Governor Evers 2023 State of the State Address
By Dee Pettack | January 25, 2023
On Tuesday, January 24, 2023, Governor Evers gave the 2023 State of the State Address. Below is a summary from The Wheeler Report:
GOVERNOR EVERS GIVES 2023 STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS
His speech he highlighted education, environment, childcare, business development and workforce issues, and tax provisions.
Excerpts of the speech are listed below.
Education:
- We’re going to invest $20 million to increase literacy-related programming and implement evidence-based reading practices across Wisconsin.
- I’m proposing a pathway to get experienced educators back into our workforce by making it easier for school districts to hire retired teachers and staff. And we’re going to invest over $20 million into recruiting, developing, and retaining teachers and student teachers, including $10 million for our local, homegrown educators, to bolster our educator pipeline and ensure it’s sustainable for the future.
- I’m announcing we’re going to make “Get Kids Ahead” a permanent state program, and we’re investing more than $270 million to ensure every student has access to mental health services.
Mental Health:
- Together with our “Get Kids Ahead” initiative investment, we’ll be making an overall investment of about $500 million to expand access to mental and behavioral health services for folks across our state.
- We’re going to invest in developing robust prevention strategies to reduce suicide, self-harm, and other mental and behavioral health-related injuries. And that includes state resources to support 988, the new Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Taxes:
- But I also want to be clear tonight: splurging $3.5 billion to hand out big breaks to the wealthiest 20 percent of earners isn’t responsible, folks; it’s reckless.
- When we deliver tax relief—and we will deliver tax relief—we’re going to do it responsibly by ensuring we can keep taxes low now and into the future, and we’ll do it without driving our state into debt or causing devastating cuts to priorities like public schools and public safety.
- Spending billions on a flat tax isn’t a workforce plan or an economic development plan.
Childcare:
- The first thing I’m going to do is deliver on my promise to expand the Child and Dependent Care Credit, which will provide nearly $30 million in tax relief to more than 100,000 Wisconsinites.
- Through our Partner Up! Program,…and…monthly Child Care Counts Program…These two programs made a big difference in the lives of kids and working families across Wisconsin. But the reality is that the federal funds that support them won’t last forever. So, we’ll be continuing these programs to keep childcare affordable and accessible in my budget. We’re going to provide more than $340 million for Child Care Counts so providers can have the financial stability they need to keep the lights on, pay their workers fair, competitive wages, and continue to provide high-quality care to kids across the state.
- We’ll also be investing more than $22 million into the Partner Up! program to expand partnerships between employers and childcare providers.
The governor’s address is available to watch here. The full text is available here.
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Evers Announces Budget Listening Sessions
By Dee Pettack | December 9, 2022
From WisPolitics.com …
Gov. Tony Evers this morning announced three budget listening sessions before year’s end with more planned into 2023.The first in-person event will be Tuesday in Kenosha as part of what Evers is calling the “Doing the Right Thing” listening session tour. That reflects one of the main themes of Evers’ successful reelection bid.That will be followed by a virtual listening session Wednesday with an in-person event Dec. 20 in Green Bay.Evers’ office said more locations and dates will be announced in the new year.See the release here.
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Assembly Joint Finance Committee Members Announced
By Dee Pettack | December 5, 2022
From WisPolitics.com …Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has elevated Rep. Terry Katsma, R-Oostburg, to vice-chair of the Joint Finance Committee.He’s also added Rep. Alex Dallman, R-Green Lake, to fill the open Assembly GOP spot on the committee.Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, R-Clinton, served as the Assembly vice-chair this session. But she opted against seeking reelection to run for secretary of state.Vos previously announced Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, would return as co-chair.The rest of the Assembly Finance team remains the same as this past session: Tony Kurtz, R-Wonewoc; Jessie Rodriguez, R-Oak Creek; and Shannon Zimmerman, R-River Fall.See Vos’ release here.
See Dallman’s here.
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Budget Surplus Update
By Dee Pettack | November 23, 2022
From WisPolitics.com …
WI GOP leaders to push for ‘long term’ tax cuts
[Vos and LeMahieu] at a WisPolitics.com event … [pitched] “transformational tax changes in Wisconsin,” LeMahieu said. “We definitely need to drive down our top rates.” … something Evers reiterated last week he opposes. … Vos said he wanted to cut taxes “as much as we possibly can” and “it needs to be long term and permanent.” That includes eliminating [personal] property tax … [which] Evers last session vetoed … Vos and LeMahieu said they were open to increasing funding for K-12 public schools, if it’s paired with also expanding school choice programs. [which Evers doubts is possible. He opposes expanding choice]. … said they hoped to work better with Evers in his second term. … LeMahieu said working together … “can get some things done.” … Evers reached out to both lawmakers recently, and Vos said he spoke with the governor for about five minutes. “That was five minutes more than the past two years,” Vos said. … Vos said he hoped to reach some kind of agreement [on abortion ban exemptions] before the April 4 Wisconsin Supreme Court election so that race doesn’t become all about abortion [which favored Dems in Nov. election].
* Minority Leader Agard said a flat tax “would benefit the wealthy and well-connected” and Democrats will oppose it.* LeMahieu, after the event: “We’re going to do income tax cuts across the board to make sure everybody receives tax cuts in Wisconsin.” By Bauer, AP
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Legislative Council Study on Shared School District Services Committee Notice/Update
By Dee Pettack | November 23, 2022
The Joint Legislative Council Study Committee on Shared School District Services will meet November 30, 2022 at 10:00 am. The agenda can be found here.
The following proposals will be discussed:
· LRB-0561/P2, relating to state aid for school district consolidation.
· LRB-0572/P2, relating to aid for transporting pupils between school districts that share services.
· LRB-0590/P2, relating to calculating a consolidated school district’s revenue limit.
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Senator Darling Resignation
By Dee Pettack | November 23, 2022
From WisPolitics.com …GOP state Sen. Alberta Darling, who led the powerful Joint Finance Committee for a record-tying six terms, announced today she will retire Dec. 1 after 32 years in the Legislature.Her departure will open up a vacancy in her strongly GOP seat representing the Milwaukee suburbs.Darling, 78, didn’t cite a reason in her news release for her decision to retire in the middle of her eighth term in the Senate. She was first elected to the Assembly in a May 1990 special election and then won the Senate seat in 1992.In her resignation letter to Senate President Chris Kapenga, Darling wrote, “Serving requires many sacrifices and I look forward to giving family and friends my full attention.”Darling, R-River Hills, first co-chaired JFC in the 2003 session. She then returned to the co-chair’s spot in the 2011 session and held the gavel for five straight sessions. That was interrupted briefly by Dems winning control of the state Senate following the 2012 recall elections.“As the longest-serving woman to co-chair the Joint Committee on Finance, I made sure each and every dollar was spent prudently knowing this money comes from the hardworking people of our state,” said Darling, the first woman to serve as co-chair from the state Senate in the committee’s history.Darling was the target of a 2011 recall over former Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10, beating back the challenge by nearly 7 points. Dems also targeted her in the 2020 elections, but she won with more than 54 percent of the vote even as Donald Trump only received 167 more votes in the district than Joe Biden. cRepublicans made the seat more Republican under the maps they drew and the state Supreme Court put in place this spring. According to Marquette University researcher John Johnson, it’s now a more than 56 percent GOP seat, based on top-of-the-ticket results in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections and the 2018 guv contest. That’s about 2.5 points more Republican than it had been.Caucuses often turn to incumbent state reps for special elections in the Senate. Republicans Janel Brandtjen, of Menomonee Falls, and Dan Knodl, of Germantown, this fall both won reelection to their Assembly seats that are part of the Senate district, as did Dem Deb Andraca, of Whitefish Bay.Republicans were poised to begin the new legislative session with a veto-proof majority of 22-11, but will now be at 21-11 come January.See the release here.
See the resignation letter here.
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Projected Budget Surplus grows to $6.6 Billion
By Dee Pettack | November 21, 2022
From WisPolitics.com …The Evers administration now expects a nearly $6.6 billion budget surplus to end the fiscal year June 30, well above previous expectations that it would come in north of $5 billion.Providing the first look at the 2023-25 budget, the Department of Administration today said it expects an additional $1.5 billion in revenue growth over the two-year period.Meanwhile, state agencies have requested an increase of $3.6 billion in new general purpose revenue over the 2023-25 biennium.Between the projected surplus and the expected revenue growth, the state could fund every single agency request and still have $4.4 billion left over in the general fund.The report also noted the state has more than $1.7 billion in its rainy day fund.See the report here.
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Assembly Dems Hold Leadership Elections Today
By Dee Pettack | November 17, 2022
From WisPolitics.com …Assembly Dems meet today to elect their slate of leaders for the 2023-24 session.All the incumbents are unopposed in seeking new terms:
- Minority Leader Greta Neubauer of Racine;
- Assistant Minority Leader Kalan Haywood of Milwaukee;
- Caucus Chair Lisa Subeck, Madison;
- Caucus Vice-chair Jill Billings, La Crosse;
- Secretary Kristina Shelton, Green Bay;
- Sergeant-at-arms Lee Snodgrass, Appleton.
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Senate Minority Leadership Elections
By Dee Pettack | November 16, 2022
From The Wheeler Report . . .
Senate Democrats held leadership elections yesterday.
- Senate Minority Leader – Melissa Agard
- Senate Minority Assistant Leader – Jeff Smith
- Senate Minority Caucus Chair – Chris Larson
- Senate Minority Caucus Vice-Chair – Dianne Hesselbein
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General School Aids Announced
By Dee Pettack | November 16, 2022
From The Wheeler Report . . .
According to a new Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo, “The general school aids appropriation funds equalization, integration (Chapter 220), and special adjustment aids. In 2022-23, $5,201.6 million from the general fund is provided in the general school aids appropriation. Of the total amount of funding provided, 394 of the state’s 421 school districts are eligible for $5,155.4 million in equalization aid, 20 districts are eligible for $37.2 million in integration aid, and 48 districts are eligible for $9.0 million in special adjustment aid.”
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