MADISON –Rep. Tony Kurtz (R-Wonewoc) issued the following statement after the Wisconsin State Assembly passed the 2025-2027 biennial budget:
“Today, I voted for a re-crafted, bipartisan budget that makes investments in many priorities for Wisconsinites including public safety, K-12 education, transportation infrastructure, the agriculture industry, child care, and provides significant tax relief to retirees and working families. I’m proud of the work we did to ensure this is a budget that delivers a lot of good things for everyone in Wisconsin.” said Rep. Kurtz. Here are some highlights of what’s included in the 2025-2027 biennial budget:
- Funding key public safety initiatives like hazmat teams, urban search and rescue teams and the replacement of our emergency response communication network.
- Increasing special education aid by more than $500 million to increase reimbursement rates to 42% reimbursement in the first year and 45% in the second year.
- Investing over $1 billion for transportation infrastructure including local roads and bridges, state highways and interstate projects.
- Ensuring we remain competitive with our neighbor states in marketing what makes Wisconsin a great place to visit.
- Over $250 million to help address the complex issues facing child care, including raising reimbursement rates in Wisconsin Shares, and providing bridge payments to providers until the new elementary school readiness program is implemented.
- Nearly $1.5 billion in tax cuts, including allowing a portion of retiree’s income to be tax free and expands the second bracket.
- Targeting investments to support accessible and affordable health care including funds to rural hospitals, free and charitable clinics, and responding to the critical workforce shortage facing the healthcare industry.
- Providing funding for improvements to our state’s parks and recreational areas to ensure residents of our state can enjoy our natural spaces.
- Making critical investments to support and improve our criminal justice system through increasing wages for district attorneys and public defenders and additional providing support for the circuit court system.
