MADISON – Today, the Wisconsin State Senate voted on the 2025-2027 State Budget. After the vote, Senator Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) released the following statement:
“While the budget the State Senate passed today was a significant improvement on the harmful path set by Republican legislators who threatened to slash funding for the Universities of Wisconsin, provide scant increases for K-12 schools, and end child care provider support entirely, it still falls short. Even with improvements, this is a budget that will allow the people of Wisconsin to survive when they need a budget that allows them to thrive.
“I thank Governor Tony Evers and Senate Democratic Leader Dianne Hesselbein for their work negotiating to improve this budget. As Democrats, we understand that when schools are forced to go to referendum to keep the doors open, when families are struggling to make ends meet, and when child care providers are on the brink of closing their doors due to rising costs and a challenging economy, state leaders need to step up and fight for policies that address those issues head on.
“Governor Evers and Leader Hesselbein secured $275 million more for K-12 special education costs, $330 million to support child care in Wisconsin, and $256 million to fund our Universities of Wisconsin. Without Senate Democrats, this budget would be a major step backwards for our state.
“I was also proud to fight for and secure priorities through bipartisan negotiations that Republicans had not included in the state budget. That includes $150 million in new funding for the Agricultural Roads Improvement Program to help fix roads in rural areas, $50 million in new funding for the Grants for Local Projects program, $10 million for Food Security Grants for local food banks, and $30 million for comprehensive school mental health services.
“Despite these improvements, this budget still falls short of what our kids, our public schools, and our universities truly need. As I have travelled across my district, constituents have been crystal clear about what they want and need most from this budget, including fully funding Child Care Counts, raising the special education reimbursement rate to at least 60%, expanding Medicaid, funding the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, and fully funding our schools at all levels – from K-12 to the Universities of Wisconsin. We started this budget process with a surplus over $4 billion, but the budget that passed today still provides just the bare minimum or nothing at all for critical state programs.
“We can and must do more for the people of Wisconsin. With federal budget cuts looming, now is the right time to invest in the people of Wisconsin. Instead, this budget starves us of the ability to effectively respond if the federal government cuts funding for education, Medicaid, or FoodShare.
“The people of Wisconsin deserve better. Next session, I look forward to working with my Democratic colleagues in the Legislature to craft a budget that allows all of Wisconsin to prosper.”
