After the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) announced Wednesday that there would not be an increase in projected state tax revenue, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, and JFC Co-Chair John Nygren said that their top priority in the ongoing budget deliberations will be to fully fund K-12 education. Although Governor Walker’s budget proposed a $127 million cut to K-12 education during the first year of the biennium, the Governor expressed his support this week to fully fund K-12 schools and to make “our schools whole.” Democratic legislators have also identified public K-12 education funding as a priority, along with reducing proposed cuts to the University of Wisconsin system and rejecting significant proposed changes to long-term care programs.
No specific revenue source has been agreed upon to increase K-12 funding, but lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have proposed a variety of options. Vos, Fitzgerald, and Nygren suggested using money the governor had set aside for the school levy credit to instead fully fund K-12 education. Fitzgerald said Republicans would be interested in plans that would increase revenue and lower bonding. The four Democratic members of the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) have suggested other methods of funding K-12 education, such as delaying the phase in of manufacturing and agriculture credits, forgoing property tax cuts, and accepting federal Medicaid expansion money. Republican members of the JFC warn that these ideas would meet resistance in the GOP caucus.
Although the funding source remains unclear, it is clear that Wisconsin lawmakers are making increased funding for K-12 education a priority in the 2015-2017 state budget. The WAWH budget blog will continue to provide more details on the K-12 budget as the JFC votes on these provisions. For more information on Governor Walker’s proposed public education budget and its impact on Wisconsin women and girls, visit our issue page on K-12 education here.
No specific revenue source has been agreed upon to increase K-12 funding, but lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have proposed a variety of options. Vos, Fitzgerald, and Nygren suggested using money the governor had set aside for the school levy credit to instead fully fund K-12 education. Fitzgerald said Republicans would be interested in plans that would increase revenue and lower bonding. The four Democratic members of the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) have suggested other methods of funding K-12 education, such as delaying the phase in of manufacturing and agriculture credits, forgoing property tax cuts, and accepting federal Medicaid expansion money. Republican members of the JFC warn that these ideas would meet resistance in the GOP caucus.
Although the funding source remains unclear, it is clear that Wisconsin lawmakers are making increased funding for K-12 education a priority in the 2015-2017 state budget. The WAWH budget blog will continue to provide more details on the K-12 budget as the JFC votes on these provisions. For more information on Governor Walker’s proposed public education budget and its impact on Wisconsin women and girls, visit our issue page on K-12 education here.
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