Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday signed the 2023-25 budget with investments in affordable housing and education, and more than 50 line-item vetoes for issues such as workforce development, housing rehabilitation and grants for local projects.
With the Democratic governor’s signature came vetoes on sections written by the mostly Republican Wisconsin Legislature, which governor’s officials said opened an investment of more than $1 billion to public education. The state also made one of its largest investments in workforce housing, infrastructure, agriculture and tax relief for working families, the governor’s office said.
In his veto message, Evers said the biennial budget process started with a “historic opportunity” posed by the biennial budget process and surplus worth more than $7 billion.
“We have gotten to work these last four years making smart, strategic investments — and our economy shows it. So, we began this biennial budget with historic opportunity, and with it, historic responsibility — not to be careless or reckless, but to save where we can and stay well within our means while investing in needs that have long been neglected to protect the future we are working hard to build together,” Evers said in his memo to the State Senate.
The governor said his colleagues had made “short-sighted decisions” when putting together a budget but decided against vetoing the proposal in its entirety. “Vetoing this budget in full would mean abandoning priorities and ideas that I have spent four years advocating for; it would mean leaving schools and communities in the lurch after rightfully securing historic increases for the first time in years,” Evers added.
Money for transportation, workforce housing
Included in the budget was 2023 Wisconsin Act 12, which started at Assembly Bill 245. The act creates a supplemental and municipal aid program, which lets the budget disburse $275 million in state aid to localities, the governor’s office said. The act addressed “dire need” for increased share revenue and funding for emergency services, officials added. The act also included provisions to eliminate preferential contracting and regulation of local quarries.
The budget included around $525 million for state investment in workforce housing thanks to a batch of bipartisan bills, ranging from Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority funding for housing rehabilitation programs, a main street housing program and several revolving loan funds.
Another highlighted investment was $555.5 million to fund transportation projects that are underway or in development, according to the governor’s office. The budget also provides a 2% increase to general transportation aids to municipalities and counties in 2024 and 2025, governor’s officials added.
The budget will give a total of $100 million for the Local Roads Improvement Program (LRIP) next year and $150 million for the Agricultural Road Improvement Program (ARIP) according to governor’s officials. The funding is one-time only and goes to local roads, officials added.
The governor’s office published its investment highlights in an online memo.
Vetoes make some affordable housing programs work, remove “burdens” on state building projects
Evers vetoed a total of 51 line items in the state budget, including a section setting standards to spend $50 million on local projects under a State Building Commission program. The governor vetoed the section because of “unnecessary administrative burdens” on the program, he said in a memo to the Senate.
A $50 million one-time funding opportunity to WHEDA to supply grants and forgivable loans to low- and medium-income homeowners to remediate hazards such as lead was made possible by a partial veto, the governor’s office wrote. Lawmakers wanted to fund revolving loans over forgivable loans, which the governor said he objected to.
“These homeowners already struggle to afford rehabilitation or renovation projects in their homes to deal with lead, mold and other safety or structural issues. By partially vetoing these sections, the funds in the appropriation could be distributed as grants or forgivable loans to homeowners that WHEDA determines most need the assistance,” Evers added.
Another partial veto ensured $15 million in 2023-24 for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to use as grants for childcare providers, the governor’s office said. The Wisconsin Legislature rejected the governor’s proposal for $300 million to the state’s childcare industry and by extension support the workforce. Lawmakers wanted the funds distributed in a revolving loan program, which Evers said he rejected.
Evers, representatives lament lawmakers’ decision to cut UW-Madison Engineering Building
Evers said he was chagrined at the Legislature’s decision to omit the University of Wisconsin (UW) – Madison’s engineering building and a science center for UW La Crosse. The governor called the decision “short-sighted” and undermined lawmakers’ discussions about talent attraction.
In April, UW officials said they wanted to build a new engineering building for more than $300 million and replace the previous one, which was more than 80 years old. The Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee ultimately decided to leave the project out of the budget, leaving questions open about how the facility will find funding to rebuild.
Rep. Shelia Stubbs, a Democrat representing parts of Madison, said omitting the engineering building was a “disastrous choice” to affect how the university will keep up with competing institutions and retain students.
“I urge my Republican colleagues to reflect on the long-term consequences of their actions. The last decade has witnessed a decline in younger cohorts migrating to the Badger State, a trend that will be compounded by poor investment into the UW System. These budget cuts to higher education undermine the lifeblood of our state’s workforce for both present and future generations,” Stubbs said in her statement the day the budget was signed.
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