MADISON, WI – State Rep. Christian Phelps (D-Eau Claire) introduced today LRB-2916/1, a bill to maintain existing enrollment caps on Wisconsin’s statewide school voucher program. This bill, introduced alongside Rep. Deb Andraca (D-Whitefish Bay), Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison), and Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee), presents the opportunity for a necessary change to state statute that will limit reckless spending on private education.
Rep. Phelps released the following statement:
“As Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee strip popular and fiscally responsible measures from the budget ahead of releasing a full budget bill to the legislature, it is urgent that we address one of Wisconsin’s biggest financial burdens: school voucher programs.
“I am dedicated to keeping public funds in our public schools and giving school districts the freedom to provide the best possible public education to the next generation. Taxpayers are already losing about $700 million per year to voucher schools. Multiple school districts in the 93rd have been forced to go to referendum in recent years. Allowing the caps to come off in 2026, which will happen if this bill does not pass, is essential.
“Data show that voucher programs do not improve educational outcomes: they do not come with public accountability or oversight, and they do not protect students’ or families’ rights. Instead, they strain our public resources.
“We reached out to key Republicans, who have so far declined to sign on to this legislation. But we are hopeful that they will do so now that the bill has been introduced. Keeping the enrollment caps on is a small but necessary change that will allow us to continue engaging in debates over the ultimate fate of these programs without allowing this financial balloon to pop, sending Wisconsin into unknowable fiscal catastrophe.
“This is a fiscally responsible proposal that should be implemented before we consider our new state budget. I urge my colleagues of both parties to join us in passing this legislation while we still can.”
