MADISON – The Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) held an executive session and voted on various budget items related to K-12 education and tax relief as part of the 2025-2027 state biennial budget. Representative Dallman released the following statement.
“I am proud that JFC Republicans took action to provide additional targeted investments in K-12 education and provided hardworking taxpayers with much needed tax relief,” said Representative Dallman.
“We have heard from countless Wisconsinites that special education reimbursement must be funded at a higher rate. JFC Republicans responded today to include over $228 million in additional special education funding for school districts – which represents a 35% reimbursement rate in fiscal year 2025 and a 37.5% reimbursement rate in fiscal year 2026. This is a historic investment in K-12 education and every school district will see needed relief.
We also kept our promise to deliver over $1.3 billion in meaningful tax relief to Wisconsin taxpayers. JFC voted to expand the second marginal income tax bracket and exclude retirement income for Wisconsinites over the age of 67. With high costs and inflation still impacting the prices of goods and services, these tax cuts will help our middle class and seniors make ends meet across our state.”
K-12 Investments:
- $283.5 million in new special education funding
- $20 million new funding for school-based mental health services
Tax Relief:
- Expands the second marginal income tax bracket (4.4%) for single/head-of-household filers from $21,110 to $50,480, for married-joint filers from $28,150 to $67,300, and for married-separated filers from $14,070 to $33,650. This expansion provides tax relief by allowing more income to be taxed at a lower rate.
- For Wisconsin residents 67 years old or older, the first $24,000 of retirement income will be excluded for single filers and the first $48,000 for married-joint filers.
The Joint Committee on Finance’s actions will now be added as part of the 2025-2027 state biennial budget. The budget bill (AB 50/SB 45) must be passed by both the Assembly and Senate before heading to the governor to be signed into law.
