The Wisconsin Assembly passed a bill that will ban Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients from being able to buy soda and candy with their benefits and will provide funding and positions to the state Department of Health Services to help preempt the state from being penalized by the federal government. 

Lawmakers also approved a bill aimed at having the state turn SNAP data over to the Trump administration.

Gov. Tony Evers and lawmakers have been discussing providing additional funding and positions to the state Department of Health Services to ensure the state keeps its payment error rate low, to avoid costly federal penalties enacted as part of a huge national tax cut and spending bill.

A SNAP provision in the federal tax and spending law signed by President Donald Trump last year would penalize states for having a payment error rate above 6%. The Evers administration has estimated a penalty due to the error rate could cost the state up to $205 million. Evers recently urged lawmakers in his State of the State address on Tuesday to provide money to the state agency to keep the error rate low and avoid potential penalties.

Lawmakers attached the money and positions to AB 180 in an amendment. The bill passed 71-22 with 23 Democrats joining Republicans in favor of the bill. 

The amendment included about $69 million and 70 positions for the agency to help ensure quality control of SNAP — also known as FoodShare in Wisconsin — and keep the error rate low.

When it comes to the candy and soda ban provisions, the Wisconsin DHA would need to submit a waiver to the federal government for approval to make the change to the program. 

Under the leadership of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, the Trump administration has pushed for the ban across the country as a part of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved waivers for 18 states, including Idaho and Oklahoma, so far, and there are at least five states that are actively implementing the ban.

Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) criticized the bill, saying it “has nothing to do with health,” mentioning he sees people drinking Diet Mountain Dew and other beverages in the Legislature’s chambers, and that the bill is merely “punishing people for poverty.” He also said it is “shameful” to use the candy and soda ban bill to move the money and positions forward. 

“I’m glad that with the amendment there are necessary dollars here that are coming to help our agencies provide dozens of staff members to push back on the onslaught from the Trump regime,” Clancy said. An amendment to the bill includes $3.5 million to help with development and administration of a food stamp platform that is meant to ensure grocery stores can follow the ban. 

Rep. Russell Goodwin (D-Milwaukee) said lawmakers shouldn’t be “policing check-out lanes” and that the bill will create a two-tiered system where poor families have their food choices restricted. 

Rep. Clint Moses (R-Menomonie) said that the bill would ensure that taxpayers are not paying the costs of people eating unhealthy foods. 

“The original intent… was to go down a path to start looking at what we’re feeding our children, what we’re feeding our families and what’s that doing to our families,” Moses said, adding that he has been interested in the issue long before the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. 

Moses said “the amount of money that we could lose from the federal government is astronomical” if the bill doesn’t become law.

Under the bill, candy is defined as “any solid, semi-solid, or molded preparation of sugar, sweeteners, whether natural or artificial, or chocolate, with or without added ingredients such as flavorings, fruit, nuts, or flour, that is commonly marketed, advertised, or recognized as candy, chocolate bar, chewing gum, or similar confectionery and includes chocolate bars, including chocolate bars containing flour, hard candies, gummies, caramels, taffy, licorice, mints, and chewing gum.” It does not include baked goods. 

Soda is defined as a “nonalcoholic beverage that contains natural or artificial sweeteners, including soda, pop, cola, energy drinks, sports drinks, or flavored water, or any product, regardless of its ingredients or labeling, that is marketed, labeled, or advertised as a soda, pop, cola, energy drink or energy supplement.” It does not include beverages that include milk or coffee or unsweetened tea.

A separate bill would require Wisconsin to compile and turn over data to the federal government on all Wisconsin FoodShare recipients since 2020 in accordance with a July letter from the federal Department of Agriculture. The Trump administration says it is seeking the data so it can investigate fraud and has threatened to cut off SNAP benefits to states that don’t comply. The Assembly passed the bill, AB 1027, in a 54-39 vote with Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire) joining Republicans in favor.

On behalf of Wisconsin, Attorney General Josh Kaul joined a lawsuit with 21 other states to block the order. A federal judge in California recently granted the request for a temporary restraining order.

Rep. Ryan Spaude (D-Ashwaubenon) accused his Republican colleagues of being “happy to take up the bidding of the Trump administration” with the passage of the bill. 

No Republicans spoke on the bill. 

Evers has expressed opposition to turning over the data, saying that Wisconsin’s system works. He told WISN 12 in December that the SNAP system is “analyzed every single year and we feel confident in it.” 

“We have people in the state of Wisconsin that need help making sure they’re having nutritious meals. We feel the program right now is working just fine,” he said. 

Both bills need to pass the Senate before they go to Evers.

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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) told reporters ahead of the session that his caucus was seeking to address affordability with the legislation. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner).

The Wisconsin Assembly — seeking to align state policy with Trump administration initiatives — passed bills Thursday to exempt overtime pay and tips from income tax. Lawmakers also passed bills to make English the official language of the state as well as school related bills.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) told reporters ahead of the session that his caucus was seeking to address affordability with the legislation, though Democratic lawmakers argued the bills would not help address the issue in an effective way.

AB 38 would implement an income tax exemption for cash tips paid to an employee that would sunset in 2028. President Donald Trump signed a law in July to allow workers to deduct up to $25,000 in tips annually from their federal taxable income. Those earning more than $150,000 aren’t eligible for the deduction. 

The Wisconsin bill would apply the same policy when it comes to the state income tax. The deduction would apply to tips whether paid by cash or credit. 

Bill coauthor Rep. Ron Tusler (R-Harrison) said the tips tax cut is for the working and middle class. The bill passed 61-33 with a handful of Democrats joining Republicans. Rep. Lee Snodgrass (D-Appleton) and Rep. Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) abstained from the vote.

“Tips are primarily earned by the working class and the lower middle class and tips should never have been taxed. A tip is a gift, it’s not income,” Tusler said. “Tips are not mandatory; they are a way to say thank you to someone.”

Tusler told reporters that his legislation wasn’t permanent because legislators want to “watch and see how it works out.” 

“I think it would be a great idea for it to become permanent someday. I hope it does,” Tusler said.  

Tusler also called on the Department of Revenue (DOR) to “get to work right away” should the bill become law to ensure it has forms ready. 

“This bill is going to pass, and it’s going to get signed by the governor, but if the Department of Revenue doesn’t get ready for that, they will not have their forms ready for the tip earners come tax time. Those tip earners will wind up paying their taxes for 2025 and then they’ll have to refile their taxes to pay it to get their tip refund back. That’s not something we should be asking working-class and middle-class taxpayers to do.”

Evers told reporters Monday that he is open to looking at Republican proposals to eliminate taxes on overtime and tips but wants to consider more “universal” forms of tax relief. He has proposed property tax relief as well as exempting certain items from the sales tax including diapers and over-the-counter medications. 

Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) tried to introduce an amendment to bring tipped employees, who can make a minimum wage of $2.33, up to the minimum wage of $7.25. He said it would’ve helped raise the standard of living for workers across the state. 

“Restaurant workers, hotel cleaners, bartenders, and too many other Wisconsin workers still rely on the inconsistent generosity of their customers just to survive. This is a terrible system that primarily benefits bosses and corporations – it’s also rife for abuse, leading to frequent unethical and sometimes illegal behavior like forced pooling of tips, assigning of non-tipped work assignments to tipped employees, and outright tip theft by bosses and managers,” Clancy said in a statement. 

His amendment was rejected by Republican lawmakers.

The Assembly also passed AB 461 in a 61-35 vote. It would create an income tax subtraction for certain overtime compensation. Single filers could claim up to $12,500 per year under the subtraction, while joint filers could claim up to $25,000. Unlike the “no tax on tips” bill, this policy change would be permanent.

Bill coauthor Rep. Paul Melotik (R-Grafton) noted that overtime work can be essential to communities and also take a toll on family life. He said the bill would help support the “hard-working people of Wisconsin, who put out extra effort… whether it’s nurses working double shifts, deputies filling in on weekends, line workers staying late to meet production goals or service employees keeping the doors open.  

Bill to make English the official language.

AB 377 would make English Wisconsin’s official language and allow state agencies to use artificial intelligence translation tools instead of providing an interpreter to people during court proceedings.

The bill passed 51-43. Rep. Jessie Rodriguez (R-Oak Creek) voted with Democratic lawmakers against the bill.

Rep. Priscilla Prado (D-Milwaukee), who chairs the Wisconsin Hispanic Legislative Caucus, delivered her opposition to the bill in Spanish — telling lawmakers that after that they could “use Google to translate that.” Prado stood again later to deliver her remarks in English, saying she would help lawmakers out.

“You want to make it legal to use AI as a translator, which might be useful for ordering lunch, but certainly not sufficient for legal hearings, official forms and civil rights — not to mention that this implementation of AI would, quite literally, take jobs away from Wisconsinites who work as translators,” Prado said. “If efficiency were the goal, we would be talking about improving language access, not political symbolism. Wisconsin does not lose its identity because Spanish or another language is spoken. What it does lose is credibility when it ignores a substantial part of its population.” 

Rep. Nate Gustafson (R-Ormo) said he didn’t think the bill was stripping people of their identity, but would instead give people a “tool in the toolbox.” 

“It allows our legal system to move efficiently and forward instead of waiting on, let’s say, a limited pool of resources that aren’t there again,” Gustafson said. “We have declining birth rate. Our absolute workforce  is obviously diminished at this point, but we’re still reliant on people at the end of the day. There is a point where we need to give the people who are doing these jobs the tools to be more efficient.”

Bill coauthor Rep. Dave Murphy (R-Hortonville), speaking after Prado, said the speech represented a failure to communicate as most people in the Assembly did not understand what she said.

“One of the important things about having an official language for society is language draws people together, and I think it’s really important to give a society cohesiveness with people that speak the same language. Now, that doesn’t mean that this bill in some way makes it illegal, or you know, somehow, impeaches your ability to to speak another language, however  I think we are making a mistake here that if you speak English in the society — it’s a huge advantage to you.” 

School revenue and lunches

AB 457, coauthored by Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) and Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield), would require Wisconsin school districts’ financial reports to the Department of Public Instruction on time before they are able to go to referendum. It passed 52-44 with Republicans for and Democrats against. 

The bill was introduced in response to Milwaukee Public Schools’ financial scandal where the district was months late in submitting financial documents to the state. The news was unveiled just weeks after voters had approved a historic referendum for the state’s largest school district.

Rep. Christian Phelps (D-Eau Claire) said that the bill was a “distraction” from other issues that school districts and property taxpayers are facing. 

Wisconsin taxpayers’ December bills included the highest increase since 2018. The increase followed  a controversial line item veto by Gov. Tony Evers , which extended a one-time increases to school revenue limits for the next 400 years. State  lawmakers did not provide additional state aid to schools, pushing many districts to use their additional taxing authority and others to go to referendum to ask local residents to raise their own taxes.

“The Department of Public Instruction is already working through any financial issues that they need to work through with the Milwaukee Public Schools,” Phelps said. “Educators and property taxpayers just are not buying the Republican spin. They can see the impact of what this building has done on the services in our public schools and their property tax bills, so it is frankly a waste of taxpayer-funded time for us to debate this silly bill that isn’t going anywhere.” 

Referencing the acronym for the school district, Nedweski called her bill the MPS bill — saying it  stood for “maximizing public scrutiny.” Nedweski said her bill is “straightforward” and would ensure that school districts are transparent before seeking to raise property taxes. 

“Public trust was shattered,” Nedweski said of the Milwaukee schools financial reporting failure. She also asked whether the outcome of the Milwaukee referendum would have been different if voters had known about the absent financial reports. 

“As property taxes continue to rise thanks to that 400-year Democrat property tax increase, it’s imperative that voters have complete information about the financial outlook of their school district before voting to further raise their own taxes,” Nedweski said. “This bill does not ask school districts to do anything new. It is not one new hoop they have to jump through… They are already supposed to be completing and submitting their financial information on time in accordance with state law.” 

AB 226 would prohibit Wisconsin public schools, independent charter schools, and private schools participating in a parental choice program serving meals that contain certain ingredients. Some of the food additives that would be prohibited include brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, azodicarbonamide and red dye No. 3, which can be found in candy, fruit juices and cookies.

The bill is another instance of GOP lawmakers seeking to align state policies with Trump administration efforts. The exclusion of the additives is meant to target “ultra processed foods,” which were one of the top concerns outlined by Health Sec. Robert F. Kennedy and a report the Trump administration commissioned. 

It passed 53-43. A handful of Democrats, including Reps. Deb Andraca (D-Whitefish Bay), Jill Billings (D-La Crosse), Brienne Brown (D-Whitewater) and Renuka Mayadev (D-Madison), voted for the bill, while a handful of Republicans voted against the bill including Reps. Lindee Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls), Joy Goeben (R-Hobart) and Chuck Wichgers (R-Muskego).

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An empty high school classroom. (Dan Forer | Getty Images)

Wisconsin property taxpayers are expected to see the largest increases in local government levies on their December bills since 2018, according to a recent report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum. 

Much of that increase is driven by levies from K-12 schools, which are estimated to increase by 7.8%. Preliminary data from the state Department of Revenue (DOR) shows the property tax levies for K-12 school districts are expected to rise by about $476.1 million to $6.58 billion on December tax bills. 

County property taxes are set to rise 3.1% — an increase more in line with recent years. 

According to the report, the increase in school levies is the result of decisions made in the last two state budgets, including increases to school revenue limits while keeping state general aid flat, as well as voter approval of school district referendum requests. 

During the 2023-25 state budget, lawmakers included a $325 increase to schools districts’ revenue limits in each year along with two years of funding for the increase. Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto allowed school districts to raise the additional $325 per pupil annually for the next 400 years, but did not include the funding.

Evers and Democratic lawmakers advocated for the state to provide additional state aid, but Republicans, who hold the majority, rejected those calls.

“Typically, a portion of the per pupil revenue limit increase is covered by rising state general school aids,” the report states. “This time, state leaders instead kept the funding for these payments flat, leaving property taxes as the sole means by which school districts collectively could access the allowed $325 per student increase.”

State leaders did provide additional funding to schools for their special education costs, though initial estimates show that the state money set aside will not be enough to bring the reimbursement rate to 42% of special ed costs as leaders promised in the budget.

The report notes that state leaders decided to use the state budget surplus to cut income taxes instead of  providing school funding to limit property tax increases. It said that is in line with “a trend since 2011 in Wisconsin of falling spending on K-12 education as a share of personal income” and “means that the responsibility for paying for local government services, especially schools, is shifting more heavily to property taxpayers this year than it otherwise might have.”

School districts get to make a choice about whether they take advantage of additional school revenue authority by taxing the maximum amount.

“Rising pressure on both revenues and expenditures, however, appears to have prompted many districts to levy at or near the maximum amount,” the report states. “These pressures include rising teacher salaries and inflation, revenue limit increases in recent years that lagged the rate of inflation, and decreased funding associated with declining student enrollment and the expiration of federal pandemic relief funds.”

According to the report, 28.7% of school districts have a levy increase of more than 10% in 2025. This includes some communities that have levy increases of more than 30% including Wauwatosa, a large suburban district, and Bruce and Markesan, which are small rural school districts.

One example highlighted in the report is the Beloit School District, whose levy tripled in 2025 from $5.6 million to $16.2 million.

The school district lost $9.8 million in state general school aids this year. The Department of Public Instruction reported in October that 71% of public school districts would receive less general school aid this year, which was in part because general state aid remained flat. Schools that lose state aid are able to make up for the reduction by increasing their levy.

The report notes that the “sharp rise in property taxes therefore does not represent a correspondingly sharp increase in core district revenue, which still only rose by the allowable increase under the revenue limit.”

School referendum requests are also making up part of the increase as school districts continue to turn to voters to help meet costs in lieu of state funding increases.

Wisconsin had the largest amount of school referendum requests passed in state history in November 2024, raising property taxes by over $3.4 billion that year. In 2025, Wisconsin voters also approved the largest number of school referendums in an off year since 2015. 

Madison Metropolitan school district’s levy increased by $81.1 million from the large referendum it passed in 2024. It also lost $11.9 million in state general aid, allowing it to increase property taxes to make up for that loss. The report notes that Madison’s increases alone make up 17% of the overall K-12 levy increase, though “without Madison’s increase, statewide tax levies would have increased by 6.9%, which would have been the third highest rate in the last 25 years.”

The report warns that property taxpayers could see similar increases to their property taxes in coming years.

“State law will provide another $325 per pupil revenue increase [next year] but again no increase in state general school aids or property tax credits. The increase in special education aid will also be smaller than this year,” the report states. “Absent some special action by the state Legislature and governor early next year, property taxpayers will likely see more of the same in December 2026.”

Some lawmakers want to get rid of revenue increase, others propose overhauling system

As property taxpayers receive their December bills, lawmakers have been proposing ways to prevent further hikes and cut property taxes, though it’s unclear whether the proposals will lead to concrete changes before the close of the legislative session next year.

Republican lawmakers are still seeking the elimination of the annual school revenue increases. 

A bill coauthored by Rep. Dave Maxey (R-New Berlin) and Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) would stop the $325 annual increases for school districts starting in the 2027-28 school year. It received a public hearing last week.

A memo from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau found that 58 school districts levied less than the amount they could — meaning that 363 of Wisconsin’s 421 school districts levied the maximum amount in 2025.

“To those who think districts aren’t going to automatically increase revenue limits each year, you are believing a lie,” Maxey said in written testimony. “The 400-year veto is going to be extremely destructive to almost every homeowner in the years to come.”

Maxey said the bill would “restore balance and accountability” by giving control to lawmakers and taxpayers.

“Decisions about raising property taxes should be made by the people who pay them, not imposed by executive action,” Maxey said.

Evers has stood by his partial veto, making it unlikely he would sign the bill.

Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) is less bothered with the 400-year increase, calling it a “parlor trick” that “just provided the additional capacity for local governments to lean more on property taxes to fund education, which is inequitable.” Last week, he proposed a package of bills meant to overhaul the way Wisconsin K-12 schools and local governments bring in revenue as a way to cut property taxes. 

“I’m less inclined to demonize a $325 a year potential increase than to attack the actual problem, which is this over reliance on property taxes to fund K-12 education,” Clancy said. “The problem is distinctly Republican. The state has been starving schools of resources. It’s been starving local government of resources. When you do those things then schools and local governments have to ask for money in the way of property taxes, because that’s the only mechanism available to them.”

Clancy told the Examiner that he sees the state’s reliance on property taxes to fund schools “inherently inequitable” as it determines funding based on the size and costs of houses nearby.

“In Wisconsin, we have an extremely ridiculous and complex funding formula that tries to provide a little bit more aid to make up that gap, but it doesn’t fit the bill, and it’s really been kind of a terrible system,” Clancy said.

Clancy said that he’s heard from community members, especially from older adults on fixed incomes that they want to chip in to help with schools, but it’s getting to where they “cannot afford to live in this community anymore.”

“We’ve been talking to folks who have left Milwaukee and sometimes left the state because they cannot afford the property taxes on their homes that they worked their whole lives to afford, and in some cases, they’ve lived in these homes for generations, and yet, the property tax burden from our very regressive property taxes is just too much for a lot of people around the market,” Clancy said. “We can change that, and we should.”

Clancy’s package of bills aim to bring down property taxes by eliminating school districts’ reliance on property taxes by increasing income taxes on the state’s wealthier residents.

Clancy said the bill would lead to on average a 44% cut to people’s property taxes.

“Generally, if you look at the median across the state, 44% of your property tax bill goes to K-12 education. That percentage is actually a little bit higher in Milwaukee, so Milwaukee residents will see a greater savings from this,” Clancy said.

According to a draft, which is still being finalized, the bill would increase the tax rate for Wisconsin’s fourth income tax bracket to 8.85% by taxable year 2026. It would also create a new fifth tax bracket with a rate of 17.7% by taxable year 2026 on those making at least $750,000 for single taxpayers and $1 million for married couples filing jointly. The revenue from the income tax hikes would be used to pay for education costs including boosting the special education reimbursement rate to 90%.

“The problem of inequity in education is a massive structural problem. We’re not going to fix that by nibbling around the edges of it… We could do half measures. We could say, you know, a 5% reduction in property taxes,” Clancy said. “Ultimately, that doesn’t fix the problem.”

Clancy is also proposing allowing local governments the option to implement a local income tax and reimplementing the estate tax in Wisconsin, which would tax transfers of property that take place upon a person’s death.

Clancy said the proposal would address the ways “Wisconsin has been starving our municipalities and counties of their own share revenue for a long time now.”

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Communism and socialism oppose capitalism but are different ideologies, despite the terms sometimes being used interchangeably.

Communism: Replacing private property and a profit-based economy with public ownership and control of means of production and natural resources. Wealth divided equally, or according to need. One-party government oversees economy.

Socialism: Public, rather than private, control of property and natural resources, but allowing private property ownership. Socialism can seek to restrain capitalism through democracy or authoritarian control. 

On Oct. 2, Wisconsin state Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, called Milwaukee state Rep. Ryan Clancy a communist. Clancy, like New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, identifies as a democratic socialist. 

Clancy’s positions include a right to legal counsel for people facing eviction, shifting funds from law enforcement to community services and eliminating property tax funding of schools.

Mamdani advocates for freezing rent, government-owned grocery stores and free child care.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Britannica: Socialism
• Britannica: Communism
• History.com: How Are Socialism and Communism Different?
• National Geographic: Socalism
• Investopedia: Communism vs. Socialism: What’s the Difference?
• Milwaukee Magazine: Meet Ryan Clancy: The Socialist Next Door
• Zohran for New York City: The Platform

Are communism and socialism the same? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.