New Lisbon, WI – May 18, 2026
After a weekend of finger-pointing and recriminations, we hope legislators will use this opportunity for renewed conversations.
Last week, Senate Democrats joined three conservative Republicans to kill the Budget Repair Bill, which had passed with broad bipartisan support in the Assembly. For now, the state will continue to hold over $2B in surplus funds while inflation hits working people hard and property taxes are slated to rise once again. Some critics said the deal lacked adequate stakeholder input, while others suggested the proposals were one-time, unsustainable remedies.
No bill is perfect. While AEF had concerns with distributing property tax relief based on student count rather than property value, we nevertheless supported the bill because it addressed two timely goals: offsetting property tax increases and providing additional, spendable special education funding.
Every pause allows for reconsideration and improved communication. Let’s return to negotiations, acknowledging the new realities made clear by this bill’s failure. AEF stands ready to help.
The Wisconsin Association for Equity in Funding (WAEF) is a group of Wisconsin school districts that seeks financial equity in the state system of school financing. Members include urban, suburban and rural schools, educating about 83,000 students across Wisconsin. The two issues that brought this group together have been the wide differences in the amount school districts have been able to invest in the education of their children (Revenue Limits) and the even wider differences in the property tax burden to pay for that investment.
