Gov. Tony Evers celebrates "historic" tax cuts in the last state budget. Schools are still facing austerity. Photo via Gov. Evers' Facebook page

As Republicans in Congress struggle to deliver President Donald Trump’s massive cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, education, health research and just about every other social good you can think of, in order to clear the way for trillions of dollars in tax cuts to the richest people in the U.S., here in Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and state lawmakers are working on the next state budget.

The one thing our Democratic governor and Republican legislative leaders seem to agree on is that we need a tax cut.

After throwing away more than 600 items in Evers’ budget proposal, GOP leggies now say they can’t move forward with their own budget plan until  Evers makes good on his promise to meet with them and negotiate the terms for the tax-cutting that both sides agree they want to do. Evers has expressed optimism that the budget will be done on time this summer, and said the tax cuts need to be part of the budget, not a separate, stand-alone bill. Evers wants a more progressive tax system, with cuts targeted to lower-income people. In the last budget, he opposed expanding the second-lowest tax bracket, which would have offered the same benefits to higher earners as the lower middle class.

But what if we don’t need a tax cut at all?

It has long been an article of faith in the Republican Party that tax cuts are a miracle cure for everything. Trickle-down economics is  a proven failure:  The wealthy and corporations tend to bank their tax cuts rather than injecting the extra money into the economy, as tax-cutters say they will. The benefits of the 2017 tax cuts that Congress is struggling to extend went exclusively to corporations and the very wealthy and failed to trickle down on the rest of us. 

 In the second Trump administration, we are in new territory when it comes to tax cutting. The administration and its enablers are hell-bent on destroying everything from the Department of Education to critical health research to food stamps and Medicaid in order to finance massive tax breaks for the very rich. 

If ever there were a good time to reexamine the tax-cutting reflex, it’s now.

Evers has said he is not willing to consider the Republicans’ stand-alone tax-cut legislation, and that, instead, tax cuts should be part of the state budget. That makes sense, since new projections show lower-than-expected tax revenue even without a cut, and state budget-writers have a lot to consider as we brace for the dire effects of federal budget cuts. The least our leaders can do is not blindly give away cash without even assessing future liabilities.

But beyond that, we need to reconsider the knee-jerk idea that we are burdened with excessive taxes and regulations, that our state would be better off if we cut investments in our schools and universities, our roads and bridges, our clean environment, museums, libraries and other shared spaces and stopped keeping a floor under poor kids by providing basic food and health care assistance. 

Wisconsin Republicans like to tout the list of states produced annually by the Tax Foundation promoting “business friendly” environments that reduce corporate taxes, including Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska and Florida. They also like to bring up ALEC’s “Rich States, Poor States” report that gave top billing last year to Utah, Idaho and Arizona for low taxes and deregulation. 

What they don’t track when they lift up those states are pollution, low wages and bankrupt public school systems. 

I’m old enough to remember when it was headline news that whole families in the U.S. were living in their cars, when homelessness was a new term, coined during the administration of Ronald Reagan, the father of bogus trickle-down economics and massive cuts to services for the poor. 

Somehow, we got used to the idea that urban parts of the richest nation on Earth resemble the poorest developing countries, with human misery and massive wealth existing side by side in our live-and-let-die economy.

Wisconsin, thanks to its progressive history, managed to remain a less unequal state, with top public schools and a great university system, as well as a clean, beautiful environment and well-maintained infrastructure. But here, too, we have been getting used to our slide to the bottom of the list of states, thanks in large part to the damage done by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker. 

We now rank 44th in the nation for investment in our once-great universities, and the austerity that’s been imposed on higher education is taking a toll across the state. Our consistently highly rated public schools have suffered from a decade and a half of budget cuts that don’t allow districts to keep pace with inflation, and recent state budgets have not made up the gap. 

Now threats to Medicaid, Head Start, AmeriCorps, our excellent library system, UW-Madison research and environmental protections do not bode well for Wisconsin’s future.

In the face of brutal federal cuts, we need to recommit to our shared interest in investing in a decent society, and figure out how to preserve what’s great about our state.

Tax cuts do not make the top of the list of priorities.

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Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) said during a press conference ahead of a Senate floor session Thursday that Evers’ office has had lawmakers’ plan for a tax cut since March and that they have asked Evers for a list of specific items that he would want in the budget to agree to cutting taxes. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

State budget negotiations were top of mind for lawmakers Thursday, even as the Senate took action on a variety of bills, with Senate Republicans calling for a meeting with Gov. Tony Evers and Democrats calling on Republicans to support Evers’ budget requests. 

The Wisconsin Legislature is in the process of writing the next biennial budget, and Republicans are intent on passing a tax cut this session after failing to get Evers’ approval for a proposed cut last session.

Republican leaders have said they want an agreement on the tax cut before allocating spending to other priorities, and are waiting for Evers to schedule an in-person meeting with them to work it out.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) said during a press conference ahead of a Senate floor session Thursday that Evers’ office has had lawmakers’ plan for a tax cut since March and that they have asked Evers for a list of specific items that he would want in the budget to agree to cutting taxes. However, LeMahieu said they haven’t been given any details in the last several weeks.

“Speaker Vos and I provided the governor with a series of times [to meet] into next week as a last-ditch effort to preserve these good faith negotiations,” LeMahieu said. “I hope sincerely that he accepts… one of those dates next week. It’s imperative that we meet by the end of next week at the latest to stay on schedule to pass a budget by the end of the fiscal year. It’s as simple as that. Time’s ticking… and if we’re going to work to get a budget passed, we need to meet with the governor next week.”

LeMahieu said GOP tax goals include exempting income for retirees in Wisconsin to encourage them to stay in the state and increasing the second-tier tax bracket, similar to a bill the governor vetoed last session. LeMahieu said the new tax bracket won’t reach as high up the income ladder as the vetoed one.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said on Tuesday that work on the budget is “on pause” until legislators get an in-person meeting with Evers and that their preferred option is “to be able to get an agreed upon tax cut so that we know we have X dollars to invest in schools and health care and all the other things that are important.” 

LeMahieu said that the latest Legislative Fiscal Bureau report would also be pivotal in negotiations because it will help lawmakers understand “what kind of tax cut we can afford” and “what kind of other investments we can afford.”

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau projected in the fiscal estimate released Thursday afternoon that the state will finish the 2023-25 fiscal year, which ends June 30, with a $4.3 billion budget surplus, which is slightly higher than the estimate from January. However, the estimate also found that tax collection will likely be lower over the next two years.

“While we are not surprised by these new estimates, we remain cautious as we work to craft a budget that invests in our priorities, funds our obligations, and puts the State of Wisconsin in a strong fiscal position for the future,” Joint Finance Committee Co-chairs Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) and Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) said in a statement. 

The lawmakers said that the estimates are a sign that they need to continue to approach the budget in the same way they have in the past. They also called on Evers to “take these revenue re-estimates seriously” and to “come to the table with legislative leaders and work with us to craft a reasonable budget that works for Wisconsin.” 

Democrats on the Joint Finance Committee said in a statement that the estimate is a sign of the decline the economy could face due to Trump administration tariffs. 

“Now, more than ever, Wisconsinites are struggling to put food on the table and maintain a roof over their heads. This projection shows it’s going to get even worse, especially when our communities start to feel the direct impact of the Trump regime’s trade war around the globe,” the lawmakers said. “Together, we need to ensure Wisconsinites have the resources to get through the chaos and uncertainty that lies ahead.” 

Ahead of the floor session, Democratic lawmakers called attention to Evers’ budget requests, saying that the various non-budget bills the Senate took up Thursday don’t address the issues that Wisconsinites are most concerned about. 

“It’s been 87 days since [Evers] has introduced his budget. It invests in essential priorities — K-12 funding, child care education, mental health, helping the environment and putting much needed funding in the university system. What have Republicans done in those 87 days? Well, they stripped essential items in that budget….” Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) said at a press conference. “What the Legislature should do is debate the budget.”

Wisconsin Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee cut over 600 items from Evers’ proposal last week , saying they were taking the budget “back to base.” 

Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) noted that lawmakers recently traveled across the state to hear from Wisconsinites about their priorities for the state budget and then failed to act on any of those priorities. She then listed several bills on Thursday’s calendar. 

“We’ve got a bill on changing the name on the name-change process for people convicted of violent crimes; a bill that gives big businesses their own private courts; a bill tweaking surcharges for electric vehicles,” Johnson said. “I’m not saying that these bills aren’t important to someone, but we sure didn’t hear about these issues when we traveled across the state at our listening sessions.” 

Johnson said that lawmakers need to ask if the bills “meet the moment” the state is facing. 

“Do they lower the cost for hard-working families? Do they help us hire nurses, teachers, child care providers? Do they clean our water and keep our streets safe [or remediate] lead contaminated classrooms?” Johnson asked. “If the answer is no, then why the hell are we here?” 

Democrats, including Hesselbein, have said they think Democratic votes will be necessary to pass a budget, but they don’t necessarily expect to be in the room for budget negotiations between legislative Republicans and Evers.

Asked if Democrats are requesting to participate in a sit-down between Evers and Republicans, Hesselbein said she is “in consistent contact with Gov. Evers and his administration, and those conversations have been both before and moving forward.” 

Pressed on whether she wants to be in the room when the governor and Republicans meet, Hesselbein said “I’ll be honest, sometimes it’s hard to get all of us in the same room because of timing and schedules and things like that.”

Some of the bills that the Senate took action on Thursday include: 

• SB 33, which would make it a crime to share nonconsensual “deep fake” nude images and was introduced in reaction to the growing use of artificial intelligence to make fake images. It passed unanimously. 
• SB 125, which would require the Public Service Commission to conduct a study for a place to locate a nuclear power plant. It passed with bipartisan support from 28 Senators. Four Democrats and Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) voted against the bill. 
• SB 96, which would exempt electric vehicle charging stations at a person’s home from the electric vehicle charging tax. It passed unanimously. 
• SB 146, which would bar someone convicted of a violent crime including homicide, battery, kidnapping, stalking, human trafficking and sexual assault from changing their name, passed 18-15 in a party line vote.
• The Senate also passed AB 73 in an 18-15 vote. The bill would create a specialized commercial court meant to handle business cases. It comes after the state Supreme Court discontinued a pilot program last year.

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Pinwheels posted at Tree Top child care center in Ashland represent the families on the waiting list for the program. (Photo courtesy of Theresa Fredericks)

Theresa Fredericks grew up in the world of child care.

Her mother founded a child care center in Ashland 52 years ago, when Fredericks was just 5 months old. Fredericks started her career in early education as a teacher there, then took over management and ownership of the program, Tree Top Child Development Center and Preschool.

Fredericks has been proud of the center’s reputation in the community. Tree Top currently is licensed for 33 children at a time. With schedules staggered for some children, there are a total of 39 currently enrolled.

The waiting list is nearly twice that size: 72 children. This week Fredericks put up one pinwheel for each waiting list occupant on the law in front of the center, along with some signs. “Child care wanted,” one sign said. “Quality child care should be a right” said another. “Not a luxury,” said a third.

On Tuesday Fredericks was 300 miles away, at the state Capitol in Madison. Tree Top was closed, and Fredericks says it will be closed again on Wednesday and the rest of this week.

It was a tough decision, she said — but one she and her staff felt was necessary to make a point to Wisconsin lawmakers.

“Without state investment the parents can’t afford to pay rising tuition and staff can’t afford to stay at low wages,” Fredericks told the Wisconsin Examiner. “With investment, we will see a rise in teachers going into the field, we will see an increase in available programs.”

That’s why she and her staff decided to join the statewide strike called by child care providers.

Balancing better wages, affordable fees

The strike is a response to action May 8 by the Republican majority on the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee to strip $480 million from Tony Evers’ proposed budget. The money would provide child care centers with an ongoing monthly stipend, continuing support first provided through federal COVID-19 pandemic relief funds.

Child care providers have credited the money for enabling them to increase the wages of child care teachers while avoiding increases in the fees that parents pay.

“I know that there are many people who think that because we care for very young children that we don’t count as teachers,” said Tree Top teacher Betsy Westlund at a combination press conference and rally on the Capitol steps Tuesday. “But the work we do is highly skilled and deeply critical to our society, the economy, and our communities.”

She described a common suggestion that child care providers hear when they talk about funding shortfalls: increase tuition and expand enrollment.

“Never mind the tuition is already so high that so few can afford it, and never mind how difficult it is to find teachers willing to work for low wages with no benefits,” Westlund said.

“No one considers supporting the quality of child care by supporting skilled teachers because they assume anyone will do,” she added. “And that hurts. Man, does that hurt — because I know how much I have to put in to become educated in early childhood.”

Republicans favor expanding employer child care tax credit; providers skeptical

“We are not just babysitting — we are laying the foundation for lifelong learning,” said Amber Haas, a fellow Tree Top teacher.

The organizers of the strike are calling it “State Without Child Care.” They’re doing it “so that our elected representatives, especially on the Joint Finance Committee, can actually have an idea of what is going to happen this summer,” said Corrine Hendrickson, co-founder of Wisconsin Early Childhood Action Needed (WECAN) and the operator of a family child care center in New Glarus.

At the Assembly’s floor session Tuesday afternoon, child care providers sat in the overhead gallery. On the floor, Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire) introduced some by name, adding that they “are here in the Capitol to advocate for $480 million in the budget for living wages for teachers in early childhood education.”

While some providers are going all in with the strike, many say they cannot — but they are equally concerned about the issue.

Assessing the risk

Angela Norvold has grown her child care program in Hudson from a family day care  serving eight children to two centers, each licensed for 43 children. One is for younger kids and the other for older children, including 4-year-old kindergarten.

“We thought hard and as a team,” about closing for the strike, Norvold said in an interview. She and the center’s administrators decided to send a letter to parents asking for their input. “They agreed that we should stay open, and my fear was that if we closed we would lose those people for good,” she said.

There’s a child care shortage in Hudson, Norvold said. At the same time, she added, there are several providers in the area to choose from, but many have rooms that aren’t in use because they cannot find teachers.

“I don’t know that [closing] would be making a statement where we are,” Norvold said. At the same time, though, “we did have some parents volunteer to keep their children home so that we could come [to Madison] today and tomorrow.”

Norvold said that her centers were once more affordable than those in Minnesota, drawing families who moved across the border to make their home.

“They didn’t just come for lower prices, they came for quality care, educated staff that wanted to stay, and a community that values raising children well,” she said in a brief speech at the rally.  

The funding providers received during the pandemic “didn’t just help families, it helped providers,” Norvold said. “It helped us retain and educate staff, it helped us keep costs down without sacrificing quality. It helped us build futures.”

If the support doesn’t continue, “we’re looking at yet another tuition increase — at least $30 per child per week,” Norvold said. “That will push our infant care to a level that is not sustainable for most working families. It is not sustainable for us either.”

Families show support

Families of children enrolled at Tree Top in Ashland have gotten behind the center’s decision to join the child care strike .

“Our families support us,” Fredericks said. “They know that we have done everything. We’re contacting our legislators, they’re contacting our legislators —over and over again, telling them how important it is.”

Tony Singler is the father of three children who have gone through Tree Top’s program, from the age of 3 months though 4-year-old kindergarten. His youngest child is now nearing graduation from the 4-K program.

“Everything that Theresa does there is just more in-depth and more one-on-one,” Singler said in a telephone interview Tuesday. For his kids, he said, the center has been an ideal place to help their children through their first years.

“There’s a lot of research and support that the early years are very important to the children,” Singler said. “Our pediatrician supports that, and it’s a choice we make to give our children the best chance they have.”

Singler is a certified public accountant; his wife is a nurse. “We’re not teachers,” he said. “We don’t know how to teach kids at that young age.”

Now they are juggling schedules and turning to friends for help while hoping their child can return to Tree Top soon.

“It’s tough,” said Singler, but he says he understands the position that Fredericks and the center’s employees are in.

“It’s been a very good center,” he said. “And if they don’t have the funding, and they lose the teachers because the teachers have to go somewhere else, and they have to cut the enrollment and people get cut — then you don’t have the opportunity to put your child into the center like that, give them the best chance forward in their early development.”

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Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) told reporters that they would be starting from “base” with the budget. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

The Joint Finance Committee kicked off its work on the next Wisconsin State Budget Thursday by eliminating over 600 items from Gov. Tony Evers’ sweeping budget proposal, saying they would start from “base” and his budget had too much “irresponsible” spending. Democrats criticized Republicans for blocking all of Evers’ proposals without presenting a plan of their own to address the concerns of everyday Wisconsinites.

The committee spent last month hearing from members of the public, many of whom called for investments in public education and health care, and from some agency heads, who have defended Gov. Tony Evers’ budget requests. The state has a $4 billion budget surplus it’s considering, and Evers proposed the state tap those funds and raise income taxes on the wealthiest Wisconsinites to fund his proposals. 

The list that lawmakers eliminated from the budget bill spanned about 20 pages and includes a new 9.8% income tax bracket for high-income earners, Medicaid expansion, nearly $500 million for the Child Care Counts program, marijuana legalization and taxation, $125 million to create a grant program to address PFAS, $200 million to address the replacement of lead pipes and other provisions to help address lead poisoning and many provisions related to public schools including free school meals, a “grow your own” teaching program and ensuring access to menstrual supplies in schools, funding for the Office of School Safety and a provision to cap participation in the state’s voucher programs.

Ahead of the budget meeting, committee co-chairs Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) told reporters that they would be starting from “base” with the budget, meaning removing all of the items and taking the budget back to the one in place for 2023-2025. 

Born said legislators are accustomed to “the way we have to manage the governor’s executive budgets.” Since Evers took office in 2019, Republicans have kicked off every  budget cycle by removing all of his proposals.

“Unfortunately, [Evers] sends us an executive budget that’s just piles full of stuff that doesn’t make sense and spends recklessly and raises taxes and has way too much policy,” Born said. “So, we’ll work from base and the first step of that today is to remove all that policy… and then begin the work of rebuilding the budget.”

Responding to Democrats’ criticism  that Republicans are removing items that are popular with the public, Marklein said they should draft separate bills and use the regular legislative process to advance those ideas. 

“I can point to things in the budget bill that we’re going to pull up that I like… and we’re pulling that out as well. It’s a policy,” Marklein said. “It’s got nothing to do with the budget.” 

Born noted that there are also other ways that lawmakers could address issues of concern apart from Evers’ suggestions, saying the removal of items “doesn’t mean that when we build this budget over the next couple of months, we won’t impact those areas in positive and significant ways.”

“The governor has one idea on how to fund child care or one idea on how to impact mental health,” Born said. “There are other ways that we can do that in current law and current budget operations by inserting more money in things that I can most likely see us do.”

Marklein also noted that there could be some changes to how they go about drafting the budget this year following the state Supreme Court upholding Evers’ partial veto in the last budget.

“I anticipate that you’re not going to see too many references to digits, years anymore,” Marklein said. “My guess is that our drafting attorneys are going to recommend that you spell out those years, and those dates in the budget.” Born said the decision could also affect the education budget because there are increases already “baked into the cake.” 

Evers slammed Republicans for gutting his proposal, saying that they are refusing to help Wisconsinites.

“The most frustrating part for me as governor is that Republicans consistently reject basic, commonsense proposals that can help kids, families, farmers, seniors and Wisconsinites across our state, all while Republicans offer no real or meaningful alternative of their own,” Evers said. “Republicans talk a lot about what they’re against, but not what they’re for.”

During the meeting, Democrats proposed keeping 19 items in the budget across a handful of motions that touched on certain issue areas, saying they hoped they could carve out some spots for agreement. 

One would have placed $420 million back in the budget to fund the Child Care Counts program, as well as several other child care related measures. 

Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) said Republicans are “willing to pull out really, really important items” and said the child care proposals are essential, warning that money for the Child Care Counts program is expected to expire in June. 

“We are at risk of losing 87,000 [child care] slots… The fact that these things are being pulled out of the budget today and as of today, there is no mention or discussion of a replacement plan for something as important as this,” she said, is creating uncertainty among Wisconsinites and exacerbating a crisis. 

“Our children deserve quality services. Our families deserve affordable rates,” Johnson said. 

Another motion would have placed Medicaid expansion back in the budget. Wisconsin is one of only 10 states that haven’t accepted the federal expansion, which would allow coverage for those up to 138% of the federal poverty line. 

“Families are struggling to afford the care they need, and we have an opportunity — and I would argue an obligation — to do something,” Andraca said.

Andraca noted that Congressional Republicans, including Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, are considering cuts to the Medicaid program as they aim to extend the 2017 tax cuts from President Donald Trump’s first term.

“We heard how people are fearful of cuts to the programs that they rely on, and they are forced to make increasingly hard choices between groceries and prescriptions,” Andraca said. “Are you still willing to turn your backs on the people who entrusted us to vote for their best interests? Honestly, our constituents deserve better than this.”

The final proposal from Democrats would have kept items in the budget related to veterans including tax credits for veterans, funding for a veterans’ mental health program and for the Wisconsin Veterans Museum as well as an item to designate Juneteenth and Veterans Day as holidays. 

Rep. Tip McGuire (D-Kenosha) said he hoped they could agree on not making veterans’ lives harder.

“I recognize that it’s sort of the whole brand of the Republican party right now is to make everyone’s life a little bit more difficult,” McGuire said. “Certainly, it’s harder to travel in this country, It’s harder for people to access health insurance, it’s harder for people to afford college or go to college or manage their student loans. It’s harder for people to afford groceries and there may even be a question of what you can have full shelves soon… I know it’s your whole brand to make people’s lives harder, but I think we can all agree… [veterans] should still deserve some support.” 

Republicans rejected each motion.

McGuire doubled down on his point, saying that Republicans’ opposition to supporting even smaller parts of Evers’ proposal is a sign that they don’t want to help the average person.

“People are struggling and it is a challenging world and the one thing we should not be doing the one thing that nobody votes for their legislator to do is to make their life harder,” McGuire said. “Yet, that is all we are seeing out of the Republican party right now. That’s all we see out of the federal Republican party and frankly the Republican party here,” McGuire said, noting that Republican lawmakers recently passed legislation that would place additional restrictions on unemployment benefits.

“You’re making things less affordable and more difficult for regular [people] and that’s bad and we shouldn’t do it,” McGuire said.

Marklein said he was “glad we’re going back to base” because Evers’ budget proposal included a 20% increase in spending, an additional 1,300 positions funded by general purpose revenue and an increase in taxes. 

“When I talk to my constituents about the process, they are truly supportive of us not starting from this inflated budget that [Evers] put before us,” Marklein said, noting that Evers signed the last budget after they went through a similar process. “The idea that the door is closed on all these things is pretty ridiculous.” 

McGuire pushed back on Marklein’s comments, saying that lawmakers are pretending it is a “nice and friendly” process. 

“Part of the process that occurs here today is that not only do you remove the governor’s budget items, which make life easier for Wisconsinites, but then, you also prohibit anyone from ever discussing them ever again,” McGuire said. “And that’s really bizarre… This is a top-down totalitarian committee where we’re not permitted to discuss things past a certain point.”

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As the Legislature begins working on the Wisconsin State Budget, a dangerous idea to give school vouchers their own separate line item could become a huge drain on resources. | Getty Images Creative

The top issue Wisconsinites brought to legislators’ attention at budget hearings around the state last month was the need to adequately fund public schools.

But now, as the Legislature’s powerful budget committee is beginning to work on the budget in earnest, a low-profile plan that never came up in those public hearings aims to turn school vouchers into a statewide entitlement, sucking up all the resources that might otherwise go to public schools and putting Wisconsin on a path to a full–blown budget crisis. 

The plan, contained in two bills that failed in the last legislative session, would stop funding school vouchers through the same mix of state and local funding that supports regular public schools, and instead pay for school vouchers just out of the state’s general fund. 

“It’s certainly something that I personally support. … I’m sure it will be part of the discussion,” Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam), co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance Committee, told Lisa Pugh on Wisconsin Eye when she asked about “decoupling” Wisconsin voucher school funding from the rest of the school finance system.

“Decoupling” would pave the way for a big expansion in taxpayer subsidies for private school tuition. While jettisoning the caps on available funds and enrollment in the current school formula, voucher payments would become an entitlement. The state would be obligated to pay for every eligible student to attend private school. It’s worth noting that most participants in Wisconsin’s voucher programs never attended public school, so what we are talking about is setting up a massive private school system with separate funding alongside the public K-12 school system. That’s more than Wisconsin can afford.

Anne Chapman, research director for the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials (WASBO), has followed the issue closely. “It could come up last-minute, on very short notice,” she warns. 

She worries that Wisconsin is following the same path as other states that have steadily expanded public funding for private schools without accurately assessing what the expansion would cost. In a recent WASBO paper, “The price of parallel systems,” Chapman writes that Wisconsin already ranks third among states with the highest proportion of state education dollars used in private schooling options (9%). The top two states, Florida (22%) and Arizona (12%), she writes, are “cautionary examples.” 

Florida’s universal voucher program will cost the state $3.9 billion this year. The state, which until now has been running budget surpluses, is projecting a $6.9 billion deficit by 2027-28, fueled by the voucher expansion along with tax cuts. Arizona is also facing much bigger than expected costs for its universal voucher program. After projecting it would cost $64 million in 2023-24, the state found that it underestimated the cost of vouchers by more than 650%. The real cost of universal vouchers in Arizona in 2023-24 was  $738 million. The result: a huge budget deficit and significant cuts to public schools.

Wisconsin, which launched the first school voucher program in the nation in Milwaukee 35 ago, has steadily increased both the size and per-pupil expenditures of its system of voucher schools. That’s despite a research consensus that school vouchers have not improved academic outcomes for students and, in fact, have done significant harm.

Testifying recently against a school voucher bill in Texas, University of Michigan professor and school voucher expert Josh Cowen described the “catastrophic” results of vouchers on educational outcomes across the country over the last decade.

‘Horrific’ voucher results

Cowen has been evaluating school vouchers since the 1990s, when the first pilot program in Milwaukee had a measurable, positive impact on the 400 low-income kids who used vouchers to attend traditional private schools. As school vouchers expanded to serve tens of thousands of students and “subprime” operators moved in to take advantage of taxpayer dollars, however, the results took a dramatic downturn. Cowen described the “horrific learning loss” he and other researchers have recorded over the last decade among kids who started in public school and then moved to private school using vouchers. He was used to seeing trends in education that simply didn’t work to improve outcomes, he told the Texas legislators, but “it’s very rare to see something that harmed kids academically.” The worst drops in test scores, he said, came in 2014-15 — the same year that states began taking the programs statewide. He concluded that the smaller programs that had paid close attention to students and offered them a lot of support became something entirely different when vouchers were scaled up. Yet despite the abysmal results, more and more states are moving toward universal voucher systems.

Imagine, Cowen told the Texas legislators, if “30 years ago a vaccine showed some positive effects in clinical trials for a few hundred kids.” Then, when the vaccine was approved and used on thousands of children, “the health effects became negative, even atrocious.”

“No one would say, ‘let’s just hang our hat on the pilot and focus on results from 30 years ago,” Cowen said. But that’s exactly what’s happening with school vouchers. The kids vouchers were originally supposed to help — low-income children in underresourced schools — have suffered the most. 

Studies from research teams in Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio and Washington, D.C., show learning losses for kids who left public school to attend voucher programs that surpassed the learning loss experienced by students in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina or by children across the country from the COVID-19 pandemic, Cowen said.

Instead of helping those struggling students, who often attend the “subprime” schools Cowen discussed, the voucher programs in Wisconsin and other states mostly provide a taxpayer-financed benefit to private school families — 70% of whom have never put their kids in public school.

Anti-government ideologues and school choice lobbyists are selling a faulty product with the rapid expansion of school vouchers.

Part of the scam is the effort to hide the true costs from taxpayers. That’s the part Chapman, the school business expert, is worried about. As school districts struggle with lean budgets, under the current system, at least local taxpayers can see how much they are paying to support the voucher schools in their districts. If the Legislature succeeds in moving the cost of school vouchers into the general statewide budget, that transparency will be lost. And, at the same time, the state will open the door to unlimited spending on vouchers, no matter how expensive the program becomes. 

School choice advocates in Wisconsin have long pushed for “a voucher in every backpack” — or universal eligibility for the private school voucher program.

“Eligibility” doesn’t mean the same thing as “access,” however: In Wisconsin voucher schools have a track record of kicking out students who are disabled, challenging to educate, LGBTQ or for any other reason they deem them a bad fit.

Those students go back to the public schools, whose mission is to serve all students. In contrast, private schools in the voucher system can and do discriminate. Yet, Chapman reports, we are now spending about $629 million for Wisconsin’s four voucher programs, which serve 58,623 students. That’s $54 million more than the $574.8 million we are spending on all 126,830 students with disabilities in Wisconsin, as school districts struggle with the cost of special education. 

Federal tax deduction windfall for voucher schools

As if that weren’t enough, at the federal level, the Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025 (ECCA), currently being considered by Congress, would give a 100% tax deduction on donations to nonprofits known as Scholarship Granting Organizations, which give out private K-12 school vouchers.

Normally, donors to nonprofits can expect a tax deduction of 37 cents on the dollar at most. The 100% tax deduction means financial advisers across the country will push clients, whether they are school choice advocates or not, to give money to voucher schools. Under the bill, contributors would also be allowed to give corporate stock and avoid capital gains tax. “This would allow wealthy ‘donors’ to turn a profit, at taxpayer expense, by acting as middlemen in steering federal funding into private K-12 schools,” the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports. ITEP estimates that the ECCA would cost the federal government $134 billion in foregone revenue over the next 10 years and would cost states an additional $2.3 billion.

The very least we can do as citizens is to demand accountability and transparency in the state budget process, before we blow all of our money on tax breaks and tuition vouchers for people who don’t need them. 

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Parents with the "Learn in My Shoes" campaign including Amanda Sherman and Melanie Grosse stand before the Joint Finance Committee at a public hearing in West Allis. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Wisconsin’s special education reimbursement rate has been a concern for public school advocates for many years, but with districts’ reliance on school referendum requests increasing and federal support in doubt, the state’s reimbursement rate is quickly becoming one of the top issues this budget cycle.

Public school districts currently get about 30% of their special education costs reimbursed by the state. Advocates have called to increase that to at least 60% and as much as 90%, which is the amount that private and charter schools participating in the state’s voucher programs already get.

Tiffany Schanno, a Sheboygan parent, and Melissa Custer, a Grafton parent, have been showing up at state budget hearings and meeting in the Capitol to bring awareness to the experience of families seeking special education services in schools.

“We both have kids with disabilities who are trying to access special education, and we both experienced a lot of obstacles just trying to get our children accessible education, and the thing that we discovered is that it all comes down to funding,” Schanno said in an interview with the Examiner. “There’s only so much as far as resources to go around, so a lot of times families are competing against each other for services.” 

The pair put together a display — titled “Learn in My Shoes” — that included letters from families about their children’s experience receiving services and financial strains on schools. They placed the letters in a pair of children’s shoes. Custer said they thought having a visual representation and sharing stories would give lawmakers a “small taste” of the reality.

One letter described how educators and paraprofessionals have helped 12-year-old James “communicate with peers, become more confident and able to share more of who he is in meaningful ways.” James received important supports thanks to a “persistent” parent who said not all parents understand the process or know how to advocate for what their children need.  

“Because public school budgets are stretched to the point of hundreds of referendums over the past few years, families don’t ask for what they need because they don’t want to be thought of as burdensome,” the parent wrote. “Our family can find workarounds to an extent, but many others cannot. All children deserve an equal opportunity to a sound public education, and funding that keeps up with cost increases.”

Another parent said her son, who has Prader-Willi Syndrome, requires specialized support to navigate school safely and help with emotional regulation, transitions and physical safety. 

“Due to funding shortages, services are stretched thin… ” the parent wrote. “My children — and thousands of others across Wisconsin — deserve a chance to succeed, to feel safe, and to receive the support they need to reach their potential. Please make this a priority.” 

Schanno and Custer delivered the shoes and letters to lawmakers.

Schanno said some lawmakers expressed skepticism that additional state money would actually be used for special education. She said that isn’t a “valid argument” since federally mandated special education costs are carefully tracked.

“It’s not like you’re just giving a district a whole bunch of money and trusting them to use it for the right thing,” she said.

“Ultimately, what I took away from our visits… is that we have a long way to go with people understanding more about disability in general … and about the value in educating people who are different than they are,” Schanno said.

Proposals in discussion

Gov. Tony Evers proposed in his state budget that the reimbursement rate be raised to 60%. Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green), have acknowledged education funding as a top concern for  the public, and some, including Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Weston), have said they want to put more money into  special education, but it is unclear what Republican lawmakers will support. 

As Republican lawmakers seek a deal on tax cuts, WisPolitics reports that spokesperson Britt Cudaback said Evers “expects Republicans to come to the table on investing in education at every level, among other critical priorities, in order to move forward.”

During the last budget cycle, lawmakers increased the special ed reimbursement rate, though Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) notes it was a sum-certain rate, meaning there is a finite amount of money available, so the rate of reimbursement is not guaranteed as funds run low. The current reimbursement rate is hovering around 30%.

“School funding is complex” and special education funding is the “baseline that we absolutely should be doing,” Larson said. Special education funding in Wisconsin peaked at 70% in 1973 and at one point was as low as about 24.5% in 2018-19.

Larson supports increasing the rate to 90%. He said he thinks Evers’ 60% proposal is looking at it “from a political standpoint of what he perceives as what he wants to start the negotiations at in the budget with Republicans instead of what’s needed” and also taking into consideration other budget priorities. 

“That’s helpful and that would be significant and still double the percentage of what schools are currently getting, and I appreciate that…” Larson said. “I would hope that the governor would say 60% or veto.”

Larson also noted Evers’ budget would change special education reimbursement from sum certain to sum sufficient — so reimbursements at the set rate would be guaranteed.

Larson said he hopes his Republican colleagues support boosting the rate. 

“It still baffles me that some people think this is a partisan thing. Schools all over the state need help. The districts that are going to referendum are rural, they’re urban and they’re suburban. There’s nobody who’s special who is dodging this. Everybody is getting screwed over by the state,” Larson said. “I hope that the folks, the Republicans, who hold the narrow majority in the Assembly and in the Senate, would listen to their constituents who are saying, ‘Stop throwing this on us to cover your gap.’”

Special ed reimbursement could relieve referendum pressure

The discussion about school funding, especially for special education, comes as school districts have increasingly come to rely on referendum requests. Public school leaders, advocates and Democratic lawmakers have said increasing the special education reimbursement to at least 60% could help relieve some of that pressure.

Anne Chapman, research director for the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials Association, said that increasing special education funding by a significant amount would allow school districts to not have to pull as much money from their general funds for the mandated services.

“You would see way fewer referendums, and you would see kids surge with better programs,” Chapman said. 

According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, just this year there were 94 referendum requests across February and April elections with about a third of those representing “retry” efforts. As schools continue to rely on referendum requests to meet costs, Republican and Democratic lawmakers are seeking ways to change the dynamic, though the latter are focused on providing additional state funding, while the former are focused on implementing new restrictions. 

Rep. Christian Phelps (D-Eau Claire) said a memo from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau that compares recent referendum requests to the amount of unreimbursed special education costs illustrates the correlation. He said he asked for the memo after noticing a detail about the finances of the Eau Claire School District. 

“Eau Claire’s unreimbursed special education dollar amount was equivalent to the amount of money that they were asking for in their referendum just to not go too far into the red in their budget,” Phelps said, adding that he wondered “how widespread is this pattern?”

The 128 school districts that sought operating referendums in 2024, a record-breaking year, had over $488 million in unreimbursed special education costs for the 2022-23 school year, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau. The bureau’s memo also found that about one-fifth of the referendum requests in 2024 were equal to or exceeded special education costs that were unreimbursed by the state in 2022-23.

Some examples include: 

• Bangor School District had a recurring referendum request for $900,000 that failed in 2024. Its unreimbursed special education costs were $973,299 in 2022-23. 
• Edgerton School District had a $3,500,000 recurring request that passed. Its unreimbursed special education costs were $3,520,303. 
• Eau Claire School District had a successful $18,000,000 request. Its unreimbursed special education costs were $17,933,991. 

In some cases, a referendum request was for more than the unreimbursed costs, but even those were still close. Hamilton School District passed a $7,600,000 recurring referendum in 2024. The total of its unreimbursed special education costs was $6,128,870. 

“Funding special ed fully lifts all boats,” Phelps said. “When we have an underfunded special ed system, we are creating discrimination and disparity against students with disabilities. The services are mandated, so we’re paying for them one way or the other.” He added that right now, property taxpayers are making up for the state’s low reimbursement rate, and school districts are depleting their general funds. 

“Who loses when we’re stretching funds like that? Literally, every kid,” Phelps said, adding that funding special education through referendum isn’t effective because it’s also unpredictable. 

“When referendums happen, they either pass or fail, so now this district is better off than that district for no reason other than the fact that they both had to ask their voters for a referendum, and so we have disparities… when there is literally a pile of billions of dollars sitting around,” Phelps said, referencing the state’s $4 billion budget surplus. 

“It’s a gold mine in state budgeting to find something that you could do that just so clearly lifts all boats,” Phelps added. 

While Phelps said 60% is a compromise, he said the request from Evers is significant.

“It was not that long ago, public ed advocates were literally getting laughed out of rooms when they would ask for 60%,” Phelps said. “Now, the pressure is just too big, and you’re not getting laughed at for asking for 60[%] anymore.”

Derek Gottlieb, an associate professor at the University of Northern Colorado and senior research director for School Perceptions, an education research firm, also said the state could pick up more of the cost of special ed than Evers’ proposed 60%. 

“Even if the state didn’t touch revenue limits, even if the state continued to fail to raise just revenue limits upward to keep pace with inflation, we would see many, many, many fewer operating referendums if the state just paid 100% of special education expenditures…” Gottlieb said. “It is shameful, frankly, that the state has done less.”

Federal upheaval shadows special ed funding debate 

During a virtual public forum in April, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction leaders said the discussion about federal and state special education funding are connected.

State Superintendent Jill Underly said as reimbursement rates remain low, local communities will continue to take on the cost of the federal- and state-mandated services. 

The special education reimbursement rate “is rather low — it’s 29% now, based on last year’s numbers — but the federal government also has a reimbursement rate, and it’s even lower,” Underly said during the session. “What this would indicate is that our schools are still going to provide the services, because that’s what our schools do. It’s just that they’re not going to be reimbursed fully for them, so the burden is going to shift more to the local school districts to compensate the costs.”

The comments come as the future of the federal government’s role in special education is in flux. The Trump administration has pushed to close the U.S. Department of Education, slashing its workforce and seeking to move “special needs” programs to the Department of Health and Human Services. 

During the forum, Deputy State Superintendent Thomas McCarthy noted that when it comes to federal funding “special education is one of the things that, by and large, everyone has said, we’re not going to reduce the states now.” 

“That is what I know today, ask me next week, it could be on the chopping block,” McCarthy said. Trump’s recent “skinny budget” proposal seeks to cut 15% from the education budget, but says it isn’t cutting funding for special education, though it does propose consolidating several Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grant programs into one. 

As the upheaval creates uncertainty, DPI leaders encouraged Wisconsinites to take the  opportunity to advocate for more funding. 

When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act became law in 1975, the federal government said it would fund 40% of special education costs, Underly noted. The federal contribution now hovers around 10%.

“When they are arguing that they’re going to make things more efficient at the U.S. Department of Ed or in the federal government… What are they going to do with those savings? This would be a great example. Well, let’s authorize Congress to reimburse up to 40% of special education costs,” Underly said.

“Not only do we need the current level of funding, we need more funding… so be having that conversation with your federal elected officials [and] also be having it with your state elected officials,” Assistant Deputy State Superintendent Sara Knueve said. “We’re in the heat of that conversation about what’s the state’s reimbursement rate and they’re connected.”

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Lawmakers listen to testimony at the West Allis public hearing in early April. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Education priorities, including funding for K-12 public schools, higher education and early childhood education and child care, proved to be the issues that arose most often in public hearings held by the Wisconsin Legislature’s powerful budget committee in April. 

Wisconsin lawmakers wrapped up their public hearings this week with a hearing Monday in Hayward and one Tuesday in Wausau. Two hearings were held in early April in West Allis and Kaukauna.

With the hearings complete, the Joint Finance Committee will turn its attention to the work of writing the budget with the goal of completing it by the June 30 deadline. If lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers don’t complete the budget by that deadline, Wisconsin continues to operate under the current budget into the next fiscal year. 

Tessa Maglio, digital and communications organizer for the Wisconsin Public Education Network, a nonprofit advocacy organization for public schools, worked with legislative policy Lead Bryn Horton and organizing and engagement coordinator Camden Hargrove to track testimony at each of the public hearings.

“Tracking the testimony is really important because we have seen in budget cycle after budget cycle people ask for the resources Wisconsin kids in their public schools need and then have watched the subsequent budget not meet the requests,” Maglio said. “We wanted to keep it in the forefront of the advocates’ minds as well as the governor’s mind and legislators’ minds.” 

According to the WPEN tracker, more than 900 people spoke across the four hearings, which lasted about 29 total hours. WPEN reported that more than 170 people discussed funding for K-12 schools, more than 50 people spoke about higher education and more than  50  spoke about child care. Maglio said education across the spectrum made up at least a third of the total testimony.

“It is really powerful to hear you know people share their stories and experiences and priorities and so even though some of the topics might not have tallied very high on our tracker, they’re nonetheless still very important,” Maglio said.

On the issue of  K-12 public education, Maglio said, public testimony included calls to raise the special education reimbursement to at least 60%, provide districts with more spendable aid, fix the revenue limit structure, which restricts how much school districts can raise without permission from lawmakers or the public, and help school districts keep their schools operating and serve their students.

There were “many different stories and many different perspectives and people brought their own experiences whether they were coming from large urban districts or small rural districts,” Maglio said. School districts in Wisconsin have not had predictable increases in funding through state aid or property taxes in over 15 years, and an increasing number of school districts have had to rely on getting permission from voters in referendums to meet costs.

Maglio highlighted testimony by Laura McCoy, president of the Green Bay Area Public School District Board of Education, at the Kaukauna hearing. 

McCoy told lawmakers that her community supports their local schools.

“We know this because we just passed yet another referendum: the third referendum in eight years. We’re going to have to pass another one next year,” McCoy said. “Honestly, funding public education by referendum is no way to educate our future generations. Districts around this state are begging for change. Please listen to them.” 

“We are doing our job in Green Bay. We are holding up our piece of the sky. We are preparing our students for the future and we are hitting it out of the ballpark with workforce development,” McCoy added. “But it gets harder every year and we need to feel like the state Legislature is our partner, and not our adversary.” 

JFC Democrats call for education funding

Democrats on the Joint Finance Committee also called on Republican members to fund education in the upcoming state budget during a Wednesday press conference.

“From West Allis to Wausau, the message was consistent and it was clear,” said Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee).  “Wisconsinites want a budget that invests in public education, affordable health care options, workforce development and child care.” 

“It is our job as state legislators,” Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) said, “and it is time for my Republican colleagues to join Democrats in actually providing the resources that our kids deserve.” 

Republican leaders have said that the state Supreme Court decision on Evers’ partial veto, which extends the annual $325 revenue limit increase for school districts for 400 years, would affect the state budget. In April, the Court upheld the veto, saying it was within the governor’s  power and suggesting that lawmakers could take different routes, including writing the budget differently or passing a constitutional amendment, if they want to prevent such vetoes in the future. 

Roys said it would be “an excuse” and “pathetic” if Republicans decide not to increase education funding due to the decision. 

“If they want to try to pass a constitutional amendment, we’ve seen them do it again and again. They can certainly give that a try, but I don’t think that’s an acceptable excuse to fail to pass a budget on time, fail to pass a budget that makes the investments that our kids and our constituents — all of our constituents — need and and deserve,” Roys said. 

Johnson added that the state could also cover the cost of the $325 revenue increase Evers’ veto allowed school districts to raise from local taxpayers. 

“I’m hoping that they do the right thing,” Johnson said of her colleagues in the Legislature. “We heard a consensus across the board of taxpayers coming in and testifying, saying that the referendums are not sustainable. It’s not the way for them to fund public education, and let’s be real, it’s not fair, either.” 

Health care concerns

According to the WPEN’s tracking, health care was the second most discussed issue at the hearings. 

“Coming in just behind the focus on public education was Medicaid expansion, Medicaid funding, health care,” said Maglio. “Many, many, many people came out to testify in favor of those things and shared really powerful and sometimes heart-breaking personal stories about the impact that Medicaid funding has on their lives or the lives of their loved ones and what that would mean if that funding were not to be supported in the budget.” 

Evers, as he has done in each of his budget proposals, asked  that Wisconsin take the federal Medicaid expansion that would allow almost all adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level to qualify. Wisconsin is one of only 10 states that has not done so.

This session, though, the request comes at a moment when the Medicaid program is facing the threat of deep cuts from  the Trump administration and Republican members of Congress. Concerns about proposed federal cuts came up at the state budget hearings. 

“Also with farming and food access and previously supported funding for Wisconsin farmers to provide food to schools and to food pantries… Across the board there was kind of an undercurrent [of] people focusing on the needs of Wisconsinites, but urging their lawmakers to think about the budget within the context of decisions being made at the federal level,” Maglio said.

In addition to broader Medicaid expansion, a postpartum Medicaid expansion, which would extend health care coverage for mothers who recently gave birth from 60 days to a year, has been a major point of bipartisan agreement this session. A bill that would make Wisconsin the 49th state to take the extension recently passed the Senate but it faces challenges in the Assembly, where the top Republican has opposed the measure deeming it an expansion of “welfare.” 

Roys called on her Republican colleagues to get it done by placing it in the budget. She noted that the four Democrats and the six Senate Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee, who voted in favor of the bill, could place the proposal in the budget without Assembly Republicans on the committee having to vote in favor. 

“I understand that there are some problems over in the Assembly, and we’ve heard that Vos  is to blame year after year, session after session when this doesn’t get done — despite having overwhelming support for members of his caucus, and, of course, every single Democrat in the Legislature,” Roys said. “The good news is that if Republicans in the Assembly are afraid of political retribution from Speaker Vos or they don’t want to cross him, we can still put postpartum Medicaid expansion in the budget right now.” 

Another major issue that lawmakers will debate this budget is tax cuts, though Roys noted that cuts for “millionaires and billionaires” were not popular topics at the public hearings. 

“That’s one thing that nobody asked for, [but] seems to be the focus of my Republican colleagues,” Roys said. “In fact, they are focused on trying to shove through an irresponsible tax cut before we even engage in meeting the needs of Wisconsinites.”

Republican lawmakers have said they want to pass a tax cut bill prior to the budget. 

“The goal, again, is to try to find something that can actually get across the finish line,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said in April. During the last legislative session, Evers vetoed several Republican  tax cut proposals, including proposed reductions for the top income tax brackets in the last budget. “I think the governor realizes that we’re not going to spend any more money unless we have the ability to reduce taxes and help folks get by with inflation.”

Evers, meanwhile, has said that he won’t support tax cuts done outside of the budget.

“It has to be part of the budget. We just can’t do things one way, and then, you know, just do taxes and then do spending,” Evers said. “We have to look at it together.”

So far lawmakers have declined to discuss specifics. Committee Co-chair Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) said at a press conference ahead of the Wausau hearing that details haven’t been negotiated and they aren’t going to “negotiate anything in the media.” 

Democratic legislative leaders have said they haven’t been part of those discussions. 

Roys said that if Democrats were going to support a tax cut, it needs to be part of the budget process and it needs to be “responsible and not create a massive structural deficit that then Republicans will use it as an excuse to undermine the services that we rely on in our public schools.” Any cut, she added, needs to be targeted towards “everyday Wisconsinites.” 

Johnson said that investing in other priorities could also present a better opportunity for savings for taxpayers. 

“Everybody could use a couple of extra dollars in their pocket. Let’s be real, I could use a couple of extra dollars a month, but if those same communities are going to have to go to referendum to support their schools, it’s not a tax break for them,” Johnson said.

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The Wisconsin Department of Corrections Madison offices. (Photo by Henry Redman/Wisconsin Examiner)

Department of Corrections Secretary Jared Hoy took questions from lawmakers on the Assembly Corrections Committee Tuesday, explaining the plan for Gov. Tony Evers’ about $500 million state budget request. 

Hoy previously defended the proposal to the Joint Finance Committee prior to which co-chair Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) had expressed concerns that the plan lacked detail.

About $325 million in Evers’ proposal would go to overhaul the state’s correctional facilities through a “domino” plan — starting with work to close Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls, which were initially supposed to close in 2021 under 2018 Act 185, and culminating in the closure of the Green Bay Correctional Institution. 

“There are a lot of issues with running facilities that are that old,” Hoy said about the Green Bay facility, which was built in 1898. It would cost about $6.3 million for the closure. “We shouldn’t be running prisons in that manner in 2025… We want to do more with our population than what those facilities can afford us to do.”

Under the plan, Waupun Correctional Institution would be closed temporarily for renovations, including replacing the existing cells with modern housing for 600 medium-security beds and establishing space for a “vocational village.” The work on Waupun would cost about $245.3 million and be ready to open in 2031.

“If we are going to keep Waupun open, we are going to completely flip the script. We are going to rewrite the narrative of Waupun,” Hoy said.

Hoy said that the idea wouldn’t be far from turning the Waupun facility into a “college campus” where inmates can receive vocational, career and technical education. 

“They’re living in community together. They’re going to school together. They’re studying in the evenings together, and it’s predicated on robust partnerships with the community so that we have manufacturers out in the community who come in to do the training on site,” Hoy said. 

Other infrastructure funding would include $130 million to complete construction of a Type 1 youth facility in Dane County, which would be necessary to close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake schools, $9 million to convert Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake into a 500-bed facility for men, $8.8 million to convert Stanley Correctional Institution to a maximum-security institution and $56 million to expand Sanger B. Powers Correctional Center by 200 beds.

Committee Chair Rep. Dean Kaufert (R-Neenah) asked how DOC considered future budgets and whether there would be increases to the cost.

“It’s not the full cost of capital and programming for the future, so there’s a cost that is going to be harder to quantify when you build this, and you get it up and running,” Kaufert said.

Hoy said that closing Green Bay would actually represent a significant decrease in operating budget and updating Waupun would also lead to some decreases.

“Operating Waupun is quite cost prohibitive because [of] the number of staff that you need to run those aging facilities,” Hoy said. “Running a smaller facility at Waupun…requires less staffing, as well as shutting down Green Bay, your overall operating budget starts to offset [needing] more staff at Sanger Powers [Correctional Center]” to help with the additional beds.

Hoy also addressed some of the policy changes meant to address the growing prison population. Wisconsin’s prison population as of February was 23,074 and is expected to grow to 24,000 by the end of the biennium, despite the state only having capacity to house 17,638 people across its correctional facilities.

“About a third of our entire population is nonviolent in our prisons, and so we have existing programs that help people get the treatment, get the support and get them back out the door in a timely manner,” Hoy said. “One of the main mechanisms we have to do that at our disposal is the earned release program.” 

Evers’ plan would expand access to the state’s Earned Release Program to allow an additional 2,500 participants. The plan would expand access to workforce training and substance use treatment for people who have 48 months or less left in their sentences for nonviolent offenses  to support this. 

Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) asked if the state is hitting a “tipping point” when it comes to its prison population. 

“Are we at the point of even thinking about sending people to other jails? Are we thinking about sending people out of state?” Stubbs asked. “Our incarceration numbers right now… are very high.” 

Hoys said that would be a “nuclear” option, given that it would take people away from their families and community. 

“I have no intention, no desire to send people out of state,” Hoys said, but added that “at some point our options are going to run out.” 

Hoys said DOC is leveraging jail contracts as much as it can and noted that one change that is being sought in the budget is an increase to the daily rate. Right now, he said the rate is capped at $60 a day and he wants that bumped to $80 to match the rate for federal inmates. 

“If I’m a sheriff and I’m looking at taking in-state guys versus federal guys or women for that matter, I’m going to choose the federal folks because the price tag [is] better,” Hoy said. “I want to be able to have that as a resource. Again, I’d like to keep everybody in our facilities as opposed to county jails, but that is a safety valve for us that we currently do utilize.” 

Kaufert, who was newly elected to his seat in November, noted that during his previous tenure in the state Legislature in the 1990s, lawmakers on the corrections committee toured facilities in other states where Wisconsin inmates were being held.

“I don’t want to make that mistake again,” Kaufert said. 

Rep. Benjamin Franklin (R-De Pere) asked whether DOC would at least consider building a new facility to replace the Green Bay one. He added that he recently spoke to the Brown County sheriff, who said there are hundreds of people at home on ankle bracelets because there just isn’t enough space. 

“I want to commend the governor for acknowledging that that needs to go away — GBCI,” Franklin said. 

“We definitely did look… but to just replace Green Bay [maximum] facility — same size, same number of beds — you’re approaching a billion dollars, if not more,” Hoy said, adding that the state  also got an estimate of about $800 million for a smaller facility. 

“If I was looking across our population right now, and we were packed to the gills with violent offenders… I wouldn’t be saying, no, let’s not build anything. I’d be saying… we need to make sure our communities are safe and continue to house these people,” Hoy said. “But when I’m sitting on, you know, a third of 23,000 people that are non-violent… I believe it’s not only the right thing to do, but fiscally responsible to give those folks a chance in the community.” 

Rep. Jerry O’Connor (R-Fond Du Lac) asked how far up DOC is on Evers’ priority list. Noting the University of Wisconsin system budget and the public K-12 funding challenges, he said that everyone is seeking funding from the same pot of money. Wisconsin has a $4 billion budget surplus and Evers had suggested raising taxes on the wealthiest Wisconsinites. 

“I think we’re pretty close to the top, and I’m not just saying that because I’m the secretary of DOC. I mean I think it’s one of his biggest priorities,” Hoy said. 

Kaufert expressed interest in having more committee hearings with DOC about the plan. 

“There’s so many arms and legs on this that one impacts the other,” Kaufert said, adding that they could break it down to have more time to speak about all the pieces. He noted that if they are spending hundreds of millions and ending up with less beds, they better have “darn good answers” for taxpayers.

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