13. Talent Attraction and Retention Initiatives
14. Vibrant Spaces Grant Program
C. SUPPORTING HEALTHIER WISCONSINITES
15. Medicaid Coverage of Gender-Affirming Care
16. Housing Rehabilitation
17. Family Care Managed Care Organizations Report
18. Newborn Screening Program Card Fee
19. Study for a Master Plan for the Veterans Homes
20. Medical College of Wisconsin Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Residency Program Reporting Requirements
D. BUILDING STRONG, SAFE COMMUNITIES
21. Grants for Local Projects
22. Type 1 Juvenile Correctional Facility and the National Guard Challenge Academy
23. State Capitol Fiber and Cable Upgrades
24. Lac Courte Oreilles Decision – Aid Payments
25. Town of Sanborn Levy Limits
26. Annual Transfer of Local Government Fund Balance
27. Innovation Grants and Innovation Planning Grants Appropriations
28. Municipal Sales Tax Appropriation
29. Increases in Mileage Aid Payments
30. Dignitary Protection Unit
31. Freight Rail Preservation Program
32. Mississippi River Parkway Commission Administrative Support
33. Fee for Identification Stickers for Electric Vehicles
34. Opening Avenues to Reentry Success Program
35. Community Reentry Centers
36. Law Enforcement Overtime Grants
37. Consolidated Court Automation Program
E. PROTECTING & CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES
38. Unobligated Stewardship Authority
39. Echo Lake Dam
40. Department of Natural Resources Position Reallocations
41. Pattison and Amnicon Falls State Parks Earmarks
42. Tribal Gaming Transfer
43. Steve Creek Dam
44. Lake Mallalieu Dredging Grant
45. Division Administrator Positions at the Department of Natural Resources
46. Board of Commissioners of Public Lands Deputy Director Position
F. ADDITIONAL KEY PRIORITIES
47. Tribal Grants Sunset
48. Legislative Human Resources Office
49. WisconsinEye
50. Promotion of the U.S.S. Wisconsin Columbia-Class Submarine
51. Restore an Appropriation for Agency Operations
A. INVESTING IN WHAT’S BEST FOR KIDS
1. Per Pupil Revenue Limit Adjustment
Sections 402, 403, 404, and 408
These sections provide the formula resulting in per pupil revenue limit adjustments of $325 in fiscal year 2023-24 and fiscal year 2024-25 for public school districts.
I am partially vetoing sections 402, 403, 404, and 408 to provide a $325 per pupil revenue limit adjustment in each year from 2023 through 2425. I object to the failure of the Legislature to address the long-term financial needs of school districts. This veto makes no changes to the per pupil revenue limit adjustment provided in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years and provides school districts with predictable long-term spending authority increases.
I have repeatedly recommended restoring the inflationary indexing of the per pupil revenue limit adjustment, which was in place prior to fiscal year 2009-10. Providing increased and continuing resources to school districts through the per pupil revenue limit adjustment, as recommended by the Legislature's 2019 Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding, should be something all Wisconsinites can support.
I have often said that what is best for our kids is what is best for our state. As a result of this veto, I am requesting the Department of Public Instruction provide and account for this per pupil revenue limit adjustment authority of $179 plus $146 for a total of $325 in each year from 2023-24 until 2425.
2. High Poverty Aid
Sections 67, 394, 395, 396, 400, 401g, and 9334
These sections repeal and remove funding from the existing aid for the high poverty school districts appropriation under s. 20.255 (2) (bb). School districts are eligible for this aid if at least half of their enrollment meets the income criteria for a free and reduced-price lunch in the federal school lunch program. I am vetoing these sections to retain the appropriation that exists under current law in s. 20.255 (2) (bb) with zero dollars, and to retain the statutory references to high poverty aid. I object to eliminating this aid program without also providing sufficient increases in general equalization aid. The Legislature has chosen to provide greater investment in the school levy tax credit than general equalization aid in this budget. This is a less equitable funding model for school district costs and is in direct conflict with recommendations by the Legislature's 2019 Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding. Through this veto, I am retaining the appropriation so that the state has a clear pathway to support high poverty school districts. 3. Lakeland STAR Academy
These sections provide $250,000 GPR in fiscal year 2023-24 and $500,000 GPR in fiscal year 2024-25 in a newly created annual appropriation for grants to the Lakeland STAR Academy. Specifically, they require the Department of Public Instruction to provide a grant to the Lakeland UHS School District for the Lakeland STAR Academy. No payments could be made from this appropriation after June 30, 2025.
I am partially vetoing section 51 [as it relates to s. 20.255 (2) (ag)] and vetoing the remaining sections in their entirety to eliminate the grant program for Lakeland STAR Academy. I object to providing state grants to a specific school when the Legislature has failed to provide the needed level of state dollars in a number of critical programs that serve schools statewide, such as special education, school nutrition, or mental health categorical aid programs. There are hundreds of charter schools authorized by public school districts, and it is unfair and inequitable to single only one school out for a state grant. As I have said before, every kid in Wisconsin should be able to get a great education in a public school regardless of what district they live in, and state funding decisions should not pick winners and losers among our kids. 4. Online Early Learning Pilot Sunset Date
These sections modify the repeal of the online early learning program; grant appropriation under s. 20.255 (3) (df) from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2027, and make modifications for the service provider contract to continue until the new sunset date. I am partially vetoing section 51 [as it relates to s. 20.255 (3) (df)] and vetoing the remaining sections in their entirety because I object to extending the existing sunset date on this program before the compiled annual reports regarding the program are submitted to the Legislature and made public. The program, which aims to provide prekindergarten online instruction in six school districts, has seen lower than expected participation and had less than 20 percent of children complete the final assessment in the only year in which that data is available. If the participating school districts find sufficient value from services provided by the contracted program administrator, they may utilize their significantly increased revenue limit authority to support such services in the future. 5. Child Care Fund
These sections create a continuing appropriation for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to create a revolving loan fund for child care providers. Separately, $15,000,000 GPR was placed in the Joint Committee on Finance's supplemental appropriation for this purpose.
I am partially vetoing these sections to remove references to revolving loans because I object to limiting the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s flexibility in disbursing these funds to child care providers given the Legislature’s refusal to make substantial investments to bolster our state’s child care industry and help keep child care providers open to support our state’s workforce. By partially vetoing these sections to remove references to revolving loans, any funding made available under this appropriation could be distributed as grants to child care providers instead of loans.
Wisconsin already has historically low unemployment and historically high workforce participation. Child care is an essential part of keeping workers in our state’s workforce, which is critical to maintaining our state’s economic momentum. As a result of the Legislature’s inaction, more working families will struggle to find and afford quality child care, workers who cannot find or afford child care will be forced to leave our workforce, and employers will continue to struggle to retain and recruit workers across our state, especially in our rural communities.
I recommended providing more than $303 million GPR over the biennium to address the longstanding, structural challenges of the child care industry in Wisconsin by continuing the successful Child Care Counts program. Investing in child care is what is best for our kids, it is what is best for our families, and it is also what is best for our state’s workforce. The Legislature’s decision to include less than a fraction of what I proposed to stabilize our child care industry for a revolving loan fund suggests a fundamental lack of appreciation for and understanding of the magnitude of the child care crisis facing our state and its implications for our state’s workforce and our economy. By some estimates, failing to provide the necessary state funds to continue Child Care Counts will affect tens of thousands of Wisconsin’s kids, could cause thousands of child care programs to close, and could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to our workforce and economy. Given this, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation should have flexibility to utilize these funds in the way that will be most helpful to addressing our child care crisis.
While my actions today improve the Legislature’s minimal effort, I also want to be clear: this is not a long-term solution to our state’s longstanding child care crisis. The Legislature’s work during this biennium to meaningfully support our state’s child care industry remains incomplete.
6. REWARD Bonuses
Section 282c
This section specifies that the additional $5,000,000 allocated for child care quality initiatives be spent on bonuses to child care workers under the REWARD program. Under current law, the Department of Children and Families has the flexibility to distribute funding between the child care scholarship program (TEACH) and the child care bonus program (REWARD) as needed.
I am vetoing this section because I object to placing additional constraints on the department in administering the TEACH and REWARD programs. Given the Legislature’s failure to meaningfully address Wisconsin’s child care needs, it is essential that the department have as much flexibility as possible with the funding available for child care related purposes. By vetoing this section, the department will have the necessary flexibility to use the new funding and base funding for both the TEACH and REWARD programs as needed to best retain early childhood educators.
B. STRENGTHENING OUR ECONOMY & FUTURE WORKFORCE
7. Individual Income Tax Rate Reduction
Sections 328, 329, 332, 333, 336, and 337
These sections reduce the individual income tax rates in the third and fourth income tax brackets from 5.30 percent to 4.40 percent and 7.65 percent to 6.50 percent, respectively, effective with tax year 2023.
I am vetoing these sections because I object to the Legislature’s chosen course of action on individual income taxes on multiple grounds. First, states receiving federal funding under the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 are prohibited from utilizing these funds to either directly or indirectly offset tax reductions. The income tax proposal forwarded to me could result in the state having to repay billions of dollars it received under from the SLFRF, which is a risk to the state that I am unwilling to take.
Second, their plan is focused heavily on cuts benefiting the wealthiest individuals in our state as roughly one-half of their proposed tax cut would go to filers with incomes above $200,000. The Legislature did this while ignoring my recommendations to provide over $1.2 billion over the biennium of targeted income tax relief to the true middle-class as well as to family caregivers, veterans with disabilities, seniors who can no longer claim the Homestead Credit, and hard-working but low-wage earners who can no longer claim the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Third, this approach is fiscally irresponsible going forward and would put Wisconsin in a position where we would almost certainly have to reduce current funding and ongoing commitments to our schools, healthcare providers, local municipalities, and many other priorities in the next budget.
While my vetoes eliminate the Legislature’s tax cuts for the top two individual income tax brackets, my action preserves the tax cuts in the bottom two brackets, with the rate on the lowest bracket dropping from 3.54 percent to 3.50 percent and the second bracket dropping from 4.65 percent to 4.40 percent. By enacting the tax cuts for the bottom two tax brackets into law, the cumulative annual amount of responsible individual income tax reductions that I have enacted since being sworn in as Governor has increased to $1.5 billion annually.
The fiscal effect of this veto is an increase in general fund tax revenue of $1,402,500,000 in fiscal year 2023-24 and $1,333,600,000 in fiscal year 2024-25.
8. Withholding Table Update
Section 9137
This section requires the Department of Revenue to update individual income tax withholding tables to reflect the tax rates, income brackets, and sliding scale standard deduction that are in effect for taxable year 2024. The adjustments made under this section would take effect on January 1, 2024. The withholding table update would therefore reflect the rate reductions included in the 2023-25 biennial budget and indexing adjustments to both income tax brackets and the sliding scale standard deduction.
I am vetoing this section in its entirety because I object to legislatively directing the Department of Revenue to make these withholding table adjustments, as adjusting the withholding tables is already within its authority. This veto does not change anyone's tax liability. The secretary of the Department of Revenue has the ability under current law to make these adjustments as appropriate and will assess whether and when these updates should be made within the full context of revenue collection trends and other state priorities, as was done with the reduction in taxes in the 2021-23 biennium. The estimated fiscal effect of this veto is an increase in general fund tax revenues of $603,400,000 in fiscal year 2023- 24.
9. Fund of Funds Program
Sections 31, 32, 33, and 35
