by Chris Kulow | Jul 5, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Budget
Governor Tony Evers today signed a state budget he labelled “imperfect and incomplete” with over 50 partial vetoes of particular line items.
Related to K-12 education provisions, the governor used his veto to provide $325 per pupil revenue adjustments into future years beyond the 2023-25 budget (bolded below). We will provide more details as we learn more about how this was accomplished. Below is the full text on K-12 provisions included in the governor’s veto message: (more…)
by Chris Kulow | Jun 30, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Budget
The Assembly late last evening approved the $98.7 billion two-year state budget on a 63-34 party line vote. As with the Senate, no changes were made as all Democrat amendments were rejected and the bill now heads to Gov. Evers for potential vetoes. The governor can veto the entire budget (an outcome considered unlikely) or use line-item partial vetoes to change certain provisions, but cannot add additional spending.
The governor has hinted he will look for vetoes related to cuts to the UW System and tax cuts for higher wage earners.
by Chris Kulow | Jun 29, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Budget
The state budget bill (Senate Bill 70) was debated late into the evening and, after rejecting numerous amendments from Senate Democrats, passed on a vote of 20-13. All Democrats were joined by GOP Sens. Hutton and Nass in opposition.
As promised, no changes were made to the document which now heads to the state Assembly for floor action today at 1pm (watch LIVE). If the Assembly approves the bill without changes, as expected, it would be delivered to the governor as early as Friday.
Read more: AP: Spending plan cutting taxes, University of Wisconsin funding clears state Senate
by Chris Kulow | Jun 28, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Budget
The state Senate will meet in floor session at 1pm today (6/28) to debate and vote on the state budget (watch LIVE). The Assembly is slated to then take up the budget bill tomorrow. Legislative leaders Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos have said there are no major changes going to be made to the budget including adding back any funding for the UW System or the Office of School Safety.
Gov. Evers had previously threatened to veto the entire budget if the UW System was cut, but both LeMahieu and Vos indicated they doubted the governor would veto the entire budget. Short of vetoing the entire budget, Gov. Evers can line-item veto certain provisions in the bill but he cannot add additional spending. The governor’s office said he will evaluate the bill language to determine potential vetoes. (more…)
by Dan Rossmiller | Jun 23, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Budget, State Issue
On Tuesday (June 20), Gov. Evers signed two bills with significant effects on K-12 schools into law as 2023 Wisconsin Acts 11 and 12. These new laws on education funding and shared revenue are part of a deal Gov. Evers reached with Republican legislative leaders.
An earlier blog post described changes made by the first new act (Act 11) dealing primarily with public school funding and voucher school funding. The changes made by the second new act (Act 12) are described below.
Wisconsin Act 12 is focused primarily on: (1) modifying the state’s approach to shared revenue for counties and municipalities; (2) repealing Wisconsin’s personal property tax; and (3) authorizing the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County to impose sales and use taxes, primarily to address unfunded pension system liabilities. This new law also makes other changes including some new provisions specific to the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and Milwaukee County and other provisions that apply to schools throughout the state. (more…)
by Dan Rossmiller | Jun 22, 2023 | Legislative Update Blog, State Budget, State Issue
At a signing ceremony in Wausau on Tuesday (June 20), Gov. Evers signed two bills with significant effects on K-12 schools into law as 2023 Wisconsin Acts 11 and 12. These new laws on education funding and shared revenue are part of a deal Gov. Evers reached with Republican legislative leaders and are described below. That deal has been touted as pumping an additional $1 billion into K-12 public education in the next two years, while also boosting per pupil payments to private schools participating in the state’s voucher programs.
This blog post describes changes made by the first of these new acts. The changes made by the second new law will be covered in a separate blog post.
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