From WisPolitics … — The Joint Finance Committee will vote tomorrow on a request from the Department of Public Instruction to release $49.7 million to fund a literacy package, days ahead of the money lapsing to the general fund without committee action. The committee originally received the request on March

From WisPolitics … — Speaker Robin Vos told WisPolitics he’s optimistic lawmakers will wrap up the budget by the end of next week after Assembly and Senate Republicans met in a joint caucus today. Budget talks broke off last week after Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said his caucus

From WisPolitics … — GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he spoke with Dem Gov. Tony Evers this morning about state budget talks after the Senate stepped away from the negotiations last week.  “So we’re staying in regular communication, and we continue to work through it. I think the most

From WisPolitics … — UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin today directed schools and colleges to reduce their base budgets by 5% for fiscal year 2025-26, citing uncertainty at the federal and state levels. Mnookin wrote in a communication to faculty and staff that changes in how much the federal government will

Subscribers: We are sending this PM Update today instead of the usual REPORT, which will return next week. Thank you for subscribing! From WisPolitics … — The office of Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August says a review found no issue in the Assembly’s voting system after Dem lawmakers raised concerns

From WisPolitics … — The Joint Finance Committee today canceled its meeting set for this afternoon as GOP legislative leaders appear at odds with each other and Gov. Tony Evers over a 2025-27 state budget deal.  Meanwhile, Joint Finance Committee Dems charged Senate Republicans with allowing “extremists” within their caucus

From WisPolitics … — Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, today confirmed his caucus supports cutting $87 million from the Universities of Wisconsin budget, but “you’ll have to wait and see” whether that happens.  “It’s not about cutting money, what it is is about getting some kind of reform to the

From WisPolitics … — Attorney General Josh Kaul today hailed the state Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling finding the Legislature can’t oversee civil enforcement actions or cases the state Department of Justice brings at the request of executive branch agencies.  The court, which has a 4-3 liberal majority, ruled in favor

From WisPolitics … — U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin was on a list of dozens of state and federal officials compiled by a man who shot and killed a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband over the weekend, her office confirmed to WisPolitics today. Baldwin spokesperson Eli Rosen in a statement said

From WisPolitics … — The Joint Finance Committee has delayed the start of today’s executive session on education funding and taxes. The latest announcement pushed the start of the hearing to 5 p.m. It was the third delay announced today after the committee was originally scheduled to convene at 1

From WisPolitics … — GOP state Rep. Tony Kurtz today said legislation he’s co-authored to extend the state’s stewardship program is just a starting point as stakeholders weigh in. Dem Rep. Deb Andraca told Kurtz — a fellow member of the Finance Committee — that she likes a lot of

From WisPolitics … — Gov. Tony Evers today insisted “I didn’t lie” when he said Republican legislative leaders refused his demand to make a significant investment in education during budget negotiations. Evers also disclosed the two sides were far apart on a boost to special education funding. Speaking with reporters

From WisPolitics … — Wisconsin is on pace to see a spike in credible threats against state judges and justices in 2025, according to numbers compiled by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. A court spokesperson says that’s partly because judges and staff across Wisconsin are being encouraged to report threats to

From WisPolitics … — The Department of Public Instruction plans to withhold an additional $25.4 million in state aid from Milwaukee Public Schools this year due to delayed financial reporting, according to a letter provided to WisPolitics.  In a notice sent to the district yesterday, Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy

From WisPolitics … — State Dem Party Chair Ben Wikler at a WisPolitics luncheon today said Wisconsin is seeing a “burgeoning blue wave” that will hit the state in full force next year following Democrats’ painful November loss.  The outgoing chair spoke at today’s panel alongside former GOP state Rep.

From WisPolitics … — An executive with a paper mill in Biron warned that restricting foreign ownership of Wisconsin land could cut off the company’s ability to expand in the state. But GOP Sen. André Jacque, who co-authored one of the bills to restrict foreign ownership that received a public

From WisPolitics … — The Department of Public Instruction will continue withholding aid from Milwaukee Public Schools after the state’s largest district missed two deadlines last month to file financial data with the agency. DPI Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy said the agency will continue to withhold $16.6 million from

From WisPolitics … — Wisconsin’s six GOP House members and Republican state lawmakers want the state Supreme Court to reject a lawsuit asking the justices to redraw congressional lines. And the six members of Congress want liberal Justice Janet Protasiewiciz to recuse herself from the case after comments she made