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.
Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, has been re-appointed co-chair of Joint Finance, tying her for the most terms leading the powerful budget committee. Darling has led the committee since the 2011-12 session other than a brief period when Dems won
The state finished the 2017-18 fiscal year with $579 million in the general fund, a slight improvement from previous projections, the Department of Administration announced late this afternoon. The final accounting for the fiscal year found the state had $41.2
The property tax bill for the median-valued home came in $27 higher than the Legislative Fiscal Bureau originally estimated, according to a new analysis from the agency. That bill of $2,876 last year is below the $2,963 for a median-valued
State agencies have turned in requests for an additional $2.45 billion in the next budget so far, driven largely by the departments of Public Instruction, Health Services and Corrections, according to a WisPolitics.com tally. And the total could climb higher.
State Superintendent Tony Evers is asking for an additional $1.4 billion in state money over the next two years to fund K-12 education, more than double the boost schools got in the 2017-19 budget. The request comes as Evers challenges
The UW System is requesting an increase of $108 million in state aid during the next two-year budget, much of it through the performance-based funding championed by Gov. Scott Walker and GOP lawmakers. Under the request, which the Board of
The Walker administration plans to begin collecting on Oct. 1 sales taxes from online retailers with no presence in Wisconsin, a projected $90 million boost to state coffers in the current fiscal year, according to a new LFB memo. The
The Department of Health Services is now projecting the state will have a GPR surplus of $102.4 million in the Medicaid fund at the end of the 2017-19 budget. The report on the fourth quarter, marking the halfway point of
The Joint Finance Committee tweaked Gov. Scott Walker’s plan for a boost in federal highway aids, putting more of the money toward fixing Wisconsin’s deteriorating bridges and less into knocking out I-94 north-south to, at least partially, benefit the Foxconn
State Sen. Lena Taylor was ordered to undergo training after it was found she bullied an employee who filed a complaint against her as well as other staffers, according to newly released documents. Along with giving Taylor three months to
The Joint Finance Committee signed off today 11-4 along party lines on the UW System’s plan to divvy up $26.3 million in outcome-based funding. The debate over the proposal, which outlines how the university would measure campus success to get
The Joint Finance Committee today approved 11-4 along party lines reallocating $7.1 million in existing Corrections funds to address a shortfall in the general operations budget driven by continued high inmate health costs. The department budgeted $80.6 million in 2017-18
The Joint Finance Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to change the guv’s rural economic development fund program to target some of the money to local development organizations. Gov. Scott Walker called for directing $50 million annually to the 56 rural counties
The committee voted 16-0 Tuesday to approve requiring DWD to approve an incentive grant program for school districts that create programs to train individuals for occupations as firefighters and emergency medical responders. Currently, the Department of Workforce Development must award
The Joint Finance Committee unanimously voted Tuesday to approve an additional $8 million in 2018-19 to increase child care subsidies under the Wisconsin Shares program. The program helps low-income working families cover the costs of quality child care when the
The Joint Finance Committee voted 13-3 Tuesday to change the guv’s plan to create a reinsurance program in the federal marketplace under the Affordable Care Act. That includes stripping out the state funding of $50 million for the $200 million
GOP Rep. Travis Tranel, the lead author of legislation to create a $50 million rural economic development fund that Gov. Scott Walker wants, pitched the Joint Finance Committee on Monday to re-work the bill. Walker’s proposal seeks $50 million distributed
Groups representing Wisconsin’s hospitals, doctors and insurers today backed the guv’s plan to create a reinsurance plan for the individual market under the Affordable Care Act. Still, Dems questioned why the guv was willing to rely on additional federal money
The Joint Finance Committee unanimously approved a plan to boost state aid for small, rural school by $6.5 million and allow low-spending districts to collect more in property taxes. While members voted 16-0 for the bill, the debate became a
The Joint Finance Committee voted 12-4 to approve two of the guv’s welfare bills, including one that would create a pilot program to send monthly payments to recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit instead of a lump sum after
