen some of that occurring, as new members confer with their colleagues across the aisle on issues of importance to their constituents.
As for his own plans to work with Republican legislative leaders, he said, “We’ll work with them anytime they’re available, you know, we worked a lot on the budget last session when we talked about shared revenue. We hope to be able to do that in the future.”
Scaffolding on the State Capitol of Wisconsin | Photo by Greg Anderson
Over a quarter of lawmakers will take their seats in the Wisconsin Legislature for the first time in 2025, with six new state Senators and 31 new Assembly members following November elections under new legislative maps. In the Assembly, there are 23 new Democratic lawmakers and eight new Republican lawmakers. All of the new state Senators are Democrats.
The Examiner spoke with four of the new lawmakers about preparing for the start of the legislative session ahead of Inauguration Day on Jan. 6 and what they hope to work on in the new term.
Orientation: A ‘great first step’
Incoming lawmakers participated in an orientation during the second week of December to learn more about the ins and outs of the Legislature and to meet their colleagues.
Rep.-elect Christian Phelps, a Democrat who will represent parts of Eau Claire, joins the Assembly with a background in organizing, having most recently worked for the Wisconsin Public Education Network. He said that his advocacy background gives him some familiarity with the workings of the Legislature — he’s watched floor sessions and attended committee hearings to testify.
Rep.-elect Christian Phelps. (Photo courtesy of Phelps)
“We all probably come in with varying degrees of familiarity with the processes because that’s the nature of democracy,” Phelps said. “Even if you have that kind of background, there’s a lot you don’t know — just kind of the behind the scenes, inner workings.”
Programming for the orientation was organized by the Legislative Council, and the incoming lawmakers said the sessions covered issues such as open records laws, office management skills, technology and human resources information.
Democratic Sen. elect Jodi Habush Sinykin of Whitefish Bay said it was a “terrific itinerary of training,” and “very thoughtfully done.”
The group of new lawmakers spans a broad spectrum of experiences.
Some have backgrounds in local government, including Rep.-elect Tara Johnson, a former La Crosse County board supervisor, Rep.-elect Vinnie Miresse, who has served as a Portage County Board member, Rep.-elect Brent Jacobson, who has served on the Marathon County Board and Rep.-elect Margaret Arney, who has served as an alderperson in Wauwatosa.
A handful come from an education background including Rep.-elect Angelina Cruz, a veteran public school teacher and president of Racine Educators United, Rep.-elect Joe Sheehan, a former Sheboygan Area School District Superintendent and Rep.-elect Angela Stroud, a professor of sociology and social justice at Northland College.
Some have served in the military, including Rep.-elect Benjamin Franklin, who served in the Air Force, Rep.-elect Angelito Tenorio, who served in the Wisconsin Army National Guard, and Rep. -elect Duke Tucker, an Air Force veteran.
The new class of lawmakers also includes small business owners, a volunteer pastor, legal professionals and a mental health provider.
Some of the incoming lawmakers have prior experience serving in the state Legislature. Republican Rep.-elect Rob Kreibich of New Richmond, a former TV anchorman, served previously from 1993 to 2007 and Rep.-elect Dean Kaufert, former mayor of Neenah, previously served in the Assembly from 1991 to 2015. Sen.-elect Dora Drake and Melissa Ratcliff are joining the Senate from the Assembly, filling the seats of two outgoing lawmakers. Rep.-elect Dan Knodl is rejoining the Assembly after serving in the Senate for part of a term.
Rep.-elect Renuka Mayadev, a Democrat from Madison, said the diversity of backgrounds in the new freshman class is exciting because it makes conversations robust. She most recently worked at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health as a program advisor for maternal and child health in the Wisconsin Partnership Program. She’s planning to leave the job to focus on serving in the Assembly.
“When you get to be with folks in a room all day, for two days, we get to really know each other, and I really appreciated that time,” Mayadev said. “I spoke to some of my new colleagues in the Republican caucus, and we talked about things that we could do together and places that we actually find a lot of common ground.”
Some of the common ground came in the form of connecting on a personal level, Mayadev said. She said she had a conversation with one of her colleagues from across the aisle, whose kids were getting sick.
“I talked about how my kids growing up would get ill in childcare, and how you fight lots of colds this time of year,” Mayadev said. “They might be seen as mundane conversations, but they’re really important.”
The sentiment was shared by other lawmakers.
Republican Rep.-elect Lindee Brill of Sheboygan said the “cool” part about lawmakers in the U.S. is that they are elected by the people.
Rep.-elect Lindee Brill (Courtesy of Brill)
“You’re all of a sudden surrounded by a lot of different people who come from a whole lot of different backgrounds,” Brill said. She noted that there were “a lot more Democrat freshmen than there were Republican.”
“I had great conversations with them over the two days. When it comes down to it, you know, the people elected us to each of our districts, and so we need to, we need to figure out what that looks like to best serve Wisconsin,” Brill said. “There are 99 seats, and us 99 are going to soundly represent the people of Wisconsin, so we have to figure out how to best serve them.”
What incoming lawmakers are hoping to work on next session
Phelps said that he envisions that his office will serve as a “megaphone” for the issues important to his district in the Capitol and also will communicate what’s going on in the Capitol to his district.
Phelps said he wanted to get to work as soon as possible after being elected because he knows that the first part of the odd-numbered session year will go by fast and that the state budget, which will be written then, is powerful.
Phelps said he started reaching out to speak with local elected officials, including town board members, school board members, mayors, council presidents, in the weeks following his elections.
“No one person can know off the top of their head what the most important thing is for all 13 of 13 townships, particularly when I haven’t taken office yet,” Phelps said. “I just kind of wanted to open the door to say: what is that?”
Phelps said he especially is working to identify the issues most important to working class voters in his district, which is a bipartisan group.
“They want investments in their public schools, and they want to stabilize health care in the Chippewa Valley, after the hospital closures and clinic closures there,” Phelps said. “I met so many people who told me that they identify themselves as conservative or moderate, but agreed with me on a number of values based or policy based proposals.”
Similarly, Habush Sinykin said she has been meeting with constituents, with community leaders and with legislators. She also was able to have a discussion with Gov. Tony Evers about the upcoming budget. She said her advocacy focus will be “two-fold” as she wants to help find a “balance between how we can invest in our state to move Wisconsin forward, economically, educationally” to keep and attract young families and addressing “the needs of people to have some tax relief, whether it be income tax and or property tax relief.”
Brill of Sheboygan said she wants to be a “reachable representative” and to create an open dialogue with her constituents. She said she ran for office “for the future of my child,” after spending much of her life in the area.
“A year ago, I didn’t know this is what God had in mind for me, so it’s been a bit of a whirlwind, but I’m excited for the opportunity,” Brill said.
Brill comes to the Assembly having most recently worked at faith-based nonprofits, including at Samaritan’s Hand, a Sheboygan drug and alcohol clinic and earlier at Anchor of Hope, a crisis pregnancy center in Sheboygan.
Brill said she wants to work on the fentanyl crisis in the state and “protecting life [in] every possible way.” Brill described herself as a “pro-life” candidate, having run her campaign with the endorsement of Pro-Life Wisconsin and the promise not to “change my viewpoint on life beginning at conception.” She said she also wants to help shape the state’s elections processes.
When it comes to the state budget, Brill said she’s still learning about the process, but thinks the state could take cues from the incoming Trump administration.
“I believe we’ll get good guidance from the federal [government] and then we’ll be able to follow suit with what he has in mind,” Brill said. She is excited about Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos recently announced that the Assembly will have a Government Oversight, Accountability and Transparency (GOAT) Committee next session, to mirror DOGE.
Mayadev said she plans to use her skills to work for women, children and working families in the Assembly.
One issue she hopes the state will take action on is Medicaid expansion for postpartum mothers. She said she watched as the effort to have Wisconsin join the majority of the country in covering postpartum care for a year, rather than the current 60 days, failed. It passed the Senate but was never taken up in the Assembly. Wisconsin and Arkansas are the only two states in the U.S. that have not extended and do not plan to extend coverage.
“This is critical. Coverage is critical. We need to work on all facets for women’s health, but if they don’t have coverage, especially postpartum, how are they supposed to get the care they need for themselves and their babies and families?” Mayadev said.
Mayadev said she had discussions with some of her Republican colleagues and there is an understanding that they need to work together to get things done on some issues.
“We know inflation has hit our families’ pocketbooks. We know that child care expenses and just the availability of finding child care [of] high quality is very difficult in our state,” Mayadev said. “We need to do things for our constituents, rather than just obstinance and sitting on opposite sides of the fence… I hope that continues.”
Correction: This story has been updated to clarify a quote.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers address the Legislature in his 2024 State of the State message. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)
Gov. Tony Evers announced Friday that Wisconsin’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, which is published by the Department of Administration, recorded a $4.5 billion positive balance in the state’s general fund at the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year.
In addition to the general fund, the state’s Budget Stabilization Fund — or “rainy day” fund — ended the fiscal year at the highest level in state history with a balance of $1.9 billion. The rainy day fund has set a new record every year since Evers took office in 2019.
“For thirty consecutive years, our state’s checking account ran at a deficit. Thanks to our efforts to pay down our state’s debt and work across the aisle to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, Wisconsin has never had a deficit since I took office,” Evers said in a statement. “This is great news for the people of Wisconsin and our state’s economy.”
The balance in the general fund — a budget surplus — will likely be a major point of discussion next year as Evers and lawmakers begin work on the state’s next two-year budget.
Writing the state budget is a process that will take several months as Evers first gets to present his budget proposal to lawmakers, then the state’s Joint Finance Committee will write its own version. The budget bill will need to pass the Senate and Assembly before going to Evers to be signed.
“As we begin the important work of deliberating our state’s next two-year budget, we have a responsibility to keep staying well within our means while still investing in needs that have long been neglected,” Evers said. “We must continue to make the smart, strategic investments we have for the last five years to maintain our economic momentum and ensure Wisconsin’s continued stability and success.”
Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) during a press conference in March 2023. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)
Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) and Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) both serve on one of the most powerful committees in the Wisconsin State Legislature, yet as members of the minority they’ve often been frustrated by the way Republicans on the committee have excluded them from conversations. The lawmakers say they hope some of this changes next year.
The 16-person Joint Finance Committee is responsible for writing the state’s two-year budget — deciding which policy priorities get funding and which don’t — and reviewing all state appropriations and revenues. Republican lawmakers will continue to hold 12 seats next session with Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) serving as co-chairs.
In previous sessions, when Democrats held a smaller minority in the Senate and Assembly, the lawmakers said Republicans often excluded them from the budget negotiation process.
“The Republican party didn’t just treat us badly because we were in the minority, they treated us as though we did not exist on Joint Finance,” Johnson said. “Some of their motions we didn’t find out about until they were actually passing them out on paper. That means we had very little input.”
Roys said it’s been “very easy for the Republicans to just go in a little room, figure out what they’re going to do, and then they come out and they all vote in lockstep.”
“There’s no discussion, there’s no transparency, and there’s certainly no opportunity for Democrats to have our priorities reflected in the budget,” Roys said.
Beyond budget writing discussions, Republican lawmakers on the committee have also often rejected calls from Democrats on the committee to release money that was already dedicated to certain issues.
Johnson called the practice of withholding of money a “tremendous problem.” She noted that $50 million that was meant to help support the implementation of new literacy curricula in schools across the state haven’t been released despite being included in the 2023-25 budget.
“Not only are they holding those funds up, but the cost is continuing to rise, so that $50 million that was promised in 2024 isn’t going to go as far in 2025,” Johnson said. “We’ve seen that.”
Johnson also pointed out that funding to help expand the number of beds at Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center, a facility in Madison that provides specialized treatment services for juveniles transferred from the Department of Corrections, was withheld for about six months. It was only released after the death of a youth counselor for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections at Lincoln Hills School for Boys at the hands of a 16-year-old boy.
Other funds that have been withheld by the committee in the recent session include $10 million to support hospitals in the Chippewa Valley and $125 million to combat PFAS contamination.
“What is the purpose of us allocating these funds if the agencies can’t access them the way that they need to to make these programs work, to get what they need to get?” Johnson said.
“That dynamic is at play, and I wonder if it will chasten the Republicans. It doesn’t seem to have done so yet,” Roys said.
Elections under new legislative maps increased Democrats’ presence in the state Legislature by 14 seats. In the upcoming session about 45% of the Legislature will be Democrats, but they will only make up one-quarter of the finance committee with four seats. Despite this, Democrats hope that Republicans will allow for more communication.
Whether there is more bipartisan collaboration in JFC next session given the closer margins in the Senate and Assembly is an open question, Roys said.
“There’s always an opportunity,” Roys said. “Our doors are open, and we are very willing to collaborate. I think we’ve shown that in previous sessions by supporting legislation that would not have passed without Democratic votes, even though Republicans had these crazy outsized majorities.”
Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) during a press conference in June 2023. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)
Johnson said that she hopes that Republicans learned a lesson from the recent elections, and warned that if Republicans don’t change their ways it could hurt their election chances in two years, when Democrats will aim to flip the Senate.
Republicans in the Senate lost four members in recent elections, including two who were members of the committee — Sens. Joan Ballweg and Duey Stroebel. Three new Republican Senators are joining the committee next session — Sen. Romaine Quinn, Julian Bradley and Rob Stafsholt — to replace the outgoing lawmakers and newly elected Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk).
Johnson said that, while she’s glad to have Sen.-elect. Sarah Keyeski of Lodi, who ousted Ballweg, joining the Senate Democrats, she thought Ballweg was a good lawmaker, who faced the consequences of gerrymandering.
“That’s the hard part of when maps are gerrymandered … when it’s corrected, sometimes the people that you lose are the moderates who are willing to do the right thing simply because it’s the right thing,” Johnson said. “That doesn’t mean that she never voted with her side. Of course she did. But she stepped away from that sometimes when she needed things for her community, too. She wasn’t opposed to doing the right thing.”
Johnson said she hopes the writing is on the wall for lawmakers that want to ostracize the minority.
“If they don’t take this as a wake-up call, then that’s better for us,” Johnson said. “Continue to operate the way that you have been operating for these last 11 years or so that I’ve been in the building, continue to do that, and it should most definitely be best for us next election cycle.”
Priorities for the lawmakers
Johnson, who has served on the committee since 2017, says she continues to because of the opportunity it presents.
“The quickest way to help some of the people that I know that need help the most — like the working poor in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County — is through JFC,” Johnson says. “That’s where all of the important decisions are made because if you’re going to get anything passed in that building that requires one dollar amount, then that money has to be set aside through JFC to make sure that the appropriate appropriations are there.”
Johnson said lawmakers have been preparing for the next budget cycle by reading agency requests.
The Democratic senators said they want to see next year’s budget invest in a variety of priorities, including K-12 and higher education, local government funding, child care, health care and public safety.
Johnson said that investing in some of these priorities could help bring down costs down the road.
Johnson noted the high costs of housing youth at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake schools. Currently, the state budgets $463,000 annually to house each juvenile in those facilities, and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections has requested that be increased to about $862,000 per year by 2026.
investing in human needs and public education instead could help prevent children from ending up at the facility, Johnson said.
“It drives me crazy,” Johnson said. “I would much rather see my tax dollars being spent on higher educational tuition reimbursements, more housing assistance, more Foodshare, more whatever, to keep these families stable, to keep these kids in the home, than to pay [over] $860,000 for one child that may or may not correct that behavior.”
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has requested an additional $4 billion in funding, the UW System has requested an additional $855 million and the state’s technical colleges have requested an additional $45 million.
Roys mentioned increasing funding for education and local governments as some of her top priorities.
“We’ve been asking our schools and local governments to continually do more with less under these harsh levy limits and inadequate funding from the state. That compounds over time,” Roys said. “We have got to make sure that our schools and our local governments have the money they need to continue providing the service that every single Wisconsinite deserves.”
When it comes to K-12 education, Roys said securing a 90% special education reimbursement for public schools would be her top priority. Private schools that participate in the school choice program already receive that rate of reimbursement, while public schools currently receive about a 33% reimbursement.
“We have a moral and a legal obligation to educate all kids, and that means meeting the needs of students with disabilities, but when the state only pays for a third of the cost of educating what that means is that school districts have to take away things for all students,” Roys said. “All kids are being harmed by the state failing to meet this unfunded mandate, failing to fund this obligation.”
Roys said investing in child care is another big priority for her.
Wisconsin’s Child Care Counts program was launched in March 2020 using federal money and has provided funding assistance to eligible child care providers to help support operating expenses, investments in program quality, tuition relief for families, staff compensation and professional development. The program is set to end in June 2025, however, as federal funds will run out.
“We cannot have a vibrant economy and have the workforce participation that we need for a strong economy if we don’t have affordable, accessible child care in every corner of the state,” Roys said. “The Legislature’s decision to go from, you know, $300 million Child Care Counts program that kept the doors open to $0 for child care in the last budget has had devastating consequences in every community across the state.”
Lawmakers on what people should know
When asked about what people should know going into next year, Johnson said people need to stay aware of what the committee is doing. She pointed out that people who closely watch Wisconsin politics probably already know about the importance of JFC.
“For those people who are not politically savvy and who don’t pay attention to those types of things, they really need to pay attention to JFC,” Johnson said.
“JFC is where those priorities are manifested, or they go to die,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t matter how good a piece of legislation is, if the funding isn’t there for it and it requests dollar amounts, it’s gonna die.”
Roys said people should make their voices and priorities known, saying that people could send emails to every member of the committee.
“Public input tells us what’s important,” Roys said. “We can’t guarantee, obviously, what the Republicans are going to choose and be funded, but it does send a strong message. That is how we know without a shadow of a doubt that public education and affordable child care were key priorities, but Republicans chose to ignore that.”
Sen. Howard Marklein and Rep. Mark Born, who will continue to serve as co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee in 2025, during a press conference in May 2023. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)
Assembly leaders have announced their appointments to the influential Joint Finance Committee for next session. The 16-member committee is responsible for writing the state’s two-year budget and reviewing state appropriations and revenues.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) announced last week that Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) will continue to serve as co-chair of the committee alongside Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green). Born has served as a co-chair since 2019.
Rep. Tony Kurtz (R-Wonewoc) is replacing outgoing Rep. Terry Katsma (R-Oostburg), who decided to retire this year, as vice-chair of the committee.
“I am confident that together, Reps. Born and Kurtz will work with their colleagues on the Joint Finance Committee to always put taxpayers first,” Vos said in a statement.
Rep. Karen Hurd (R-Withee) will join the committee next session.
“I look forward to the task of balancing the state budget and ensuring our state’s finances remain strong,” Hurd said in a statement. “We will work to strengthen Wisconsin’s economy.”
Reps. Alex Dallman (R-Green Lake), Jessie Rodriguez (R-Oak Creek) and Shannon Zimmerman (R-River Falls) will all return to the committee next session.
Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) announced Thursday that Reps. Tip McGuire (D-Kenosha) and Deb Andraca (D-Whitefish Bay) will continue to serve on the committee next session.
“Both legislators have proven themselves as powerful communicators and effective leaders, and I am sure they will both serve their communities and our state well on the legislature’s most powerful committee,” Neubauer said in a statement. “Next year, Assembly Democrats will fight for a visionary budget that moves our state forward, and I am confident that Rep. McGuire and Rep. Andraca are ready to advocate for what’s best for our state on the Joint Finance Committee.”
McGuire has served on the committee since January 2023, and Andraca was first appointed to the committee in August 2023 to fill a vacancy left by Rep. Evan Goyke.
McGuire said in a statement that his top priority on the committee will be ensuring “working families in Wisconsin can thrive.”
“That means fighting for affordability in housing and healthcare, quality public education, and a strong economy that grows the middle class and ensures hard-working people can get ahead,” McGuire said.
Other members of the committee include:
Sen. Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point), who will serve as the Senate co-chair
“Make no mistake, we still hold the majority,” Felzkowski said. “I hope we have better conversations. I hope we have better negotiations," Senate President Mary Felzkowsi said. (Screenshot via Zoom)
New-elected Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said Tuesday that she hopes for more bipartisan conversations next year, but that her caucus plans to operate in the same way it has previously, since Republicans still hold the majority in the Wisconsin Legislature, even after losing a handful of seats this election year.
The Legislature will return with closer margins next year following elections under new legislative maps. Republicans will have an 18-15 majority in the Senate, down from their previous 22-seat supermajority. In the Assembly Republicans will hold a 55-45 majority. Felzkowski made her comments during a WisPolitics panel Tuesday alongside Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) and two strategists — Keith Gilkes, a consultant and former chief political advisor for Republican former Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic strategist Tanya Bjork.
“Make no mistake, we still hold the majority,” Felzkowski said. “I hope we have better conversations. I hope we have better negotiations.”
Felzkowski said she would “love” to have more meetings with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, noting that former Gov. Scott Walker used to conduct weekly meetings with lawmakers during his time in office. (During the Walker administration, Republicans controlled both chambers of the Legislature and Democrats accused them of breaking the law by meeting in secret with Walker.)
Democratic leaders have said that they believe there will be more opportunities for work across the aisle next year, and that more competitive legislative districts will encourage that.
“We’ve got some Republicans. We’ve got some Democrats who are in close, 50-50 seats,” Neubauer said during the panel discussion. “I expect that some in Republican leadership want things to continue as they have in the past, but I expect that a lot of those members who are in those difficult seats are going to be pushing to invest in K-12, to lower costs for working families, to take up popular policy.”
The state budget — and potential use of the $4 billion budget surplus — will be a major focus for lawmakers when they return in 2025. Writing the budget is a time when lawmakers discuss potential policy changes on a wide array of issues, and the potential funding that should be placed behind them.
Potential budget proposals and policy changes in wake of school shooting
“This is the deadliest school shooting on record in Wisconsin and it’s just an incredible tragedy. I know that people across the state are sending their good thoughts, of course, to those who were impacted but also really are looking for leadership in this time,” Neubauer said. She said proposals from President Joe Biden, who called for Congress to pass universal background checks, a national red flag law and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as new proposals from Wisconsin legislators in the state budget could be paths for improving school safety.
“In Wisconsin, for many years, we’ve been talking about red flag laws. We’ve been talking about universal background checks. These are policies that are widely supported by the people of this state, and I think in particular when it hits home for kids,” Neubauer said.
“For my school district here in the Racine area, they would really like to invest in school safety, there are important programs that they run, there are physical improvements that they would like to make, and I know that we’re going to be having a budget conversation very soon,” Neubauer continued. “I do hope that we’re able to keep in mind that investments in K-12 are also investments in school safety, and that’s a responsibility of the Legislature for the coming session.”
Felzkowski stopped short of endorsing the policy changes that Neubauer mentioned. She instead said that people need to look at what has changed in American society, adding that people also took guns to school 30 and 40 years ago.
“We went hunting after school and nobody was afraid. Nobody was afraid that they were going to get shot at school, so society has changed,” Felzkowski said. “I think we need to recognize those factors that have changed in our society.”
“We can pass a lot of different legislation, but we need to start looking at underlying causes…Is it social media? Is it cyberbullying? Is it too much screen time in our children? Is it violence that we’ve allowed them to watch at a young age?” Felzkowski asked. “I hope we can come together with a lot of tough conversations and look at that.”
Felzkowski said increasing weapons screening in schools could also be a point of discussion.
“Those are conversations that we should have in this budget to help fund ideas, so that people can’t walk through the door with no screening,” Felzkowski said.
Spending the surplus, funding priorities
The state’s $4 billion budget surplus will likely be a key point of discussion during the budget writing process. Felzkowski said that when it comes to the surplus Republicans will “do exactly what we did last time,” and don’t plan on using the money for recurring projects.
“If the majority of this is one-time money we’re going to spend it on one-time projects,” Felzkowski said. “One-time money should be spent on infrastructure. Instead of borrowing, we’ll spend it on our roads. We’ll spend it on maintaining our buildings.”
Felzkowski said during the budget process, lawmakers will survey current spending costs and what funding could be needed for other priorities. She said returning money to taxpayers would also be a priority.
“If we have a $4 billion surplus, then we have too much of our taxpayers’ money; we can return it to them,” Felzkowski said.
Felzkowski added that the government didn’t choose for property taxes to rise in certain communities. Her comments follow a Wisconsin Policy Forum report that found gross K-12 property taxes in the state are expected to rise by the largest amount since 2009. She said she voted in favor of raising property taxes in her own community.
“When people vote at the local level to increase their taxes, their property taxes, that’s a decision they make, and that’s a decision they choose to make,” Felzkowski said. “I don’t think that’s government making that decision for them and I think that’s something they can do.”
Neubauer said Assembly Democrats would be open to conversations about tax cuts, if they’re targeted.
“We’re just simply not gonna give a tax cut to the wealthiest Wisconsinites and people who do not need it. We are very open to considering a tax cut that is targeted, that is focused on middle class and working families,” Neubauer said. She said also that people in their communities are being “forced to raise their own property taxes in order to fund their schools.”
Felzkowski didn’t specify what potential tax cut proposals would look like, but noted that Evers “moved the needle” for what he considered a middle class tax cut when he vetoed some tax cut bills lawmakers sent him earlier this year. Those proposals included raising the top income in the state’s second-lowest tax bracket to just over $112,000, exempting up to $150,000 in retirement income from the state income tax and increasing the current maximum marriage tax credit. Evers did sign a law increasing Wisconsin’s child care tax credit.
“If Gov. Evers continues to move the needle on what ‘middle class’ is, then we’re kind of at a loss,” Felzkowski said, adding that some families struggling financially could use a tax cut. “We gave [Evers] the tax cut and he still vetoed it. I’m hoping that that needle doesn’t move again.”
Several policy proposals are likely to be discussed next year in relation to the budget, including for Medicaid expansion and higher education. States that accept the federal Medicaid expansion agree to cover people with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty guideline, and the federal government pays 90% of the cost for the additional Medicaid recipients, more than the 60% Wisconsin currently receives.
Evers has proposed that Wisconsin join 40 other states across the country in adopting the Medicaid expansion every budget cycle, and Republicans have rejected the proposal each time. Felzkowski said that it remains off the table for Republicans.
“We don’t have a gap in Wisconsin, so why would we take people off of private insurance to put them on government insurance and put our hospitals, who are already suffering, into a worse position with a lower reimbursement rate?” Felzkowski said. “We don’t need to create more gaps in health care when we have people covered.”
Neubauer said that Medicaid expansion would continue to be a priority for Assembly Democrats. She said that some insurance remains a “huge strain” on families with private insurance.
“They frankly are not able to afford it. They are cutting in other areas to afford that insurance,” Neubauer said.
Higher education will also be a focus of budget discussions as the UW System has requested an additional $855 million to bring the system up to the national median in state spending. Felzkowski said that she hasn’t heard much support for the proposal.
Other issue areas
Lawmakers may also turn their attention back to medical marijuana legalization this year. Felzkowski said that there was one person standing in the way of getting it done last session: Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.
“That person has some pretty strict ideas on how that bill should be drafted,” Felzkowski said. Vos’ proposal last session included opening a handful of state run dispensaries, an unpopular idea among many in the Legislature. “We’re hoping to have a conversation in early January to see if there isn’t a way that we can come to a consensus between Assembly Republicans and Senate Republicans to negotiate a compromise.”
Felzkowski said that a bill to allow “Monday processing” of absentee ballots could also come forward next session. A proposal to allow election clerks to begin processing absentee ballots on the Monday before the election passed the Assembly last session but never advanced in the Senate.
“There are many senators that were very much in support of that. The chair of the Senate elections committee was not and chose not to hear that. He is no longer a member of the Senate,” Felzkowski said. Sen. Dan Knodl, who served as chair of that committee, chose not to run for reelection under the new legislative maps, but will serve in the Assembly next year. “I’m hoping this year that we will have a committee hearing on that bill if it’s brought back and that we have a robust conversation on that. I personally think that is something that we should be doing in the state of Wisconsin.”
Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein on floor of Senate. (Courtesy Hesselbein's office)
Wisconsin Senate Democrats knew going into this year’s elections that their opportunity to flip the Senate wouldn’t come until 2026, but they had a goal of flipping four seats and keeping every seat already held by a Democrat. They succeeded, and now the caucus is preparing for a legislative session with high hopes for bipartisan work.
Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) told the Wisconsin Examiner in a year-end interview that her 15-member caucus is bringing “a lot of energy, enthusiasm and honesty” to the Senate and is looking forward to working next session. She said the bolstered caucus is returning for the next two-year session with “a lot of good ideas.”
Hesselbein said lawmakers have already started to talk about what happened on the campaign trail, and the caucus will begin having more robust conversations next week about their priorities for the session. She said the importance of public schools including K-12, universities and technical colleges has been a recurring theme already.
Hesselbein sees new influence for Democrats in a few ways. For one, Senate Democrats now have the numbers to stop Senate Republicans from overturning Gov. Tony Evers’ vetoes. Hesselbein said this is “huge.” Senate Republicans held a 22-seat supermajority in the 2023-24 session, which allowed them to vote to overturn some of Evers’ vetoes, though these efforts weren’t successful since Assembly Republicans didn’t hold a supermajority. Senate Republicans’ majority was trimmed back to 18 out of 33 seats in the recent election.
With a more evenly split Legislature, Hesselbein said there will be the potential to get more things done in a bipartisan way. She noted that last session several big pieces of legislation, including funding renovations at the stadium where the Milwaukee Brewers play, investing in the state’s local government funding and overhauling the state’s alcohol licensing, had bipartisan support.
“They have a lot of Republicans on their side that don’t vote for much of anything, so we will see going forward,” Hesselbein said. She said that she has spoken with Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) and newly-elected Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) about the upcoming session, and the conversation was good. She said Senate Republicans plan to caucus on Monday and Senate Democrats will caucus on Tuesday, and the leaders will hopefully meet again in January.
“I’m going to have conversations with Sen. LeMahieu and Sen. Felzkowski, and figure out if there’s a way we can move forward in a bipartisan manner,” Hesselbein said.
One area ripe for work next year is the state’s two-year budget. With a $4 billion budget surplus, lawmakers will return in January with the task of deciding how to spend the money.
Hesselbein said she believes that Democratic votes could be necessary to successfully pass a budget. The Senate Democratic leader hasn’t voted in favor of a state budget in her 12 years in the Legislature, and hopes that can change.
“I don’t know how they would pass a budget without Democratic votes. They have a lot of Republicans on their side that don’t vote for much of anything,” Hesselbein. She pointed to Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), who voted against the last state budget, as an example. Nass’ Chief of Staff Mike Mikalsen noted in an email to the Examiner that Nass has voted against “many fiscally flawed and big spending state budgets,” but that “since his first election in 1990, he has voted in favor of a few fiscally-sane state budgets.”
Agencies recently submitted their budget requests, and when it comes to education funding, DPI Superintendent Jill Underly submitted a request for an additional $4 billion and the UW System has asked for an additional $855 million. Hesselbein said she was surprised that the requests were so high.
“They’re big numbers but you know what? They have been underfunded for decades,” Hesselbein said.
Underly’s job, Hesselbein said, is “to run the Department of Public Instruction and let us know what she thinks she needs for that budget, and she did that.” She said that UW System President Jay Rothman had the same responsibility.
“I know we couldn’t meet both their expectations, right, without blowing a huge hole in the budget,” Hesselbein said.
Shoring up education
Hesselbein said that investing in the state’s special education reimbursement for public schools could be particularly important as there is uncertainty about what could happen under the new Trump administration.
“If Donald Trump gets rid of the Department of Education on a federal level, what does that do for special education in the state of Wisconsin? We have students that have IEPs, and they have federal protection so that they can get help but they might be learning different ways,” Hesselbein said. “There’s a lot of unsure things going on right now.”
Hesselbein said investing in mental health resources in K-12 schools and higher education will be important as well.
Republicans have said tax cuts will be one of their highest priorities next year. Hesselbein said that any tax cuts would need to be “micro-targeted” to gain Democratic support, and she doesn’t know if Republicans will “get there based on what they did last session.” Republican lawmakers had proposed several tax cuts that Evers vetoed, including an income tax cut.
Hesselbein added that property tax relief could be an interesting proposition, given that many communities have decided to raise their property taxes to help with education costs. A recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report found that gross K-12 property taxes in the state are expected to rise by the largest amount since 2009 due in part to referendum requests.
“Really the reason why we have billions of dollars in our surplus is because we haven’t been funding K-12 education the way we should for years,” Hesselbein said. “People over and over again will raise their property tax if they want to support their neighborhood schools, so those people are agreeing to tax themselves higher because they care so much about K-12 education, but they’re making those decisions because the state of Wisconsin isn’t keeping up their promise to pay for those services and that school.”
Other Democratic prioirites
When it comes to health care issues, Hesselbein said that she hopes lawmakers will be able to expand Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers to 12 months. She noted that Wisconsin is one of two states in the U.S. that haven’t accepted the expansion. The Senate passed a bill to do so in the most recent legislative session, but it never received a vote in the Assembly.
“We have it on the books where you get 60 days and if you’re postpartum 61 days, too bad, you don’t get any services,” Hesselbein said. “That’s not how your body works after you have a baby.” She said women who have just given birth need support and resources.
As Democrats are still in the minority, Hesselbein admitted there will likely be limits to what Democrats can accomplish on certain issues next session as much will depend on Republicans.
Hesselbein said Democrats will continue working to eliminate the 1849 statute that went into effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned, causing the cessation of abortion services in Wisconsin. That law is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court. She said that she also wants to pass a bill for a fairer process for drawing voting maps. Wisconsin implemented new maps this year after the state Supreme Court ruled that the last set of maps, drawn to heavily favor Republicans, were unconstitutional. However, the laws guiding how Wisconsin draws voting maps haven’t changed.
“I don’t know if that’s going to happen until we’re in the majority, but we’re going to continue to push for that,” Hesselbein said.
Hesselbein said it would be a “missed opportunity” if Republicans choose not to work with Democrats to get things done, and said voters will remember “if we don’t get the budget done on time…if we’re not meeting as much” and what bills get completed.
“I can’t force Republicans to work with me if they won’t do that,” Hesselbein said. “I can offer an olive branch. I can say, ‘My door is open. Let’s have these conversations.’ But at the end of the day if they refuse to work with me, that’s on them.”
Hesselbein recalled that on the last day of session Senate Republicans ended debate even as Democrats wanted to speak, which led to Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) throwing papers up in the air in frustration.
“We answer to the voters in our district and it’s awful when the Republican Party silences Democrats, just because they don’t want to hear what we need to say to represent the communities that we represent. That’s unfair,” Hesselbein said. “And we won’t do that, by the way, when we’re in the majority. We’re going to let people be able to talk and be able to say what they want and have robust conversations.”
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