On February 18, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D) delivered his fourth biennial budget proposal to lawmakers in Madison.

Weeks before in his state of the state address, he deemed 2025 “the year of the kid” in Wisconsin. The concept extended to his 2025-2027 budget proposal.

“My pro-kid budget makes the largest investment in Wisconsin’s kids in any budget by any governor in state history.” Evers said. Unsurprisingly for the former teacher, this includes increased education funding for public K-12 schools and the University of Wisconsin system.

“All told, our pro-kid budget will do what’s best for our kids by providing more than $3.15 billion, nearly all of which is spendable revenue for schools across Wisconsin. And we’re going to make those investments while holding the line on property taxes to ensure the average homeowner will not see a property tax increase.”

Tax relief was also brought up in the governor’s speech – proposing $2 billion in cuts. These he said, would come in the form of lowering sales tax on some items, like OTC medication, and electricity and gas utilities for homeowners. Healthcare was also mentioned, with Evers wanting to end price gouging on medication, and create a first-in-the-nation auditing board for insurance companies who reject patients claims.

The budget proposal will now go to state lawmakers. With a Republican controlled legislature, it’s unlikely that many of Evers proposals will make it into law. Wisconsin’s Biennial budgets typically have to be set and signed into law by July 1, when the previous budget expires.

Governor Ever’s full remarks can be found here. Details on the state agencies budget requests can be found on Wisconsin’s website.

Before Governor Evers’ speech, the Republican Party of Wisconsin’s chairman Brian Schimming issued the following statement:

“Tony Evers’ far-left policies are unpopular with Wisconsinites. Republicans have led the way from eliminating taxes on tips to cleaning up PFAS contamination. Tonight will make one thing clear: Tony Evers doesn’t know how to govern and his address won’t distract Wisconsinites from his continued failures.”