MADISON — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers will use his budget plan to propose a way for Wisconsin voters to directly change state law, he announced on Friday.
The governor’s budget, which will be released in full on Feb. 18, will also prioritize lowering the cost of living in key areas including child care and housing, as well as aim to increase funding for education. Evers discussed his plans at a press conference on Friday that was embargoed until Monday, when a new legislative session was set to begin in Madison.
Twenty-six states and Washington D.C. have initiative or referendum processes, according to Ballotpedia. Currently, only the Legislature can put constitutional amendments on the ballot in Wisconsin. Republicans who control the Legislature have used this power to avoid Evers’ veto pen.
“If Republican lawmakers are going to continue to try and legislate by constitutional amendment, then they should give Wisconsinites the same opportunity,” Evers said.
Evers previously proposed a ballot initiative process for Wisconsin in 2022 in the hopes of putting the state’s abortion laws before voters. Republican lawmakers quickly rejected the idea.
Watch: Breaking down Gov. Evers' budget priorities for 2025:
Evers’ proposal is likely to be dismissed by Republicans once again when the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee begins its work on the budget later this year. Republicans typically strip the plan of Evers’ policy recommendations before writing their own version to send back to the governor, who can amend the draft using his partial veto power before signing it into law. A new budget is typically passed by July.
The governor said his priority for the new budget is lowering the cost of living in Wisconsin by tackling a variety of issues from child care and health care costs to affordable housing and access to transportation.
“We have to make sure that people in the state of Wisconsin have the ability to thrive economically,” he said.
Evers also teased that his budget will offer long-awaited solutions to deteriorating conditions at the state’s aging prisons in Waupun and Green Bay.
Republicans are prioritizing a tax cut in the new legislative session. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he wants to see Evers approve a plan to use at least half the state’s more than $4 billion surplus to reduce taxes before Republicans will negotiate on the budget.
Evers said Friday that’s unlikely to happen.
The governor also blasted Republicans’ plans for funding public education. Vos said money for K-12 schools depends on whether the state Supreme Court upholds a partial veto Evers made in the last budget that extended a school funding increase for more than 400 years.
“If for some reason the Supreme Court finds that that number is appropriate, [it] probably means education funding is already set, and it will be harder for us to find a consensus,” Vos said.
“That’s a joke. Honest to God, that’s a joke,” Evers said when asked about Vos’ comments. “There’s gonna be more money – period – for schools.”
The governor is also continuing to support the Universities of Wisconsin’s ask for an $855 million increase in spending.
However, Evers, a former state superintendent, criticized how the Department of Public Instruction, led by Superintendent Jill Underly, decided to lower the bar for Wisconsin’s standardized test scores. He said the decision came as a surprise to him and agreed with parents and educators who say the change makes it difficult to track progress over time.
“In a decision like this – I’m not even sure how many school people knew about it,” Evers said. “The mistake was that there wasn’t enough conversation with the stakeholders, with parents ahead of time.”
Republicans have cited the lowered standards as reason for the Legislature to expand its control over DPI policies.
“Superintendent Underly dumbed down our standards to make herself look better,” Vos said. “If we’re going to have an increase in education, there are going to have to be more strings attached than we’ve had before.”
Evers also addressed Republicans’ threats to eliminate a conservation program that allows the DNR to purchase land and make grants for land trusts and local governments to buy and improve public land.
“You think about the value of that stewardship fund, it is so important to who we are as Wisconsin and also the ability to make sure that we have the land available for people to recreate on,” Evers said. “So yes, we will be dealing with that issue in the budget, absolutely.”
