Budget Recap
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | July 7, 2023
Comprehensive summaries of the biennial budget are still being drafted. Below is a is a quick summary for the 2023-25 budget bill (2023 Act 19).
- Revenue limits: All districts will get +$325 per pupil, and districts that are still below $11,000/pupil after that, and that are not subject to a freeze on their low revenue ceiling (LRC) threshold, will be able to raise their revenue limit to $11,000. *
- Per Pupil Aid for school districts remains at $742/pupil (same as for 2022-23).
- July 1 aid estimates are listed on this SFS page (not per pupil amounts).
- There will be no High Poverty Aid (which will reduce the levy in eligible school districts); the Governor vetoed the statutory language changes (i.e., preserved the High Poverty Aid statutes), but $0 is appropriated for High Poverty Aid under the budget.
- The funding for mental health (school-based services) remains as the JCF motion specified – it will go out on a per pupil basis ($25 M divided by total current year enrollments** in school districts and in Independent Charter Schools). The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated $31/pupil – at this time that is the best estimate we have.
- Special Education Aid – the assumption is a 33.3% reimbursement rate ($97 million) for FY24 and FY25. Estimates will be made available by DPI for payments in the fall, and the final payments and reimbursement rate will be available at the end of the 2023-24 school year.
- Sparsity Aid – the per pupil amount did not change (still $400 or $100 per pupil, depending on district’s membership) – but there is more funding in the appropriation with intention to fully fund aid eligibility. Once the aid run is completed this month by DPI, we will know whether any proration is needed.
- BLBC, High-Cost Spec Ed, and High-Cost Transportation aids – The budget bill provided increases to raise reimbursement rates for these aids. At this time, we don’t have per pupil estimates, they are all based on reimbursement of eligible expenditures and not all districts are eligible for these aids.
- Transportation – The reimbursement rate for the 12+ miles category for Transportation Aid was raised to $400/member.
- The estimated funding for School Library Aids increased by $7 M each year; this aid goes to districts based on total headcount (ages 4-21) living in the district. These estimates will likely not be available until early in the calendar year.
*The Governor’s veto allows school districts to receive $325/pupil each year, continuing after 2024-25 … for 400 years (unless changed by a future Legislature).
**For school districts, the language specifies that DPI is to use the current year revenue limit membership, as defined under s. 115.437 [for Per Pupil Aid) – so it will be the current year’s 3-year rolling average FTE). For ICS, it is the current year enrollment, which people suspect will be the 3rd Friday in September numbers or the school year average w/ January counts (still awaiting confirmation of this).
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Governor Evers Signs 2023-25 Budget
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | July 6, 2023
Governor Evers signed the $99 billion 2023-25 state budget on July 5, 2023. He utilized his veto pen on 51 provisions included in the plan passed by legislative republicans.
From Wispolitics.com:
Evers called the document Republican lawmakers sent him “incomplete,” but rejected calls to nix the entire two-year plan. He cited the various priorities he achieved in the budget, including increases in funding for education and local governments.
“Vetoing this entire budget would mean abandoning priorities and ideas I’ve spent four years advocating for,” he said ahead of signing. The impact of other vetoes included extending through 2425 an annual increase in the per-pupil spending limit of $325 a year. The budget included increases of $325 in each year of this biennium as part of a deal GOP lawmakers reached with the Governor on state aid to local governments, as well as increasing the size of state-funded vouchers for private schools. The governor’s action, though, seeks to extend that annual increase by four centuries. Future legislatures, though, can change that number.
Read the veto message here.
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Legislature Votes on 2023-25 State Budget
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 29, 2023
From WisPolitics.com …
The $98.7 billion budget cleared the GOP-run Senate last night 20-13.
GOP state Sens. Rob Hutton, of Brookfield, and Steve Nass, of Whitewater, were the only members to cross party lines on the vote, opposing the budget.
The Assembly plans to convene today at 1pm and the budget is the only bill on the calendar. They have scheduled eight hours for debate. The floor session can be viewed on wiseye.org.
If the Assembly signs off on the budget without any changes to what the Senate approved, the bill would then go to The Governor for review.
Republicans in the Senate approved one amendment that largely included language meant to guard against Evers being able to use his partial veto authority on the bill. Other amendments that sought to increase funding for schools, eliminate the 2017 Act 141 penalty on low revenue districts, and reverse the elimination of high poverty aid were rejected by the majority party.
In Wisconsin the Governor has one of the most powerful veto powers in the nation, allowing them to strike or reduce appropriations in spending bills by writing in a smaller amount, though they can’t increase spending that the Legislature proposed.
The governor also may strike words, numbers and punctuation, though they can’t strike out individual letters to create new words — once dubbed the “Vanna White veto” — and aren’t allowed to create new sentences by combining parts of two or more sentences in the text — which critics called the “Frankenstein veto.”
Additional updates will be provided as the budget moves forward. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Low Revenue District Clarification
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 22, 2023
Hi all –
Apologies if there was confusion that stemmed from the previous blog post.
The excel spreadsheet contained several tabs which listed all low revenue districts and those impacted by the ACT 141 penalty.
Here is a simple list of those districts impacted.
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Urgent Budget Update
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 22, 2023
Good afternoon, Members:
On Tuesday Governor Evers signed SB 330 into law. This bill was the result of an overall budget compromise that Governor Evers struck with Legislative leaders from both houses. This piece of policy was advanced outside of the normal budget process. A summary of the overall budget compromise can be found here.
Today, the Joint Finance Committee is scheduled to meet at 4:30pm to finish the remaining pieces of the budget which includes funding for the University of Wisconsin, Shared Revenue and Tax Relief, General Fund Taxes, and the Budget Stabilization Fund. The agenda is available here. As in previous budget cycles the committee will also take up the #999 motion which is considered the “wrap up motion” which can contain various pieces of fiscal policy from any area of the budget. This is the final step of Joint Finance Committee action before both houses will begin action on the proposal.
Members have reached out about several areas of the budget including the impacts of 2017 Act 141 which penalize certain school districts for having a failed referenda in the last three years and the impact of the elimination of the High Poverty Aid provision that impacts many districts around the state. I have attached lists of those impacted for your reference. I would encourage those impacted to reach out to their legislators and members of the Joint Finance Committee to express how these provisions would impact on your ability to serve your students.
The list of districts impacted by the elimination of High Poverty Aid can be found here.
The list of districts impacted by the penalties created for low revenue districts under 2017 Act 141 can be found here.
Finally, a comprehensive summary of the literacy legislation which passed the Assembly yesterday will be forthcoming and can be used when contacting your Senators and the Governor who will need to act on the legislation before it becomes law.
You can find the contact information for your state legislators here and the emails for Joint Finance Committee members is listed below. Please reach out to me if you have questions.
Joint Finance Member Emails
Rep.Born@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sen.Marklein@legis.wisconsin.gov
rep.katsma@legis.wisconsin.gov
sen.strobel@legis.wisconsin.gov
sen.felzkowski@legis.wisconsin.gov
sen.ballweg@legis.wisconsin.gov
sen.testin@legis.wisconsin.gov
sen.wimberger@legis.wisconsin.gov
sen.johnson@legis.wisconsin.gov
sen.roys@legis.wisconsin.gov
rep.zimmerman@legis.wisconsin.gov
rep.rodriguez@legis.wisconsin.gov
rep.kurtz@legis.wisconsin.gov
rep.dallman@legis.wisconsin.gov
rep.goyke@legis.wisconsin.gov
rep.mcguire@legis.wisconsin.gov
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »