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.
Gov. Tony Evers today announced he’s putting another $90 million of federal COVID-19 funds into K-12 education with a portion of the new money dedicated to mental health services. Districts will have until the end of calendar year 2026 to
State tax collections for the 2021-22 fiscal year came in $1.6 billion higher than what the Legislative Fiscal Bureau projected just seven months ago, driven by strong growth in income and corporate taxes. The LFB in January had expected the
Gov. Tony Evers, two months out from his reelection bid, called for using a portion of the state’s projected $5 billion surplus to cut taxes by $600 million a year. The plan also includes a call to repeal the minimum
The co-chairs of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee say they will be making changes to the state’s plan for how it should use opioid settlement funds. The Department of Health Services recently submitted an updated proposal to JFC for how
The Joint Finance Committee Tuesday approved redirecting more than $21 million in bonding to offset rising costs for Milwaukee and Racine counties as they build new facilities for young offenders. Meanwhile, one committee member warned inflation will likely raise the
Tax collections for the fiscal year that ends this month are running ahead of projections, putting the state in line for another boost to the general fund. The Department of Revenue last week reported general fund tax collections through the
The Joint Finance Committee today tweaked the Evers administration’s plan for an extra $283 million in federal transportation funds, including a ban on using a small pot of the money for bike trails. The bulk of the extra money flowing
Gov. Tony Evers today hailed news that Congress was dropping a provision from an omnibus spending bill that he had earlier wanted could cost the state $225 million of the $2.5 billion in ARPA funds it had expected to receive.
The Joint Finance Committee unanimously reworked portions of the Evers administration’s plan to spend $194 million in ARPA money for child care, including dialing back funding for a pilot program to target vulnerable populations. The GOP motion also pumps more
Gov. Tony Evers today called for using $1.7 billion of the state’s projected surplus to provide a tax rebate of $150 for each Wisconsin resident and pump millions more into education. The guv’s call comes on the heels of the
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau today projected the state will finish the 2021-23 budget with a $3.8 billion surplus, nearly $2.9 billion more than was expected just several months ago. The LFB said the revised estimate was due to $2.5 billion
The Evers administration today predicted revenues for the 2021-22 fiscal year will come in higher than expected with collections from income, corporate and sales taxes all running ahead of projections so far. Department of Revenue economist Emily Camfield noted income
DPI wants to use a smaller pot of federal COVID-19 funds to reward districts that provided in-person instruction during the pandemic. This comes after the U.S. Department of Education rejected an earlier proposal from GOP lawmakers to use more of
Incoming Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, announced this afternoon she is appointing outgoing Rep. Beth Meyers, D-Ashland, to the Joint Finance Committee. Meyers, who announced last week she won’t seek reelection this fall, fills Neubauer’s spot on the committee
The Joint Finance Committee voted unanimously today to sign off on legislation that would direct DATCP and WEDC to create a plan to increase Wisconsin’s agricultural exports 25 percent by mid-2026. SB 325 has already passed the Senate. But the
The Joint Finance Committee voted unanimously today to release $400,000 over the next two years to DATCP for meat processor grants. The budget approved this summer created the meat processor grant program and put the money into the committee’s appropriation
State tax collections continued to exceed expectations in the 2020-21 fiscal year as the state took in $319 million more than what the Legislative Fiscal Bureau had projected just two months ago. In June, LFB had anticipated $19.25 billion in
Gov. Tony Evers OK’d a more than $2 billion income tax cut that reduces one of Wisconsin’s three brackets as he largely signed off on the budget that Republicans sent him last week. But he nixed a provision to use
Wisconsin wouldn’t qualify for some $2.2 billion in federal aid for K-12 education if Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the GOP-authored budget in full and Capitol leaders failed to pass a new one, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau says. The LFB memo
The state Assembly this afternoon kicked off debate on the state budget by shooting down a Dem amendment to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The amendment, which mirrored the proposal Gov. Tony Evers put in his budget, was
