• As a result of my partial veto, the UW System retains 188 positions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion at campuses across the state.
• The Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) plays a critical role in bolstering our state’s workforce or our economy. Wisconsin is increasing general aid to the system by providing $9.38 million over the biennium to train Wisconsin’s workforce of the future.
• The highest demanded industries require an additional investment in order to get Wisconsinites the skills and allow folks to fill good-paying, family-sustaining jobs. The budget bolsters the Workforce Advancement Training grants by providing an additional $2 million over the biennium for skilled worker training. These grants are for high demand industries, and additional resources will help provide a relief valve for employers’ demand for skilled workers.
• Providing a quality and affordable education to Wisconsin residents is one of the highest priorities of the WTCS. Books and other educational resources are expensive and cost prohibitive to many families. Wisconsin will invest $3 million over the biennium to provide grants to technical colleges to create open educational resources and course materials. This will allow students to access the material and will help to address the rising prices of textbooks and other resources for students.
• This budget strengthens the state’s health care workforce pipeline in the areas of dentistry and oral hygiene by providing $20 million GPR in the Joint Committee on Finance supplemental appropriation for grants to technical colleges to expand and enhance related offerings.
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
• Provides $1 million GPR in each year to help build Wisconsin’s agricultural brand in international markets and increase agricultural exports through the Wisconsin Initiative for Agricultural Exports program (WIAE). This initiative aims to boost the export of dairy, meat, crop, and other agricultural products by 25 percent by June 2026 and allows the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to have flexibility to respond and react to changing market conditions.
• Invests an additional $300,000 GPR in each year to increase the available funding for the Dairy Processor Grant program. Increasing our state’s dairy processing capacity is critical for farmers to ensure their high-quality milk can be processed into numerous products like cheese, yogurt, and other products. This program provides grants up to $50,000 to help foster innovation, improve profitability, and sustain the long-term viability of Wisconsin’s dairy processing facilities. In May 2023, DATCP announced 21 dairy companies receiving a total of $400,000 in Dairy Processor Grant awards.
• Bolsters the Meat Processor Grant program with an additional $1.6 million in fiscal year 2023-24. This program strives to grow Wisconsin’s meat industry and improve the long-term viability of the livestock sector through services to meat processing facilities. Meat Processor Grants are available to new or existing processors to facilitate changes and expansion to grow harvest capacity and/or increase product throughput. These facilities are crucial in producing various award-winning Wisconsin meat products like sausage and jerky.
• Allocates $538,800 GPR in fiscal year 2023-24 and $541,400 GPR in fiscal year 2024-25 to meet federal expenditure requirements for the meat inspection program. These inspections help ensure the meat products consumed by Wisconsinites are produced safely and match nutrition claims found on food labels.
• Provide $100,000 GPR in each year for mental health assistance to farmers and farm families. Farming brings unique challenges including unpredictable weather, uncertain and volatile markets, and labor shortages. While stress is a part of life, prolonged and increasing amounts can negatively impact overall wellness, even leading to depression or anxiety. This crucial funding enables farmers and farm family members to attend in-person counseling services from a participating mental health provider in their local area at no cost.
SUPPORTING HEALTHIER WISCONSINITES
I believe that every Wisconsinite should have access to quality, affordable healthcare, and that the health and well-being of our state and our economy depend on the health and well-being of our communities. Over the past four years, I have worked to expand access to healthcare, and the 2023-25 budget makes critical investments to continue safety net programs like FoodShare, increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for healthcare providers, improve access to mental and behavioral healthcare, and bolster the healthcare workforce.
HEALTH SERVICES AND LONG-TERM CARE
This budget:
• Increases Medicaid funding for hospitals by $236 million all funds over the biennium through increased base Medicaid reimbursement, Disproportionate Share Hospital payments, rural critical care supplemental payments, Medicaid reimbursement for hospital behavioral health units, and funding for graduate medical education.
• Increases Medicaid reimbursement rates by $149 million all funds over the biennium for primary care services, emergency physicians, and chiropractic services.
• Provides $5 million GPR in the Joint Committee on Finance supplemental appropriation to establish a general dentistry residency program for the Marquette Dental School.
• Increases allied health professional training grants by $5 million GPR on a one- time basis over the biennium and expands grant eligibility to include training for registered nurses.
• Provides $300,000 GPR over the biennium to support the Surgical Collaborative of Wisconsin and its work promoting best practice, better data collection, and stronger relationships between communities and the healthcare industry.
• Allocates funding to administer a certified public expenditure program for public ambulance service providers.
• Fully funds vital safety net programs such as Medicaid, SeniorCare, the Wisconsin Funeral and Cemetery Aids Program, and the Wisconsin Chronic Disease Program, ensuring Wisconsinites with the greatest need have access to care.
• Provides $10 million GPR over the biennium in the Joint Committee on Finance supplemental appropriation to establish up to two crisis urgent care and observation centers that will do the following:
o Serve as regional crisis receiving and stabilization facilities,
o Offer seamless transitions between levels of services offered at the centers,
o Arrange for the transfer to more appropriate treatment options as needed,
o Coordinate the connection to ongoing care, and
o Promote the effective sharing of information between providers to improve service delivery and patient outcomes.
Beyond providing access to these additional services, the centers will help reduce the amount of time law enforcement and first responders currently must dedicate to emergency detention cases by offering a dedicated first responder drop-off location that accepts custody of emergency detention cases and does not require that medical clearances be completed before drop-off.
• Allocates $750,000 GPR annually for free and charitable clinics, allowing these clinics to continue providing their vital services to Wisconsinites in need of care.
• Provides $2 million GPR over the biennium in the Joint Committee on Finance supplemental appropriation to establish a telemedicine crisis response pilot program in order to provide faster and more efficient care.
• Provides $60.5 million all funds in fiscal year 2023-24 and $67.7 million all funds in fiscal year 2024-25 for the administration of the Medicaid and FoodShare programs.
• Fully funds the county income maintenance consortia, the FoodShare Employment and Training program, and the Supplemental Security Income program and Caretaker Supplement.
• Provides $230 million all funds in each fiscal year to reinsure high-cost individuals across all health insurance exchanges, in addition to fully funding the Wisconsin healthcare market. This provision helps stabilize the individual healthcare market and lower premiums for all Wisconsinites.
• Provides $76,300 PR in fiscal year 2023-24 and $101,600 PR in fiscal year 2024-25 to the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance to support 1.0 FTE PR position in the Division of Market Regulation. This position will manage the increased regulatory responsibilities in areas such as licensure application reviews and renewals, rate and form filings and reviews, consumer complaints, and expanded consumer outreach.
• Provides $214,800 PR in fiscal year 2023-24 and $286,400 PR in fiscal year 2024-25 to the Office of Commissioner of Insurance to support 3.0 FTE PR positions in the Division of Financial Regulation. These positions will manage increased regulatory duties and complexity, implement legislation, and continue to meet state accreditation requirements to maintain Wisconsin’s reputation as a trusted insurance regulator.
• Restores funding for the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance’s general program operations.
• Fully funds the Board on Aging and Long-Term Care’s Medigap Helpline, which provides seniors with information on the health insurance options available to them.
• Provides $225.7 million all funds over the biennium to continue the 5 percent rate increase for home and community-based services that were implemented using the federal funds provided to the Department of Health Services through the American Rescue Plan Act. This continuation not only ensures that home and community-based care providers can stay in business, but Wisconsinites can continue to receive the vital care they need.
• Provides $38.4 million all funds over the biennium to increase the direct care and services portion of the Family Care capitation rate, which will further support access to in-home care.
• Increases the amount of funding individuals living in skilled nursing facilities are able to retain for personal needs from $45 to $55 per month.
• Provides $146.4 million all funds over the biennium and requires the Department of Health Services to implement a priced rate for nursing home support services based on the median facility cost plus 25 percent.
• Provides $31.2 million all funds over the biennium to exclude provider incentive payments from the profit limitation in support services. Allowing these incentive payments to be excluded means that providers can focus on the quality of care they provide, rather than the quantity of patients.
• Provides $10 million all funds over the biennium to increase the ventilator dependent resident reimbursement rate for nursing home care from $726 to $926 per day. This $200 per day increase makes it easier for nursing homes to provide the highest quality of care to their most complex residents.
• Provides $2.5 million GPR in fiscal year 2023-24 and more than $5 million GPR in fiscal year 2024-25 to increase funding for Aging and Disability Resource Centers, which serve as a vital bridge between Wisconsin families and systems of care.
• Provides $5 million GPR in fiscal year 2023-24 in the Joint Committee on Finance supplemental appropriation to create a complex patient pilot program to assist hospitals in finding long-term care placements for complex patients.
• Provides $1 million GPR in each year to increase funding for adult protective services.
• Provides $2 million GPR in fiscal year 2024-25 to fund the WisCaregiver Career Program to help address the state’s shortage of certified nursing assistants.
• Provides $225,000 GPR annually to increase funding for home delivered meals that provide countless Wisconsinites across the state with the vital nutrition they need to thrive.
• Provides $2.5 million GPR in each year in the Joint Committee on Finance supplemental appropriation to support the state’s veterans homes, as needed, so that these vital facilities can retain staff, address building and operational needs, and provide the quality of care that our state’s veterans deserve.
• Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to contract with a vendor to study the Wisconsin Veterans Homes during the upcoming biennium to ensure that our state’s veterans are receiving quality care.
• Allocates $330,200 SEG in each year to increase funding for grants to county and Tribal veterans service offices by 25 percent, ensuring that Wisconsin’s more than 300,000 veterans have access to vital services regardless of their ZIP code.
• Provides $3.5 million GPR in each year of the biennium to the Medical College of Wisconsin to support the recruitment and training of psychiatry and behavioral health residents throughout Wisconsin.
STATE BUILDING COMMISSION
Part of ensuring Wisconsinites have access to healthcare is ensuring we have the infrastructure needed to provide quality, affordable care. Using our state’s historic GPR surplus, this budget:
• Provides $17.7 million SEG to improve the patient admissions area at Winnebago Mental Health Institute. This project will create a new intake and assessment area and a new 12-patient bed wing, which will accommodate increasing admissions and provide space to more efficiently observe, diagnose, and determine placement of patients in the facility.
• Provides $10.7 million SEG to assist with the cost of construction and equipment upgrades for the Marquette University School of Dentistry. The expansion will help increase the supply of dentists in the state, improving accessibility to dental care and improving dental health outcomes.
• Provides nearly $4.8 million SEG from the state’s historic surplus to assist with the expansion costs of the Children’s Hospital Dental Center. This expansion will improve access to dental care for our kids, contributing to healthier kids with healthier smiles and reducing the burden on the state’s urgent and emergency care departments, which will in turn lower overall dental care costs.
HOUSING
Access to safe, reliable, and affordable housing is a critical part of supporting Wisconsinites’ life-long health and well-being—from providing shelter from extreme weather and cold winters to ensuring individuals working to overcome a substance use disorder have a safe place to focus on recovery. To increase the supply of safe, affordable housing and help address the workforce shortages impacting our state, this budget:
• Provides $50 million in one-time funds to the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) which, as a result of a partial veto, can be used to support a housing rehabilitation program to offer grants or forgivable loans to low- to moderate-income households to renovate or repair their current home and address hazards like lead and mold.
• Invests $275 million in one-time funds for the newly created Residential Housing Infrastructure Revolving Loan Fund at WHEDA to provide low-interest loans that support the creation of new affordable and senior housing.
• Provides $100 million in one-time dollars to fund the newly created Main Street Housing Rehabilitation Revolving Loan Fund at WHEDA to provide low-interest loans to improve rental workforce housing on the second or third floor of existing buildings.
• Allocates $100 million in one-time funding for the newly created Commercial-to- Housing Conversion Revolving Loan Fund at WHEDA to provide low-interest loans for the conversion of vacant commercial buildings to new residential developments of workforce or senior housing.
• Increases the limit on notes and bonds that WHEDA can issue that are secured by a capital reserve fund from $800 million to $1 billion to continue to finance projects supported with an allocation of state and federal housing tax credits.
BUILDING STRONG, SAFE COMMUNITIES
As Governor, I have made fixing our roads, improving our infrastructure, and investing in our local communities a top priority, and this commitment remains unchanged in my second term. This budget continues to invest in these priorities.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND SHARED REVENUE
For too long, the state has asked local communities to do more with less, forcing local partners to make difficult decisions to cut critical services, including fire and EMS. While the revenue Wisconsin sends back to our communities had been held flat for years, costs to operate local governments have increased. Local partners should have the resources they need to meet basic and unique needs alike. This budget, in combination with 2023 Wisconsin Act 12, finally addresses the dire need for increased shared revenue and funding to local emergency services. • 2023 Wisconsin Act 12 is a historic piece of legislation that reflects a bipartisan compromise to address the dire need for increased shared revenue and funding to local emergency services. This budget funds the funding structure that was created in Act 12 and provides a $275 million boost to state aid to localities by funding the supplemental county and municipal aid program. This momentous investment in local communities across Wisconsin includes a $68 million increase in aid for counties and a $207 million increase in aid for municipalities in fiscal year 2024-25, representing a 36 percent increase over current county and municipal aid entitlements. • The legislation provides additional aid to counties and municipalities in fiscal year 2025-26 and beyond by linking both current and supplemental county and municipal aid to the growth rate in the state sales tax.
• The legislation seeks to incentivize local governments to provide the most efficient and cost-effective ways to deliver county and municipal services by providing up to $300 million in innovation grants.
• The budget provides $173.8 million in aid payments to local governments to hold them harmless from Act 12’s repeal of the burdensome personal property tax.
• The budget provides $4 million to boost utility aid payments to counties and municipalities for the presence of production plants that generate power using alternative energy or are located on or adjacent to brownfields.
• The budget improves our emergency services network by increasing funding for the Department of Military Affairs’ Public Service Answering Point (PSAP) grants by $12 million in fiscal year 2024-25. This budget also increases funding for the Next Generation 911 GIS grants by $4.5 million in fiscal year 2024-25.
• This budget increases funding for Department of Justice law enforcement training grants by $2.3 million by providing $8.8 million annually from the new Local Government Fund.
• When a crisis occurs, we need our ambulance service providers to respond quickly and have all the necessary equipment to provide lifesaving care. This budget increases the Department of Health Services’ emergency medical services funding assistance grant program by $22.8 million by providing $25 million annually from the new Local Government Fund.
o The budget also expands the eligibility for the Department of Health Services’ emergency medical services grants to include emergency medical responder departments and allows the use of grants to include nondurable and disposable medical supplies, equipment, and medications.
• The budget provides $3.6 million in the Joint Committee on Finance supplemental appropriation to compensate counties and, as a result of a partial veto, municipalities impacted by a 2022 federal court decision that exempted from property taxes property within certain reservations owned by a Tribe or Tribal member, regardless of any prior non-Tribal ownership.
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
The 2023-25 biennial budget makes key strategic investments in our state’s critical infrastructure while wisely managing our state finances to save taxpayers money. From increased support for local roads to new investments in important roads used for agricultural transport to bolstering transit funding, the 2023-25 biennial budget will ensure Wisconsin’s infrastructure is more resilient and reliable. Specifically, this budget:
• Invests $555.5 million from the General Fund to the Transportation Fund to fund transportation projects underway or under development, reducing Transportation Fund debt service payments into the future and saving Wisconsin taxpayers money.
• Supports the Transportation Fund with transfers of $39.3 million in fiscal year 2023-24 and $55.1 million in fiscal year 2024-25 from the General Fund calculated by estimating the sales tax revenue generated by the sale of electric vehicles. Since electric vehicle drivers do not buy gasoline for their vehicles and thus do not pay the gas tax, this innovative solution will help to improve the sustainability of the state’s Transportation Fund and enable future road improvement projects as electric vehicle adoption continues to increase.
• Provides a 2 percent increase in general transportation aids (GTAs) for municipalities and counties in both calendar year 2024 and calendar year 2025. GTAs help local governments pay for road construction, maintenance, traffic operations, and critical support for local Wisconsin communities, and the investments in the 2023-25 biennial budget result in the largest amount of funding for the program in the state’s history.
• Provides a 2 percent increase in mass transit aids funding to assist local transit systems in operating costs, which lowers local tax burden. The budget also provides a 4 percent increase in paratransit aids funding and increases funding for specialized transit aids for seniors and persons with disabilities, ensuring these Wisconsinites have equitable access to public transportation needed to travel to work, receive healthcare, or get an education.
• Provides additional, one-time funding for local roads through two programs:
o First, the budget provides a new round of supplemental funding for the Local Roads Improvement Program (LRIP) at $100 million in fiscal year 2023-24. LRIP assists local communities by paying for up to 50 percent of local projects that improve deteriorating county highways, town roads, and city and village streets, and this $100 million supplement to the program will enable more local communities to complete more critical projects.
o In addition, the budget includes $150 million to fund the new Agricultural Roads Improvement Program (ARIP) created via 2023 Wisconsin Act 13. ARIP will enable local communities to make targeted investments in eligible projects that support agriculture that would likely otherwise not receive funding from other state aid programs. • Provides bonding authority and funding levels adequate to keep the following high priority projects on schedule:
