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Welch Group presenter briefs Madison council on state budget, legislative outlook
Summary
A Welch Group presenter told the Madison Common Council the 2025–27 state budget was signed as a roughly $111.1 billion package, noted limited bill passage this session, and outlined how leadership changes and the November election could reshape priorities the city is tracking.
A representative of the Welch Group briefed the Madison Common Council on the recent Wisconsin legislative session, the signed 2025–27 two‑year state budget, and implications for city legislative priorities.
The presenter said Gov. Ivers signed a biennial budget totaling about $111.1 billion and described the session as unusually slow, with fewer bills enacted than in prior years. The presenter highlighted several wins for the city, including an increase in municipal services payments and passage of several housing and local government proposals the city had supported, while noting many items on the city's aspirational priority list remained difficult to advance.
Council members pressed the presenter on timing and likely priorities going into the November election. Alder O'Brien and others asked whether a budget would be in place by July 1; the presenter said he would not "bet the house on it," and that a delayed budget remains possible if leadership and chamber control change. He described the negotiations that produced the municipal services payment increase as a case where targeted bargaining yielded a $7 million annual increase for municipal aid.
On policy prospects, the presenter said high‑priority topics for the next session include property tax relief, education funding and child‑care stabilization, and energy and data‑center rules. He warned that leadership turnover after the fall elections will change who negotiates on these items and that uncertain majorities could affect what the city can accomplish.
The briefing concluded with alder questions about municipal payments, local match for passenger rail and whether single‑stair building legislation will reemerge; the presenter said many of those items are politically contingent and depend on the post‑November legislative map and leadership choices.
Next steps: Council members said they will refine the city's legislative priorities this summer and coordinate with the mayor's office and staff for targeted lobbying and outreach ahead of the next session.
