Madison, WI – Today, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers vetoed Assembly Bill 602, legislation authored by Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) and Representative Jessie Rodriguez (R- Oak Creek) that would have expanded educational opportunities for Wisconsin students without using any taxpayer funds or adding a single new bureaucrat.
Established by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a new provision exists to provide a dollar-for-dollar, non-refundable tax credit for individuals who make charitable contributions to eligible scholarship-granting organizations. These organizations provide scholarships directly to eligible families to support students with a variety of expenses including tutoring, transportation, curriculum, special needs therapies, academic extracurriculars, and more. Students in all types of schools, from public and private to charter and homeschool, are eligible for scholarships.
For Wisconsinites who donate to Wisconsin scholarship-granting organizations to take advantage of the tax credit, the state needed to opt in. Following the governor’s veto, only donations to scholarship-granting organizations in states that have opted in are eligible for the credit, meaning these dollars will now flow out of state. Senator Felzkowski’s legislation would have opted Wisconsin into the program, ensuring that Wisconsin taxpayers and children can take full advantage of the program and its benefits.
States with Democratic governors across the country have opted into this program. Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, said, “I would be crazy not to [opt in].”
Following Gov Evers’ veto, Senator Felzkowski issued the following statement:
Gov. Evers’ veto of this bill is just another example of our ‘education governor’ putting politics over helping Wisconsin students. Apparently, expanded educational opportunities for students in all schools, whether public, private, homeschool, or charter, (at NO cost to the state and without the need for a single new bureaucrat!) makes too much sense for the governor. Wisconsin students and families deserve better.
