Wisconsin’s Rank in Per-Pupil Spending Continues Decline
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | July 6, 2022
The Wisconsin Policy Forum (WPF) released a new report today entitled, “Wisconsin’s Ranks in School Spending, Tax Burden Fall Together.” The key findings regarding Wisconsin school spending include:
- Recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that in 2020 Wisconsin per-pupil spending on elementary and secondary education ranked 25th highest in the nation, 5.6% below the national average.
- In comparison, in 2002 Wisconsin per-pupil spending ranked 11th highest in the nation, 11% above the national average.
- The caps on school revenues in the 2021-23 state budget may drive additional drops in Wisconsin’s ranking in upcoming years.
- Per-pupil spending in Wisconsin increased by 48.6% between 2002 and 2020, the third smallest increase of any state (behind only Idaho and Indiana).
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Nicholson Drops Out of Governor’s Race
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | July 6, 2022
From WisPolitics.com …Republican Kevin Nicholson isn’t closing the door on another bid for public office after dropping out of the guv’s race.Nicholson, a business consultant and former Marine, didn’t respond to a request for an interview with WisPolitics.com after announcing his decision yesterday. But he told conservative radio host Mark Belling he planned to take time to reflect and was looking forward to spending time with his wife and kids.Nicholson said he will also never stop caring about the state and nation.“You’ve got to stand up and try and do the right thing. How does that manifest in the future? I don’t know exactly,” Nicholson said.Nicholson dropped out of the GOP primary as former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and construction exec Tim Michels emerged as the two top candidates in the five-person field. They were neck-and-neck in the most recent Marquette University Law School Poll. Meanwhile, Nicholson was at 10 percent in that poll and hasn’t put up a meaningful paid media campaign in recent weeks, though the PAC Fighting for Wisconsin supporting him last month reported spending $950,000 on a media buy.Nicholson’s decision to drop out comes a day after the close of the most recent campaign finance reporting period. Those reports are due July 15 and will give the first look at Nicholson’s fundraising operation since he got into the race in January.Nicholson told Belling that Michels’ major personal resources put him in the position that the only option going forward was to go negative, and he didn’t want to do that.Still, Nicholson has taken shots at both Kleefisch and Michels. After reports that Kleefisch planned to use strategies such as ballot harvesting in the election, Nicholson said anyone who supports the idea is “as dumb as a bag of hammers.”Both Kleefisch and Michels praised Nicholson after he dropped out of the race and vowed to contend for his supporters.State Dem Party spokeswoman Hannah Menchhoff said Nicholson’s departure “only means that there is one less radical Republican in the gubernatorial primary.”
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State Tax Collections Running Ahead of Projections
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 28, 2022
From WisPolitics.com …Tax collections for the fiscal year that ends this month are running ahead of projections, putting the state in line for another boost to the general fund.The Department of Revenue last week reported general fund tax collections through the end of May were up 5.2 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau had projected general fund tax collections would drop by 3.2 percent for the fiscal year that ends June 30.LFB Director Bob Lang today noted corporations make their estimated tax payments largely in four months, including June. Through the end of May, the state had collected $2.4 billion in corporate taxes. That matches what LFB projected in January the state would take in for the full 12-month period.“I think we’ve got a lot of strength (in collections), in corporate in particular,” Lang said.The state’s largest three general fund taxes are individual income, sales and corporate. Lang said income and sales also look strong.In January, the LFB upped its projected surplus for the 2021-23 budget to $3.8 billion, nearly $2.9 billion more than what it had expected when the budget was signed last summer.The Republican co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee urged a cautious approach if collections come in above projections.Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said taxes on businesses and consumers are higher due to inflation. Meanwhile, Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, also stressed that sales tax collections are strong, in part, because prices are higher due to inflation.He warned there are “lots of clouds on the horizon” with the possibility of an economic slowdown.“I think we need to be cautious about spending it,” Marklein said. “I think a year from now when we’re wrapping up our budget, I think we’re going to be glad that we’ve got the resources.”The LFB will issue a summary later this summer on preliminary tax collections for the full fiscal year, which ends June 30. The Evers administration will then do a look at tax collections in November, when it releases a preliminary projection for the 2023-25 biennium. The LFB will do its next look at revenues two months later in January.Lang noted there’s some uncertainty over the second year of the 2021-23 biennium between inflation, rising interest rates and the possibility of a recession.See last week’s DOR report here.
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Evers Warns Agencies to Avoid Additional Spending in 2023-25 Budget Requests
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 15, 2022
From WisPolitics.com …
Gov. Tony Evers is warning state agencies his directives will require most of them to avoid additional general purpose revenue spending in the 2023-25 state budget even with a record projected surplus.In a letter last week, Evers wrote the restriction also will extend to SEG-funded operations for the departments of Natural Resources and Transportation as well as the Wisconsin Lottery.Evers spent much of the letter touting the strength of the state budget, which is projected to have a $3.8 billion surplus at the end of the 2021-23 biennium.Evers noted “some economic uncertainty now amidst an ever-changing and unrelentingpandemic, an international crisis, and ongoing economic challenges around the globe.”“While I am optimistic our global and national economy will steady itself, it is appropriate that we exercise caution going forward in our current economic environment right now,” Evers wrote.Guvs issue the letters every two years to begin setting benchmarks for the budget process, which includes state agencies turning in their requests by Sept. 15. Evers had a similar directive in 2020 to begin the budget process. With the state then in the early stages of the pandemic, he told agencies to avoid asking for any new positions in addition to holding spending flat.Eight months later, he proposed a $3.2 billion increase in GPR spending with half of that proposed for K-12 education.In last week’s letter, Evers wrote he plans to “redouble our efforts to address issues that we hear about every day from our fellow citizens.” That includes providing a quality education, expanding Medicaid, reducing the cost of prescription drugs and ending the freeze on shared revenues by “providing our local governments with the necessary fiscal resources to keep their communities safe.” Evers also wrote tax credits and road funding will also be priorities.Read the letter here.
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WASB Won’t Renew Membership in NSBA
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 15, 2022
From WisPolitics.com …The Wisconsin Association of School Boards has voted not to renew membership in the national organization over concerns about its governance structure, fiscal management, and “failure to prioritize and serve state school board associations.”In a message to lawmakers late Monday, the WASB wrote many of its concerns “pre-date last fall’s events,” when the National School Boards Association sent a letter to President Biden seeking help from the federal government in response to threats of violence and intimidation aimed at school board members. The letter added some of the actions could be classified as “domestic terrorism” or hate crimes.The group later apologized to members, but the WASB in November withdrew from participation in the national organization’s programs, activities and lobbying efforts. The WASB couldn’t terminate its membership at the time because it had already paid dues and there was no mechanism for a refund, the state organization said at the time.In Monday’s message, the WASB wrote those actions “needlessly harmed school board relationships and inflamed partisan tensions.”The WASB Board of Directors voted on Friday not to renew its membership for the 2022-23 school year, and more than half of the nation’s state school board organizations have distanced themselves from the NSBA or dropped their membership.The WASB is looking for an alternative national association, though it wrote in the message it wasn’t precluding NSBA membership in the future.“Our support for parent and community input is unwavering,” the message read. “We realize that we are partners with our parents and community members and that the great majority of the interactions with our constituents are cordial, collaborative and thoughtful. We understand that important policy decisions can be passionately discussed, but in a manner that reinforces the basic tenet of public schools — local control of students’ education.”
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