A new home for the Budget Blog
As of May 2025, the Budget Blog is available exclusively for WisPolitics subscribers on the State Affairs Wisconsin platform.
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Posts from before May 2025 can be viewed below.
The state is projected to have nearly $2.9 billion in additional money to spend over the next two years after the Legislative Fiscal Bureau today upped its revenue estimates through mid-2021. The state was already expecting healthy revenue growth for
The committee voted unanimously to approve Gov. Tony Evers’ proposal to pump more money into a program to provide clean drinking water. But the debate turned into a series of jabs over Republicans’ decision to reject $40 million in additional
The Joint Finance Committee pared back some of the new positions Gov. Tony Evers had proposed and wiped out the $1 million he wanted to put toward ensuring Wisconsin has an accurate count in the 2020 Census. The committee voted
The Joint Finance Committee voted along party lines to set aside funding for an initiative to address homelessness, but Republicans decided to hold back the money while the policy aspects of the effort is decided in separate bills. The guv
The Joint Finance Committee rejected Gov. Tony Evers’ call to give municipalities a $15.1 million boost in state aid during the second year of the budget. The guv wanted to give each community a 2 percent increase in state aid
The Joint Finance Committee largely backed a series of Gov. Tony Evers’ proposals to address treating those with mental health issues, but added several caveats over the objections of Dems. For example, the committee supported the creation of a new
The GOP-controlled Joint Finance Committee voted Thursday to wipe out some of the pillars of Dem Tony Evers’ budget, including an expansion of Medicaid, which the guv considered the linchpin for a $1.6 billion boost in health care spending over
The first motion the Joint Finance Committee plans to take up Thursday would result in the general fund seeing $1.4 billion less over the next two years than what Gov. Tony Evers proposed, according to an analysis by the Legislative
Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, won’t be at Thursday’s Joint Finance hearing on doctor’s orders following a fall last week during a fundraising trip to Washington, D.C. A Darling spokesman said the lawmaker was following a doctor’s recommendation that she
The Joint Finance Committee’s first actions on Gov. Tony Evers’ budget May 9 will be to pull out a host of his priorities, from expanding Medicaid to allowing illegal immigrants to get driver licenses. Typically, the JFC co-chairs have the
The Joint Finance Committee plans to begin voting next week on the 2019-21 state budget, according to the office of Co-chair Alberta Darling, R-River Hills. That’s a little later start than in 2017, when the committee’s first votes were May
WEDC CEO Mark Hogan today stressed the importance of the manufacturing and agriculture tax credit and continuing the repeal of prevailing wage, measures that he labeled as “significant attraction pieces” to entice and retain businesses. “The manufacturing and agricultural tax
The property taxes on the mythical median-valued Wisconsin home would go up $56 in the first year of Gov. Tony Evers’ budget and $48 in the second year, according to a new Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo. But that projected increase
Hundreds of Wisconsinites gathered in Janesville to highlight their support of various budget provisions ranging from accepting the Medicaid expansion to upping the special ed reimbursement rate during the legislative budget committee’s first roadshow stop today. The Joint Finance Committee
DNR Secretary Preston Cole defended the guv’s decision not to include any new money in the budget to combat chronic wasting disease in the state’s deer herd, arguing the administration is looking to take a more collaborative approach with other
Joint Finance Committee members quizzed Corrections Secretary Kevin Carr on staffing issues at correctional facilities across the state. Members highlighted a number of conditions that make hiring new corrections officers difficult, including relatively low pay and dangerous work conditions. A
Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee today expressed concern that Gov. Tony Evers’ Workforce Development budget proposals “really missed the mark.” The guv’s plan to up the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.50 by 2023 drew the ire of Republicans
Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee today grilled Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm on the plan to accept the federal Medicaid expansion, a proposal Palm said is the center of her agency’s budget. Gov. Tony Evers’ budget calls for expanding
GOP members of the Joint Finance Committee voiced concerns to Transportation Secretary Craig Thompson about Gov. Tony Evers’ plan to reinstate the prevailing wage on state projects and let those in the state illegally get driver’s licenses. And they also
Republican members of the Joint Finance Committee on Wednesday peppered DPI Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor with questions about the guv’s education proposal, questioning if the state can afford the proposed $1.4 billion increase for public schools. But prompted by questions
