ADDITIONAL INVESTMENTS IN THE SAFETY OF OUR COMMUNITIES
• Provides $45 million GPR in fiscal year 2023-24 to fund the replacement costs of the WISCOM system.
• Provides $2 million GPR in the Joint Committee on Finance supplemental appropriation in fiscal year 2023-24 to provide predisaster flood resilience grants.
• Provides $1 million GPR in the Joint Committee on Finance supplemental appropriation in fiscal year 2023-24 for disaster assistance to the town of Silver Cliff.
• Provides $2 million GPR in fiscal year 2024-25 for grants for public safety interoperable communication system upgrades.
PROTECTING & CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES
Wisconsin has a proud and rich history of conservation and stewardship—from our expansive system of state parks and trails to our freshwater lakes and rivers. I continue to be committed to protecting our environment and improving water quality because these principles are vital to both promoting Wisconsinites’ health and well-being and maintaining our economy’s momentum.
STATE PARKS
Wisconsin’s system of state parks, forests, and trails is the gem of our state, boasting over 100 protected areas and serving over 20 million visitors annually. To ensure facilities in these recreational areas are well maintained, this budget:
• Provides $29.0 million SEG in one-time funding for capital development projects in state parks and forests. This includes:
o Nearly $13.4 million SEG in fiscal year 2023-24 for state parks and forests maintenance and development projects, including $4 million SEG to improve accessibility for visitors with special needs;
o $5.6 million SEG in fiscal year 2023-24 for state forest, parks, and riverway roads maintenance and development projects; and
o $10 million SEG in fiscal year 2023-24 for facilities repair and renovation projects at state parks, trails, and recreation areas.
• Provides $1.5 million SEG in fiscal year 2024-25 as one-time funding to electrify campsites at state parks and eliminates the 35 percent cap on the number of campsites that can electrified in the state park system. This will allow the Department of Natural Resources to better respond to campsite demand from visitors.
FORESTRY
• Preserving our forestland and other outdoor spaces is not only important for Wisconsinites’ health and well-being but also key to our state’s economic success as Wisconsin’s forestry industry is a critical facet of the state’s economy. This budget increases funding for the Urban Forestry Grant program by $175,000 SEG annually to combat emerging threats in urban forestry. Urban Forestry Grants can take the form of:
o Regular grants to support new, innovative projects that will develop sustainable urban and community forestry programs;
o Startup grants for communities that want to start or restart an urban forestry program; and
o Catastrophic Storm grants that fund tree repair, removal, or replacement within urban areas following a catastrophic storm event for which the Governor has declared a state of emergency.
• Increases funding for the County Forest Administration Grant program by $200,000 SEG in each year to support salaries for county forest administrators. Up to 50 percent of the annual salary and fringe benefits for county forest administrators and assistant county forest administrators may be covered by the grant program, supporting Wisconsin counties in their forestry activities and planning.
• Increases funding for the Sustainable Forestry Grant program by $50,000 SEG in each year to support sustainable forest management projects on county forest land, such as storm-related projects or hiring temporary staff to address short-term workload projects.
• Provides $807,600 SEG in fiscal year 2023-24 and $150,000 SEG in fiscal year 2024-25 as one-time funding to acquire and upgrade fire suppression equipment at the Department of Natural Resources to more effectively combat wildfires.
CLEAN WATER
Over the last four years, my administration has worked to identify and remediate contamination in ground, surface, and drinking water and to improve water quality for all Wisconsinites. To continue building on this work, this budget:
• Provides $7.5 million GPR in fiscal year 2023-24 for contaminated sediment removal from sites in the Great Lakes or its tributaries that are on Wisconsin’s impaired waters list to continue protecting this resource.
• Provides $4 million GPR for urban nonpoint source (UNPS) cost-sharing and the municipal flood control (MFC) program. The UNPS program offers competitive grants to local governments for the control of pollution from diffuse urban sources that is carried by storm water runoff, and the MFC program provides cost sharing to municipalities for activities such as property acquisition and removal of structures, floodproofing and flood elevation of structures, and flood mapping.
• Provides $6.5 million GPR for grants to counties for capital projects that implement land and water resource management plans under the Targeted Runoff Management program, which can reimburse costs for agricultural or urban runoff management practices in targeted, critical geographic areas with surface water or groundwater quality concerns. The budget also provides an additional $400,000 SEG in each year for noncapital projects under the Targeted Runoff Management program.
• Provides $7 million GPR for grants to counties for implementation of land and water resource management plans, including cost-share grants to landowners that install conservation practices on their land, such as erosion prevention strategies, through the Soil and Water Resource Management program.
• Provides $775,000 in fiscal year 2023-24 and $121,000 in fiscal year 2024-25 to provide additional equipment in the Bureau of Laboratory Services at the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
• Provides $4 million GPR for the repair, reconstruction, and removal of dams.
• Provides $250,000 SEG in each year to support the Producer-Led Watershed Protection grant program. Funding from this program enables producers and producer-led groups to implement nonpoint source pollution abatement strategies to improve Wisconsin’s soil and water quality.
• Provides $1.8 million SEG in each year on a one-time basis to continue the commercial nitrogen optimization pilot program (NOPP) and cover crop insurance program. These programs were created by 2021 Wisconsin Act 223, which I signed into law in April 2022. NOPP grants aim to refine and enhance the understanding of new methods that optimize commercial nitrogen applied to agricultural fields, helping to protect soil and water resources, while the cover crop insurance program assists farmers with rebates of $5 per acre of a cover crop planted for crop insurance premiums paid on those acres. • Provides $1 million GPR in fiscal year 2023-24 for financial assistance under the state well compensation program. The well compensation program provides financial support to private well owners to support the replacement, reconstruction, treatment, or abandonment of contaminated private wells.
o In addition to this investment, in August 2022, my administration created a new well compensation grant program with $10 million of the state’s allocation of federal relief funds. This new program included expanded eligibility criteria to further the reach of the program and better meet the needs of Wisconsin’s well owners. Unfortunately, the Legislature rejected these same eligibility changes to the state-funded well compensation program included in my 2023-25 biennial budget proposal.
ADDITIONAL KEY PRIORITIES
TRIBAL NATIONS
I deeply value the government-to-government relationship between the 11 federally recognized Tribal Nations within Wisconsin’s borders and the state of Wisconsin. With targeted allocations of Tribal gaming revenues to benefit our Tribal partners, the 2023- 25 state budget:
• Provides one-time funding of $11 million PR-S Tribal gaming revenues to the Joint Committee on Finance supplemental appropriation to fund general assistance grants to the federally recognized Tribes of Wisconsin in fiscal year 2023-24, continuing the grant program created following my recommendation in the 2021-23 state budget.
• Provides one-time funding of $1.5 million PR-S Tribal gaming revenues annually for grants to nonprofit food assistance organizations that purchase and distribute food to Tribal elders and to entities supporting the growth and operation of participating food producers, with a focus on Indigenous-based and local food producers.
• Provides $395,800 all funds in fiscal year 2023-24 and $436,000 all funds in fiscal year 2024-25 to expand the scope of 2021 Wisconsin Act 132 by reimbursing Tribal Nations for subsidized guardianship placements in the same manner as Wisconsin’s counties. This funding ensures parity between state residents who are Tribal citizens and non-Tribal citizens. • Provides $507,000 PR-S each year in Tribal gaming revenues to support child welfare services of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.
• Provides specific grants using Tribal gaming revenues, including:
o An annual grant of $110,100 to the Oneida Nation to support National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) system programming. The proposed Green Bay NERR would be the third NERR within the Great Lakes and will foster important educational opportunities for all Wisconsinites as well as partnership opportunities with Great Lakes Tribal Nations.
o An annual grant of $175,000 to the Oneida Nation to support Audubon Great Lakes (AGL) projects. This funding will enable the Nation and AGL to continue their successful bird monitoring and restoration efforts.
o An annual grant of $259,100 for the Oneida Nation’s Healing to Wellness Court program, which is a voluntary program that provides culturally responsive and community-based support to break the cycle of substance abuse and its negative effects on the community.
• Provides one-time funding of $109,300 PR-S annually in Tribal gaming revenues to continue funding programming at the University of Wisconsin (UW)- Green Bay that is developed with the Oneida Nation. This increase to base funding was included in the 2021-23 biennial budget but was also made one- time. This partnership supports STEM-related (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) camps for hundreds of students and provides access to UW-Green Bay’s college credit program for high school students.
STATE EMPLOYEES
State employees are one of Wisconsin’s greatest assets, providing critical and necessary services to the people of Wisconsin each and every day. The state must be able to offer competitive pay in order to fill vacancies, retain our workforce, and provide the quality service the people of Wisconsin expect and deserve. In recognition of this and the good work state employees do, the budget provides a robust compensation package. This budget:
• Provides $221.2 million GPR over the biennium for a general wage adjustment for most state employees at state agencies and the University of Wisconsin System of 4 percent in July of 2023, and an additional 2 percent in July of 2024.
• Provides $4 million GPR over the biennium for targeted market and parity wage adjustments for employees within certain classifications in state agencies to better align their wages to those paid by private and other public sector employees. This adjustment will help the state remain competitive for skilled workers. This budget also provides $1.2 million GPR in fiscal year 2024-25 to support market wage adjustments for employees within certain information technology-related classifications.
• Provides $88.4 million GPR in fiscal year 2023-24 to adjust agency compensation budgets to reflect an additional biweekly payroll.
• Provides $34.7 million in all funds, including $7 million GPR, over the biennium to support the continuation of existing hourly add-ons to address critical recruitment and retention needs within specific classifications at several state agencies.
• Provides $291.6 million GPR over the biennium to enhance the pay structure for correctional officers, sergeants, psychiatric care technicians, and youth counselors at the Department of Corrections and the Department of Health Services to address critical recruitment and retention needs. This funding will support:
o Increasing the minimum starting hourly wage from $20.29 to $33, increasing to $39 per hour for correctional officers with 25 or more years of experience.
o Enhancing the existing pay progression for these classifications, plus supervisor parity.
o Converting the existing $4 per hour add-on to the base hourly wage.
• Provides other pay initiatives aimed at addressing the workforce shortages at the Department of Corrections, including $52.4 million over the biennium to support several additional pay initiatives for correctional officers and sergeants, including:
o Increasing the existing add-on for employees working within maximum security institutions from $2 to $3 per hour;
o Implementing a $1 per hour add-on for employees working within medium security institutions; and
o Continuing the $5 per hour add-on for correctional officers, sergeants, and agents working as officers within institutions with vacancy rates greater than 40 percent among security classifications.
• Extends the long-term service award program for protective positions within the Department of Corrections and the Department of Health Services and provides $545,200 in fiscal year 2023-24.
• Provides $6 million GPR over the biennium to institute a pay progression for probation and parole officers at the Department of Corrections and to modify the existing pay progressions for wardens at the Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin State Capitol Police.
GENERAL GOVERNMENT
• This budget, as partially vetoed, provides $10 million in one-time funding to the Joint Committee on Finance supplemental appropriation to fund the creation of an endowment at WisconsinEye. The funding would support a dollar-for-dollar match to ensure continued funding of WisconsinEye and eliminate the need for paid subscriptions to access content of public meetings, increasing transparency and access to government proceedings for Wisconsinites.
• This budget provides $711,000 over the biennium to the Ethics Commission to fund the replacement of the existing website, which is out-of-date and has shown reliability issues.
• This budget provides $400 million in fiscal year 2023-24 to pay debt service on appropriation obligation bonds issued to repurchase the rights to the state’s tobacco settlement revenues.
• This budget provides ongoing funding to the Department of Employee Trust Funds to support ongoing operational expenses associated with the modernization of the department’s insurance administration system. Additionally, it provides 7.0 FTE positions to support the long-term information technology modernization project, which includes the modernization of the insurance administration system and the pension administration system.
While this budget notably includes many items that address immediate needs and priorities, in addition to imminent needs and necessary investments I raised above, I would be remiss if I did not note where it falls incomplete:
The Legislature’s budget left much to be desired when it comes to doing what is best for our kids by fully funding our public schools. Although I reached a compromise with legislative leaders to provide additional revenue limit authority and continuation of the state’s two-thirds funding commitment in this biennium, I would have liked to see the Legislature do better for our kids and our schools by providing more significant increases in many categorical aids to our schools. This missed opportunity is especially disappointing in light of the significant resources that the Legislature dedicated to the School Levy Tax Credit—funding that could have instead been directed to our schools to be spent in classrooms, delivering for our kids while also helping to keep the pressures of school funding off the property tax. Further, the Legislature did not invest in any of the proposed initiatives to help Wisconsin schools recruit and retain our best and brightest teachers and staff—a huge mistake in the midst of a school staffing shortage. Additionally, we have work to do to ensure state investments we make in our kids and our schools can keep up with inflation.
I am glad this budget will ensure our school districts have predictable, long-term revenue limit authority increases, in part, to help meet rising costs in the future. I hope that as we continue to work together going forward, the Legislature will listen more closely to our school leaders, who have been clear about the need for increases in order for Wisconsin schools to have the resources to deliver a high-quality education for each and every one of our kids.
We know the importance of doing what we can as elected officials to make smart, prudent investments, and in some cases, that includes building or expanding the facilities necessary to benefit our economy and further bolster our workforce. I, along with many others across our state, remain chagrined regarding the Legislature’s decision to reject important projects such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s new engineering building and the completion of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s Prairie Springs Science Center, refusing to enumerate these projects in this biennial budget. This decision is, at best, short-sighted, at worst, purely political and petty. Any legislative discussions about “talent attraction” or being economically competitive ring hollow as long as the Legislature refuses to meaningfully invest in our Wisconsin Technical College and University of Wisconsin Systems, including our world-class research institution at UW-Madison, which are essential economic engines for our state.
The Legislature also rejected my budget recommendations to extend postpartum coverage for Medicaid-eligible mothers from 60 days to one year, which over 40 states have already implemented or are planning to implement in the near future. This extended timeline would have ensured that mothers and their newborns would retain health insurance during this critical time period. Additionally, I am also consistently befuddled and dismayed by the Legislature’s continued refusal to adopt Medicaid expansion even as Republican legislators across the country are supporting efforts to do so. In Wisconsin, this would have resulted in more than $1.6 billion in state savings due to additional federal funding that we could use to further invest in healthcare, education, our environment, or anywhere else. This is foolish.
As long as I am Governor, I will seek to expand BadgerCare because making sure every Wisconsinite has access to high-quality, affordable healthcare is the right thing to do.
Finally, I am disappointed with the Legislature’s chosen course of action related to taxes. I am proud that 86 percent of Wisconsin taxpayers have seen an income tax cut of 15 percent or more, with 2.4 million taxpayers getting relief, under tax cuts I have signed into law. I also promised cutting taxes would be part of our agenda in this budget to help working families afford rising costs, but that it had to be real, responsible, and targeted to working Wisconsinites who need the extra breathing room. The Republican plan sent to my desk is neither real, nor responsible, nor meaningfully targeted to the middle class.
First, the income tax proposal forwarded to me could result in the state having to repay billions of dollars it received under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021—a risk I am unwilling to take. Second, instead of supporting my 10 percent middle-class tax cut to provide over $1.2 billion in targeted income tax relief over the biennium for working families, caregivers, parents, veterans with disabilities, and seniors, roughly half of this proposed tax plan would go to filers with incomes above $200,000. Under this proposal, 11 taxpayers who make over $75 million per year would receive an average cut of $1.8 million per year. Third, this approach is frankly fiscally irresponsible going forward and would put us in a position where we would almost certainly have to reduce funding and ongoing commitments to our schools, healthcare providers, local municipalities, and many other priorities in the next budget.
In recent months, we have worked together to address critical needs, reach bipartisan consensus and compromise, and accomplish important work for the people of our state. I am optimistic that our work together can continue—and it must. I urge members of the Legislature to continue the work on this budget throughout the remainder of this legislative session so that we can bolster our state’s workforce, maintain our economic momentum, and, most importantly, do the right thing for Wisconsin.
Respectfully Submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
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VETO MESSAGE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. INVESTING IN WHAT’S BEST FOR KIDS
1. Per Pupil Revenue Limit Adjustment
2. High Poverty Aid
3. Lakeland STAR Academy
4. Online Early Learning Pilot Sunset Date
5. Child Care Fund
6. REWARD Bonuses
