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Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Are cellphones banned in Wisconsin schools? District policies vary across the state
Most Wisconsin school districts have already restricted cell phone usage in the classroom in the fight for students' attention against digital distractions, says a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum. Districts across the nation are moving to restrict the use of cell phones in classrooms, although not all students and parents support that decision. In Wisconsin, about 90% of districts surveyed "already have some sort of restrictive cellphone policy in place," according to a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction survey. Wisconsin school districts have implemented various cell phone usage policies, although most districts allow students to use cell phones in common areas, like cafeterias or hallways. Other districts are adopting much more restrictive policies and fully banning students from using their phone on school grounds. In a separate Pew Research survey, nearly three quarters of teachers surveyed said students being distracted by their cell phones is a "major problem in their classroom." Cell phone bans are mostly popular, depending on the level restriction, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum report, which sited another Pew Research survey that found 68% of U.S. adults support a ban on middle and high school students using cell phones during instruction hours. Here's a breakdown of the latest report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum. RELATED: Republicans want to ban cell phones in classrooms. Do 90% of districts already do that? Researchers at the Wisconsin Policy Forum analyzed the results of a Digital Learning Survey by the state Department of Instruction. Among the more than 300 districts surveyed, about 43% of them said their policies permit cell phone use only in middle and high school common areas. Another 26% reported their polices only permit cell phones in high school common areas. About 20% of Wisconsin districts surveyed reported a full cell phone ban, and only about 10% had a non-restrictions policy. Smaller districts were more likely to report the strictest cell phone restrictions. About 36% of districts with 500 or fewer students had full cell phone bans. Districts in which students of color are a majority also reported more strict cell phone bans, according to the report. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 19 states already have a statewide ban or restriction of cell phone use in K-12 schools, according to the report. Wisconsin law makers are currently under debate for a law that would adopt a policy prohibiting the use of cell phones during instructional time. The bill has moved quickly. The Assembly passed it in mid-February, just weeks after lawmakers returned to the Capitol. Nearly every Republican voted for the bill and all Democrats voted against it. The bill now awaits a vote on the Senate floor before it heads to Gov. Tony Evers. Other Midwest states, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a law to ban cell phones for students during instructional time. Also, Illinois Gov. J.B. Prizker supports a ban of student cell phone usage in school. Hope Karnopp contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Cellphone bans in Wisconsin schools: What are district policies?
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wisconsin export values have fallen billions in the past decade. Tariffs may make it worse
Rising prices and shrinking manufacturing jobs could be on the horizon for Wisconsin consumers and workers, as the state's exports industry continues declining billions of dollars in value, according to a new report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum. After a 2012 peak, the value of Wisconsin exports have been steadily decreasing for more than a decade, the report said.. Between 2012 and 2024, Wisconsin exports dropped from $32 billion to $27.5 billion, or more than 8%, in value. Adding further uncertainty to the industry are President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs against Wisconsin's top trading partners. The Trump administration has said boosting American manufacturing is a central goal of its tariffs. But, in the short term, the tariffs could take a further toll on the state's already-declining exports — and, by extension, a toll on Wisconsin's manufacturing industry, which relies heavily on exports and accounts for more than 18% of the state's private-sector jobs. Meanwhile, Wisconsin Republicans have largely praised the president's tariffs and dismissed questions about Congressional oversight over the policies. In March, Sen. Ron Johnson expressed concerns over how tariffs may impact Wisconsin industries, but he voted with the rest of the Wisconsin Republican delegation on April 30 to shoot down a resolution that would have pushed back against tariffs. Here's why the value of Wisconsin exports are dropping and which parts of the state have been most affected. Though Wisconsin export values have recovered from a pandemic drop, the industry has been steadily declining since the early 2010s, the report found. Between 2013 and 2024, Wisconsin's share of total U.S. exports fell from 1.5% to 1.3%. In the last two years alone, the value of state exports has slipped by $2 billion. "It's a continuation of this long-term shift in the United States, especially in the upper Midwest, away from manufacturing," Tyler Byrnes, a senior research associate for the Wisconsin Policy Forum, said of the decline. In the past few decades, American companies have steadily moved production overseas in search of cheaper labor — though there are some promising signs in Wisconsin of manufacturing returning home. In particular, high-skilled manufacturing has stuck around while other industries have declined, Byrnes said. "There's been a shift toward making more high-value things that take a lot of skill and highly skilled labor to produce, like agriculture and mining equipment," he said. In 2024, Wisconsin's two largest export industries were industrial and electrical machinery, and together comprised nearly $11 billion, or more than 39% of the state's total exports. Though the value of Milwaukee's exports have dipped significantly in the past decade, the city still remains Wisconsin's top exporting region by far. In 2023, Milwaukee exports were valued at $9.7 billion — a more than 19% decline from a decade earlier, when adjusted for inflation. Still, Milwaukee fared better than some of its peer metros, which saw even steeper declines: a 38% drop in Pittsburgh and 32% in Cleveland and the Twin Cities, according to the deport. Between 2008 and 2023, several smaller Wisconsin metro areas also saw steep export declines. In particular, Green Bay logged a drop in processed foods, paper, and machinery exports, and Appleton exported fewer computer and paper products. However, it's not the same story statewide. Madison and Racine have seen their export values grow 0.6% and 5.8%, respectively, over the past decade (in inflation-adjusted values). Between 2013 and 2023, the two cities have traded off taking the title of second-largest exporting region in the state. As of 2023, Racine's exports were valued at $3.7 billion and Madison's at $2.9 billion. In general, Byrnes said Wisconsin smaller export markets, like Sheboygan and Eau Claire, help stabilize the state even when major exporters close up shop in other cities. "Wisconsin tends to have a little bit more distribution of population and economic activity," he added. "Exports are definitely important in Milwaukee and Madison and Racine, but there are other communities across the state that are a little smaller but also depend on export markets." Wisconsin businesses export goods to nearly 200 countries, but the leading destinations of these exports have remained the same over the last decade: Canada, the European Union, Mexico and China. Together, those four regions import about two-thirds of all Wisconsin exports, according to the report. But the Trump administration's tariffs could shake up the longstanding stability of these trade relationships. As of May 1, the U.S. is tariffing all Chinese goods at 145%, certain Canadian and Mexican goods at 25%, and all EU goods at 10%. In turn, all these trading partners have implemented retaliatory tariffs on American goods. The retaliatory tariffs lead foreign importers to shift from buying Wisconsin-made products to a cheaper, non-tariffed alternative, Byrnes said. For exports like mining equipment, worth millions of dollars, a 20% tariffs is a significant price hike. Even the uncertainty of flip-flopping U.S. tariffs could scare importers away, Byrnes said. In April, Oconomowoc manufacturer Sentry Equipment Corp. lost a major order to a Chinese customer because of the country's retaliatory tax on American-made goods. "Imagine you're trying to make a multimillion dollar investment, and you're not sure what the price is going to look like in a few months because you don't know what the tariffs will look," he said. "That could directly impact Wisconsin's competitiveness on the international market." Tariffs also raise the cost of imports into the U.S., which means instability for domestic manufacturers that rely on parts from other countries, such as steel from Canada. Wisconsin-based ABC Supply Co., a roofing supplier, is the latest company to raise prices to make up for increased raw material costs from tariffs. Though the Trump administration has said bolstering American manufacturing is one of its key goals, the U.S.'s labor shortages make it difficult to ramp up production domestically, Byrnes said. And Wisconsin, like other states, relies heavily on immigrant labor, but the Trump administration has accelerated deportations and slashed migrant visas in recent months. Even if companies choose to move production back home, building new factories take significant time and money, so these effects of the tariffs will not be felt for years, Byrnes said. In fact, in 2018, Harley-Davidson actually began shifting production overseas in response to the first Trump administration's tariffs. "Over the long term, there may be benefits," Byrnes said, "but over the short term, there's disruption." More: China tariffs pose opportunities for Wisconsin manufacturers, but it's complicated. More: Sentry Equipment scrambles to recover from lost export order to Chinese customer This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How Trump tariffs will affect Wisconsin's declining export industry
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
On Hannah Dugan's arrest, Chief Judge says 'we're all concerned about how it transpired'
Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carl Ashley said he and his colleagues are "all concerned" about the arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan. Dugan, 65, was charged April 25 with one felony and one misdemeanor linked to allegations that she tried to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom. Dugan was led out of the courthouse in handcuffs. "We're all concerned about how it transpired," Ashley said following a Wisconsin Policy Forum event April 28 at Potawatomi Casino Hotel. "That's not a comfortable situation for any person to have an experience like that." He also questioned "whether that process was necessary or not." More: What to know about Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, the man who appeared in judge Hannah Dugan's Milwaukee courtroom In early April, Ashley signaled that he and other system partners would draft a policy to address concerns about safe access to the county's courthouse following two ICE arrests in March and April. Ashley told the Journal Sentinel on April 8 that the policy would be 'consistent with the law and consistent with allowing people access.' On April 24, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution formally calling on county officials to ensure access to services at the Milwaukee County Courthouse complex and safeguard individuals' right to due process. The move would also push for educational materials about immigrants' rights to be displayed in the courthouse. Ashley said April 28 that he could not comment on the specifics of the case against Dugan, adding that he "didn't know exactly what occurred." He also said that the policy about ICE access to the courthouse was still in draft form. "Obviously, we always want to make sure people feel comfortable going to the courthouse," Ashley said. According to the criminal complaint against her, Dugan told an ICE officer that he needed a judicial warrant after learning they had only an administrative warrant. But Ashley on Monday said "we have our limitations on what we can do." "We also want to support our community," Ashley said. "The reality is, for my colleagues, we don't have control in the public hallways." He said that an administrative warrant can be used to make arrests in a public hallway, but added that "a judicial warrant has more authority in going into private areas." More: ICE officers use different types of warrants. Here's why that matters. Ashley said he and others are still working to draft a policy that can strike a balance and hopes to have it completed soon. "We're trying to work out a process where there can be respect for the courtroom, and what we're doing, but allow the immigration and customs enforcement to do what they need to do as well," he said. "We just want to stay in our lane. And we want to be transparent with the community about what we can do, and what we can't." On the morning April 28, County Executive David Crowley sent out an email to all county employees, addressing the arrest of Dugan. 'Like every person in our country, Judge Dugan is entitled to her constitutional right to due process,' Crowley wrote. 'However, it is clear that fear and hostility is being spread across our community to erode the public faith in our judicial process.' In the email, Crowley flagged that the courthouse is a public building and that he will continue 'active conversations' with law enforcement and the courts to ensure the courthouse is a 'safe, community-serving space for all.' 'We have an obligation to administer our courts in a safe, efficient manner that delivers due process for every single person,' he said. And it does not stop at the courthouse. When asked by the Journal Sentinel whether Crowley has concerns about ICE operations in other county-run facilities, he said: 'Oh, absolutely ... This became national news fairly quickly.' Crowley added: 'I don't think that this just affects us here in Milwaukee. I think this affects many people across this entire country.' This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Chief judge says 'we're all concerned' about Hannah Dugan arrest
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Proposed limits on school referendum requests stir debate
A yard sign urging voters to vote 'Yes' on a referendum request for Ashwaubenon School District in 2024 when a record number of schools went to referendum. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner. As Wisconsin school districts seek permission this week from voters to spend more than $1.6 billion for operational and building costs, state lawmakers are looking for ways to address the issue of schools' growing reliance on referendum requests. Voters across the state are deciding this spring on a total of 94 referendum requests including some in February and many in the upcoming April 1 elections. According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, it's the most ever between January and April in a non-presidential or midterm election year and it's the continuation of an ongoing trend. Republicans have introduced three proposals for new limitations on the referendum process in reaction to Milwaukee Public Schools' successful request last year, with lawmakers saying the proposals would increase fairness and transparency for voters and taxpayers. However, one Democratic lawmaker and other stakeholders said the proposals would limit local control and don't address the structural financial issues that drive school districts to go to referendum. A bill coauthored by Rep. Cindi Duchow (R-Town of Delafield) and Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) would eliminate referendum questions that allow permanent operational funding increases and would limit other referendum requests to cover no more than a four-year period. Duchow said in an interview with the Wisconsin Examiner that she doesn't think there is a problem with school districts going to referendum and called them the 'perfect tool' to allow local residents to make funding decisions. But she doesn't think funding increases sought through a referendum should be permanent — or, in legislative terminology, 'recurring' year after year. The referendum option was created for schools in 1993 as a part of legislation that put limits on schools' ability to raise revenue by increasing property taxes. Anne Chapman, research director for the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials Association (WASBO), said in an interview that the idea behind the legislation was that property taxpayers would be protected and the state would take care of school districts financially in return. From 1993 to 2010, revenue caps — the limit on how much districts could raise without voters' permission — were tied to inflation. The inflationary increases were eliminated in 2009 and state funding has not filled the gap to give schools an inflationary increase. According to WASBO, general school district revenues have lagged the rate of inflation for a decade and a half. If funding had kept up with inflation, districts would be getting $3,380 more per pupil in 2025. Wisconsin schools also only receive funding for about a third of their special education costs and many are drawing from their general funds to keep up with providing expensive federally and state mandated services to students with disabilities. Districts are also dealing with declining enrollment, which results in lower funding for a district as there are fewer students even if fixed costs such as maintaining facilities may not fall. School officials and advocates have pointed out that many districts are relying heavily on referendum requests to meet costs (even to keep schools open), saying the trend is untenable. Mauston School District is one example as school leaders were considering dissolving the district after two failed referendum requests until voters finally approved a request in February. Chapman noted that when a referendum fails it can result in a school deferring maintenance, increasing class sizes and cutting staff, AP programs, language, support staff for special education, nurses, librarians, athletics and 'all the things that kids need to kind of stay engaged in school.' Dale Knapp, director of Wisconsin-based research organization Forward Analytics, said in 2023 that he didn't 'think the lawmakers who created this law envisioned referenda being relied on this much.' 'Maybe the answer after 30 years of the limits is an in-depth review of the law to see how it can be improved to continue protecting taxpayers and ensure adequate funding of our schools,' Knapp said. Duchow, however, said that the state is providing 'plenty of money' to schools. 'If they want a new gym, that's on them. I'm not here to build you a new gym. The people who live in that community should make that decision,' Duchow said. She also said there are some schools that probably need to consolidate and others that need to close. While school districts do go to voters to fund building costs, many are also going to referendum for 'operational' (and often recurring) costs and as a way to keep up with staff pay, afford educational offerings and pay utility bills. Duchow said recurring referendum questions are unfair. She said lawmakers in the caucus have been discussing changing the policy for a while. A similar proposal was introduced in 2017. 'We are looking at declining enrollment around this state, and how do we know what we really need 10 years from now?' Duchow said. 'The Milwaukee referendum never goes away, so 10 years from now, we have less students in Milwaukee and we need the same amount of money? We have more technology coming in, which means we probably need less teachers.' Duchow said Milwaukee's $252 million operating referendum, which was the second largest school operating request in state history, was the 'catalyst' for her bill. Republican lawmakers and other state leaders have been highly critical of the request, which the district said was needed to fund staff pay and educational programming and voters narrowly approved. The criticism grew louder after the district's financial crisis that resulted in the resignation of the superintendent and audits launched by Gov. Tony Evers. 'Enough is enough. MPS is a disaster. We have the worst reading scores in the nation, and all they do is scream they need more money,' Duchow said. 'Money is obviously not the answer.' Even with declining enrollment, the Milwaukee Public School District is the largest district in the state with 65,000 students enrolled, according to the 2024-25 enrollment data from DPI. This is over 2.5 times as many students as the next largest district in Wisconsin, Madison Metropolitan School District. MPS students are also more likely to face significant challenges. More than 20% of students in the district have a disability, more than 80% are economically disadvantaged and 17.5% are English language learners. Statewide about 40% of students are economically disadvantaged, 15.7% are students with disabilities and 6.92% are English language learners. Chapman said students with higher needs often incur higher costs for districts. Duchow said that putting a four-year limit on referendum requests for recurring funds gives communities the ability to react to changing circumstances and that school districts should justify to voters why they need the funds. She said she would be open to discussing a different limit when it comes to nonrecurring referendum requests. 'It's also not fair that everybody could vote for that referendum and then decide, hey, this is really too expensive. I can't afford these property taxes and then they move out, and I'm still there paying the referendum,' Duchow said. Duchow said she hadn't yet spoken with any school district leaders when she was interviewed by the Examiner in early March, but planned to reach out before a public hearing on the bill. 'I'm sure I can already tell you how the schools are going to feel. The schools are going to feel they want their recurring referendum, just like we want your boss to give you a 20% raise every year without you justifying why you should get it,' Duchow said. 'That's what the schools want, too. I don't blame them. I would, too, but we can't do that to our taxpayers.' According to the Wisconsin Eye on Lobbying website, the Wisconsin Education Association Council has registered against the bill, while the Wisconsin REALTORS Association has registered in favor. Lawmakers have added new restrictions to school referendum requests before. The 2017-19 state budget limited scheduling of a referendum requests to only two per year and only allowed them to be held on regularly scheduled election days. 'It used to be that referendums could be called by a school district at any time, but the Legislature said… we don't want you to have the option to run so many referendums,' Chapman said. Chapman noted in an interview that recurring referendum requests pass at lower rates than other types because it is harder to convince taxpayers. She said voters 'know how to handle this' and lawmakers shouldn't further reach in to restrict district's options. 'Some districts and some communities want a recurring referendum,' Chapman said. 'School districts have the option of asking for recurring and sometimes they do and voters sometimes approve them because they're asking to fill structural budget holes that are never going to go away. They're asking for basic operating dollars that they're going to need in four years.' A recent Marquette Law School poll found that Wisconsinites are becoming increasingly concerned with holding down property taxes since 2018 and less favorably inclined toward increasing funding for K-12 public schools. Chapman noted that districts also often make nonrecurring referendum requests for recurring costs because they are an easier ask, though this places districts in another difficult position. 'As soon as you go to nonrecurring referendum in this environment with grossly inadequate state funding and state policies to support schools financially, you are now going to be in your own personal fiscal cliff,' Chapman said. 'You're going to have to go again, and probably for more, because your costs have gone up and funding does not keep up with inflation.' Lawmakers, concerned about the MPS referendum, requested a Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo last year that found some school districts in Wisconsin could see a decrease in state aid after the MPS referendum due to the way that equalization aid is calculated. Equalization aid acts as a form of property tax relief, according to the Wisconsin School Business Officials Association. The amount of aid a district receives from the finite pot of money distributed by the state is determined by a formula that depends on a district's property wealth, spending and enrollment. Spending triggered by referendum requests is one factor in determining districts' equalization aid, and Milwaukee — like other districts with low property wealth per pupil compared to the rest of the state — will receive more state aid per pupil than other districts with higher property wealth per pupil as a result of its increased spending from the referendum. Chapman noted, however, that all 148 referendum requests for operating expenses in 2024 affect the share of equalization aid districts receive. She also emphasized that it's not the only factor affecting the amount of aid districts get. 'Some districts have increasing enrollment, which means they're going to pull more money away from Milwaukee.' Chapman said. 'There's all of these factors that affect every single district, and they intertwine with each other.' Republicans viewed Milwaukee's referendum as taking too much from other districts. 'Is it fair to the students, parents and taxpayers in Waukesha, Madison, Wautoma and others suffer without having the right to cast a vote?' the bill authors Rep. Scott Allen (R-Waukesha) and Sen. Julian Bradley (R-New Berlin) asked in a memo. 'Local school referendums should not have a significant negative impact on other districts. Simple fairness demands this type of thinking.' The lawmakers' bill would exclude any district referendum request worth more than $50 million from being considered when determining equalization aid. The effect of the bill would be that districts that pass a large referendum would have their aid eligibility reduced, leaving local taxpayers to pay more of the cost. The bill would only apply to districts below a certain property wealth value. Chapman said the bill would penalize districts for being larger and having lower property wealth and is an example of lawmakers trying to micromanage local entities. A final bill introduced by Allen and Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R-Appleton) would require that tax impact information be added to ballots. Currently, referendum ballot questions are required to include the dollar amount of the increase in the levy limit. Under the bill, referendum questions would also need to include the estimated interest rate and amount of the interest accruing on the bonds, any fees that will be incurred if the bonds are defeased and a 'good faith estimate of the dollar amount difference in property taxes on a median-valued, single-family residence located in the local governmental unit that would result from passage of the referendum.' Freshman Rep. Christian Phelps (D-Eau Claire) said he wasn't inclined to support a ban on recurring referendum requests given the inconsistency in state funding. 'We go through this sort of toxic [state] budget cycle every two years and districts have to levy, and they don't even know what to plan for, so recurring referendums are obviously a response to that,' Phelps said. Phelps said the question of fairness is relevant when talking about the referendum process, but the framing of the Republican proposals is misguided, given the state's over $4 billion budget surplus. 'It is not fair to taxpayers that, depending on what school district you live in, you might have an astronomical property tax bill just to keep that district running. That's not fair,' Phelps said. He said the state of Wisconsin is 'underfunding public schools and not using the taxes people already paid.' Derek Gottleib, an assistant professor at the University of Northern Colorado and senior research director for School Perceptions, an education research firm, said Republicans appear to be 'operating on behalf of the taxpayers across the state who have voted no on school referendums and yet lost and so had their taxes raised anyway.' 'Suddenly, because so many [referendum requests] are passing, homeowners, taxpayers who don't want to have their taxes raised are saying that this is unfair or we shouldn't have to have our taxes raised just because everybody in our community wants to raise our taxes and Republicans are coming to the defense of those folks,' Gottleib said. According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, while the number of requests continues to rise, approval rates have started to decline with the 66.2% approval rate in 2024 being the lowest in a midterm or presidential election year since 2012. Gottleib said some of the concerns raised by lawmakers are valid. For example, he said the current terms used to describe referendum questions are 'obscure' and unclear. 'Why not just say a permanent referendum and a temporary referendum?' he asked. 'You could do a lot to increase the transparency of what people are voting on if you made that little language change.' Gottleib also said that he does have 'sympathy' for those who don't think there should be permanent funding requests, but acknowledged that this would have consequences for districts because it removes predictability in planning. However, he said he doesn't agree that the potential for people to move out of a community or into a community in the future should be the deciding factor in funding decisions. 'That's a basic feature of any community anywhere,' he said. The argument that 'it is not a legitimate exercise of public governmental power to make a decision for a community, given the fact that the community will change in the future…is ridiculous,' Gottleib said. 'If that were the case, it would make all public decisions fundamentally illegitimate.' The increasing number of referendum requests, Gottleib said, is a sign that revenue limits are set too low, at an amount that is unacceptable to community members. He noted that when operational referendum requests fail, the schools typically cut theater arts, advanced placement coursework, second language instruction, foreign language instruction and other programs that aren't required by the state. Chapman called the proposals a 'BandAid' on the issues districts are facing that 'isn't even really fixing the problem.' '[If] legislators really wanted to protect taxpayers and make sure schools have what they need, they would do something like keep revenue limits inflationary [and] significantly improve the funding for special education, which would help every single kid,' Chapman said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wisconsin Policy Forum recommends some caution in state budget process
Gov. Tony Evers delivers his state budget address on Feb. 18, 2025. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner) The Wisconsin Policy Forum cautions state lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers to consider the state's past financial hardships when writing the next state budget in a new brief released Friday. The report considers the state's current financial position, Evers' budget proposal, potential wants from Republican lawmakers and outside factors, including federal funding uncertainty, to explore questions lawmakers may consider in the coming months. And it suggests the state could be nearing a dramatic turn in its fortunes. Evers introduced a vast budget proposal last month, and the process is now in the hands of lawmakers, who are likely to throw out Evers' version, host public hearings and then write their own proposal. Lawmakers will then need to pass the bill in the Senate and Assembly before it goes to Evers, who will either sign it as is, sign it with partial vetoes or veto the whole bill. 'Throughout the 2000s, the state carried almost no reserves, leaving it exposed to the terrible fury of the Great Recession,' the report states. 'Most of today's lawmakers were not in their current offices during that dark time, and did not face the multi-billion-dollar shortfalls that had to be bridged in both 2009 and 2011 at great cost and sacrifice by taxpayers, schools, local governments and public workers.' The report notes that 'prudent decisions' by Republican and Democratic leaders have helped bolster the state's finances and put Wisconsin in a position to 'weather a recession much more effectively.' By the end of the current budget, the state's budget surplus will have gone from $7.1 billion to $ 4.3 billion, and Republicans and Democrats are both looking at the remaining surplus to fund their priorities for the next budget. The state also has a $1.9 billion rainy day fund. The report noted that this balance is greater than the state had throughout the 2000s and into the 2010s. Gov. Tony Evers has introduced a budget that would increase state spending by 19% to fund increased investments in K-12 education, health care, child care and transportation. It would cut taxes for low- and middle-income residents and raise them on the state's highest earners. The spending would be paid for using the budget surplus, federal funds and revenues from raising taxes on the wealthiest Wisconsin residents. Evers' proposal would leave the state with $646 million. Evers has said he's reserved that amount due to potential uncertainty about federal money, though he recently questioned whether that is enough. 'If adopted, Evers' plan would leave the state with a two-year structural deficit of roughly $4 billion,' the report states. 'This would make it difficult to balance the 2027-29 budget, even if the economy remains strong and does not succumb to recent drops in the stock market and consumer sentiment.' The final budget will likely look vastly different. Republican lawmakers have said that they are likely to throw out Evers' entire proposal, and that they want to use the budget surplus to prioritize widespread tax cuts and one-time projects. Lawmakers said they may propose their tax cut plans to Evers ahead of the budget in a separate bill, which they want him to sign before the budget as a whole. Last session, Evers vetoed GOP proposals that would have cut income taxes by over $1 billion a year. 'The state's main fund is now spending more than it takes in, and its budget reserves, while sizable, are shrinking,' the report states. 'Meanwhile, the Democratic governor and GOP Legislature are eying the state's reserves and offering tax and spending plans that would deplete it and potentially leave the state with future budget gaps.' The report notes that bipartisan compromise will be necessary to find a balance among varying priorities. 'Elected officials will have to consider the advantages of retaining [the state's] fiscal safeguards and weigh those concerns against priorities such as investing in education and holding down increases in local property taxes,' the report states. 'At the moment, the two sides appear sharply divided, but it is worth remembering that they have overcome such obstacles in the past and may yet do so again.' The report considers the uncertainty for federal money given actions in Washington by President Donald Trump and the Republican majority in Congress to cut federal spending. Evers' budget leans in part on $18 billion in federal funding for programs including Medicaid, research and financial aid at UW schools and transportation projects. The report says two objectives — preserving state funds and using state revenues to replace federal funds that are lost — 'might come into tension with one another, since state spending now to make up for any cuts would leave less of a financial cushion for the state in the future.' The report also considers the growing number of school referendum votes across the state and ways to slow them, and it says lawmakers will want to ask how 'aggressively' they want to act in response to that trend. Evers has proposed tying revenue limits to inflation, increasing state per-pupil aid and special education funding. 'If all of these increases came to fruition, they would likely curb referenda and property tax increases,' the report states. 'However, they would also sharply increase state spending and are unlikely to pass the Legislature as written.' It also touches on the challenges facing the child care industry. Evers is proposing dedicating $480 million to invest in the industry to continue the Child Care Counts program, which provides money to child care providers to help them meet costs but will run out by July. The report cites tens of thousands of parents unable to find care as well as large numbers of centers unable to fill all their openings for care for lack of staff. 'We highlight these sobering figures not to advocate for or against such an investment but to note that child care accounts for a sizable chunk of the overall economy. To make an impact on child care costs, access, and quality that families in particular would notice, policymakers would have to free up substantial resources within the state budget from one of a limited number of revenue options,' the report states. Other potential avenues to address the child care industry's needs include using the TANF block grant to tap federal funds, implementing a mechanism to split child care costs among families, employers and the state, and enacting tax incentives. The report also considers Evers' $500 million prison reform proposal to close Lincoln Hills School for boys and Copper Lake School for girls, renovate Waupun Correctional Institution and close Green Bay Correctional Institution. It notes that even if Evers' plan was approved there could be some challenges to implementation given that rates of reconviction and re-arrest haven't changed significantly. 'The governor's 'domino' plan also requires many steps to fall into place correctly in order to reshape the state's correctional system,' the report states. 'If any step fails, the state's prisons could remain overcrowded with even less time to find a solution.' The report expects the budget will draw on the budget surplus in light of the state's ongoing challenges. It cautions, however, that 'taxpayers have good reason to watch both sides in this process carefully to ensure the final budget does not erode too many of the state's hard-won financial gains.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
