• The Department of Children and Families received a one-time investment in the 2021-23 biennial budget to conduct trainings for congregate care providers. This budget continues to fund this training by providing the agency with $200,000 all funds in each fiscal year.

• Ensuring the continued integrity and protection of child welfare and child care data is a priority for the state, which is why this budget allocates nearly $1.2 million all funds in each fiscal year to support the Department of Children and Families’ critical cybersecurity efforts.

• This budget provides $2 million FED in each year to the Department of Children and Families to distribute to Children’s Wisconsin for a statewide, online parenting support program, namely the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P).

• This budget also provides $500,000 GPR in each fiscal year to increase grants made by the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board to support child well- being, including through the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P).

• This budget provides $500,000 GPR in each fiscal year to increase grants made by the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board to support family resource centers that serve families across the state.

STRENGTHENING OUR ECONOMY & FUTURE WORKFORCE

TAXES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Over the course of my first term, I have been proud of our efforts to support our workforce and deliver tax relief to working families, including enacting one of the largest tax cuts in state history, to deliver $1.4 billion annually to taxpayers. This budget builds on this important work.

• This budget provides additional tax relief to working families by reducing the individual income tax rates for the bottom two income tax brackets to provide $175 million of individual income tax reductions over the 2023-25 biennium. By cutting the bottom two tax rates further, this budget continues responsible individual income tax reductions, which now total nearly $1.5 billion annually since 2019.

• To spur additional investment in this state, the state is increasing the refundable share of the research credit from 15 percent under current law to 25 percent beginning in tax year 2024. This increase will provide an incentive for critical research and development spending by Wisconsin businesses that will improve their competitiveness and help develop new products.

• We must continue to attract big events to Wisconsin. Recent successes include hosting the 2020 Democratic National Convention, the 2021 Ryder Cup, the 2024 Republican National Convention, and the 2025 NFL Draft. To keep this momentum, Wisconsin is investing $10 million for the creation of an event and opportunity promotion fund administered by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to attract large scale events.

• This budget fosters entrepreneurship by investing $25 million in the Badger Fund of Funds program overseen by the Department of Administration. This significant investment is aimed at continuing to further develop Wisconsin’s start-up business ecosystem. Improving Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial environment is vital to the state’s economic success, especially in high-growth industries in medical and informational technologies. As a result of my partial veto, the additional $25 million provided by this budget will be evergreen, allowing these new funds to continue to be invested in our state’s entrepreneurs.

• Wisconsin is continuing to build on our successes in attracting and investing in our businesses through a provision in this budget incentivizing business investment by providing an income exclusion on commercial lending by excluding interest earned on commercial loans under $5 million from state taxation.

• This budget provides $590 million in property tax relief through increases in the existing School Levy Tax Credit over the upcoming biennium.

• This budget ensures that typical property tax bills in Wisconsin will be held below the rate of inflation over the coming biennium.

• In recent years, Wisconsin has been lagging behind midwestern states in the funds that we dedicate to tourism marketing. This budget provides $34 million over the biennium to raise Wisconsin’s profile across the country as a premier business, cultural, and recreational destination. This is the largest increase in state history in marketing and advertising funds for the Department of Tourism, and with this investment the department will be able to will run a competitive marketing campaign and keep pace with our neighboring states.

o Of these funds, $3 million over the biennium will be used for grants to “Discover Green Bay” and “Visit Milwaukee” to help capture the attention of the thousands of folks that will attend the 2025 NFL Draft and 2024 Republican National Convention and to show all the wonderful entertainment opportunities Wisconsin has to offer.

• Tourism is an important part of our Wisconsin economy and art tourism is equally as important. That is why it is vital to fund the arts in this budget. Wisconsin will invest $552,500 over the biennium in the Wisconsin Arts Board. This funding is crucial in order to maximize the federal match funding available through the National Endowment for the Arts grants. These funds will continue supporting the tremendous work of individuals and organizations engaged in the arts.

SUPPORTING OUR WORKFORCE

• Investing in the next generation of Wisconsin workers is critical to the future success of our state. This budget invests $7 million over the biennium for the youth apprenticeship program, which gives high school juniors and seniors an opportunity for career exploration and skills development.

• Modernization of technology is crucial for the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) to continue offering efficient and quality service for professional licensing. This budget upgrades and enhances department information technology systems, subscriptions, and equipment by providing $6.7 million over the biennium. This will allow DSPS to continue effective operation of credentialing and building plan review and permitting software as well as call center functions, ultimately supporting job growth and economic development.

• The budget provides 7.0 FTE positions to allow DSPS to bolster the improvements the department already has made on license processing efficiency, which in turn helps our state’s workforce and our economy by getting people into jobs and providing critical public services faster. These additional positions make progress toward the resources the department needs.

• In order to meet substantially increased public demand for assistance with license and credential application processes, the budget provides 6.0 FTE customer service positions to ensure more customer calls are answered in a timely fashion.

• The budget will increase capacity for DSPS to conduct building plan reviews by providing the department with $465,200 and 3.0 FTE positions. This will help the department review building plans and related inspections quickly and accurately, which will keep building project workers in jobs and decrease project costs.

• The budget will provide DSPS with increased spending authority of $100,000 in fiscal year 2023-24 to develop an assured provider pilot program to modernize the continuing education certification process for realtors.

• To continue support for the successful youth firefighter training grant program and increase the number of volunteer firefighters in the state, the budget provides DSPS with $75,000 in each year of the biennium.