Wisconsin lawmakers brief Mount Pleasant board on governor's budget, flagging cuts and new mandates

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer spoke to the Village of Mount Pleasant Board of Trustees on March 20 about the state's biennial budget and how its provisions could affect local governments and services.

Vos said Gov. Tony Evers's proposal starts with a roughly $4 billion surplus and ends with a roughly $4 billion deficit, increases spending by about 20 percent and adds roughly 1,300 state positions. Vos said the plan would create a new high-rate income tax bracket near 10 percent, repeal Act 10, and cap the manufacturing tax credit that he said has helped attract employers to Wisconsin. He also said the budget would require employers to provide 12 weeks of fully paid family and medical leave funded entirely by employers and would double an energy-related utility charge that supports low-income utility assistance programs.

Greta Neubauer said the budget includes a large investment in K-12 education'about $3.14 billion in the governor's proposal'and funding she said could help Racine-area schools. She told trustees that Racine Unified faces a referendum on April 1 and that, if the referendum fails, the district would face staff cuts and larger class sizes.

Neubauer described other priorities she has heard locally: higher reimbursement rates for special education, investments in childcare and early literacy, and funding to help keep seniors in the state. She also outlined a new Office of Violence Prevention in the governor's proposal, and said the budget includes roughly $3.5 million in the first year and $8.5 million in a later year for grants to local violence-prevention programs, plus additional Department of Justice funds she said total roughly $66 million for related work.

Vos and Neubauer answered questions from trustees and from board President Dave DeGroot about school funding, property taxes and how the budget might affect local shared revenue payments. Vos said shared revenue to local governments increased substantially the prior year and that final calculations would be available in late April or early May; Neubauer said the governor's proposal includes over $1.3 billion in property tax relief and other local government aid that conditions some aid on local tax freezes.

Both legislators described tensions in the proposal: Vos warned that the combination of new spending and increases in mandates could raise property taxes or require cuts in other programs, while Neubauer emphasized targeted investments in schools, childcare and public safety.

Board members asked for clarification about how the school funding formula and declining enrollment affect local school revenue. Neubauer said the governor's proposal is the largest investment in general school aids in three decades and highlighted higher special-education reimbursement as key to reducing district-level cost pressures. Vos said school funding is driven largely by enrollment and that declining enrollment has reduced resources for many districts.

The legislators encouraged trustees and residents to follow the budget process and to use legislative listening sessions and constituent meetings to convey priorities.

The presentation closed with an offer from Neubauer and Vos to respond to further questions from residents and trustees by phone or at local listening events.