Gov. Tony Evers delivers his 2025 state budget address. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Gov. Tony Evers unveiled a sweeping 2025-27 state budget proposal Tuesday evening that would come at the cost of $55.5 billion in state funds across the biennium — an increase of about 18%. The proposal lays out many priorities including investments in education and initiatives to protect the environment, tax relief for middle class Wisconsinites, tax hikes for the wealthy Wisconsinites and expansion of Medicaid access.
Evers’ address was his fourth budget address since taking office in 2019 and comes at the beginning of a state budget cycle when Wisconsin is expected to end the 2023-25 biennium with $4.3 billion in its general fund. The state had a record-high balance of $1.9 billion in its rainy day fund at the end of fiscal year 2023-24.
Altogether, with federal and other revenue, the state would have an operating budget of $119 billion over the next two years under Evers’ proposal and a total increase of about 20%. In addition to the funding, Evers’ budget would add about 880 state positions for a total of about 75,613 state employees by July 2026.
During his approximately 40-minute address to the state Senate and Assembly, Evers laid out major parts of the proposal to the standing applause of Democratic lawmakers and the seated stares of Republican lawmakers.
“The budget I’m proposing balances our priorities of investing in our kids and needs that have long been neglected while providing real and sustainable tax relief and saving where we can,” Evers said during his address. He declared that the budget would be the most “pro-kid” budget in state history.
Towards the end of his speech, Evers called on lawmakers to focus on “doing what’s best for our kids, delivering real solutions for real problems Wisconsinites face every day and doing the right thing.”
Republican lawmakers, however, said that most of Evers’ budget proposal would be “dead-on-arrival” and criticized him for trying to increase spending and grow the size of government.
Environment and water quality
Evers proposed more than $300 million towards eliminating lead from service lines, bubblers, schools, homes and child care centers. He also called for the state to invest $145 million towards combating PFAS contamination statewide and providing emergency resources, including bottled water communities affected by water contamination.
The state allocated $125 million towards the effort in the last budget, but lawmakers and Evers never agreed on a bill that would allow the money to be used, so it remains unused.
“Addressing PFAS and other contaminants grows harder and more expensive with each day of delay,” Evers said. “Republicans and Democrats have to work together to finally get something done on this issue.”
Evers also proposed dedicating $100 million annually towards reauthorizing the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program for an additional 10 years — a total $1 billion investment aimed at supporting projects that improve the state’s water quality, protect key habitats and support investments in state and local parks and other public lands.
Adds $4 billion for K-12 and higher education
Building on his declaration in January of 2025 as ‘The Year of the Kid,’ Evers announced a vast education budget proposal that would invest $856 million for the University of Wisconsin System, nearly $60 million for the technical colleges and $3.15 billion in K-12 education across the state.
“Every Wisconsin kid should have access to a high-quality public education from early childhood to our K-12 schools to our higher education institutions,” Evers said. “I’m urging the Legislature to do what’s best for our kids by approving significant investments in public education at every level in Wisconsin.”
Evers acknowledged recent actions from the Trump administration and federal lawmakers affecting higher education. Most recently, the administration told universities to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives or risk losing funding. Universities, including UW-Madison — have also been grappling with the potential impacts of cuts to research funding.
“Politicians in Washington don’t know a darn thing about what’s going on at campuses across Wisconsin,” Evers said. “They don’t understand that our UW System has been part of Wisconsin since we first became a state — it’s enshrined in our state constitution. They don’t know how important our UW System has been to our state’s success or how important it is for our future.”
Evers’ UW System proposal would be one of the largest investments in the system in state history. He said the reinvestment in the UW System is necessary due to impacts of attacks and disinvestment over the last many years and the ongoing challenges that the state’s 13 campuses are facing.
“UW is facing campus closures and program cuts, students are facing tuition increases, and faculty and staff are facing layoffs, and with new federal efforts to cut higher education funding, things for UW could get a whole lot worse,” Evers said. “It’s up to us — each of us, together — to invest in our UW System, to defend it and to protect its promise for future generations.”
Some of the funding would include $128 million for financial aid; $308 million to support expanding access to schools through dual enrollment, direct admissions and transfer pathways; $56 million to support recruiting and retaining educators and staff; $22 million to support mental health services; $104 million to invest in innovative technologies and $166 million to increase wages.
Evers is also proposing $60 million for the technical colleges in accordance with the system’s request that would include $45 million in general aid.
He called on lawmakers and elected officials to help increase funding for public education, saying that many of them benefited from it when they were younger.
“Don’t tell our kids they don’t deserve to have the same opportunity you did,” Evers said.
Evers’ largest education investment proposal would be to the state’s K-12 schools, and he argued that the investments are necessary to help address student outcomes.
“I know some legislators have tried using student outcomes to argue against investing in our kids and our schools. Folks, you’ve got it backwards,” Evers said. “The outcomes we’re seeing are exactly why we must do more to do what’s best for our kids.”
The budget proposal includes $212 million towards raising per-pupil funding by $108 across the biennium, with additional support for economically disadvantaged students. He also wants to link the state’s per pupil revenue limits for school districts to inflation starting in fiscal year 2025-26. His budget projects that the change would raise limits by $334 per pupil in 2025-26 and $345 per pupil in 2026-27.
Evers called on lawmakers to approve his $147 million plan to provide free school meals to students, his nearly $300 million plan to invest in mental health support in schools and to ensure clean drinking water in schools.
“If the state isn’t committed to meeting our kids’ basic needs, then we can’t have serious conversations about improving outcomes,” Evers said. “It’s that simple.”
Evers also called for investing $80 million to support new literacy initiatives in the state, including literacy coaches and tutoring, that are meant to help improve reading scores statewide.
The proposed funding would include the $50 million to support a new literacy law enacted in the 2023-25 budget cycle, but after disagreements over implementation and a veto by Evers, most of the money remains stuck and unused. If it isn’t released by the end of the fiscal year in June, it will lapse back into the state’s general purpose revenue.
Evers also proposed dedicating $1.1 billion towards raising the state’s special education reimbursement to 60%. The current rate is about 30% for public schools.
The governor said the current system for funding schools isn’t working and called attention to the trend of districts asking taxpayers to raise their property taxes through referendum measures so schools can cover operational and building costs.
“This system isn’t sustainable — it creates winners and losers, haves and have-nots, but referendums are not inevitable,” Evers said. “Wisconsinites wouldn’t have to raise their own property taxes to keep school lights on and doors open if this Legislature invested in K-12 education from the get-go.”
Evers’ budget proposal also calls for making changes to Wisconsin’s voucher programs including the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the Racine Parental Choice Program and the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program.
He wants to freeze the number of slots available to students, a proposal that comes as the caps on enrollment are slated to come off in 2026. He also wants to require participating schools to license educators by July 2028 and to require schools to allow students participating in the Special Needs Scholarship Programs to opt out of religious activities at written request. Evers also proposes putting the cost of Wisconsin’s voucher programs on people’s property tax bills.
Evers also wants to support the child care industry by investing $440 million in state funds to subsidize providers with the Child Care Counts program.
$2 billion in tax relief, raising taxes for wealthiest
Evers called for nearly $2 billion in tax relief and for raising taxes on the wealthiest Wisconsinites.
Part of the relief would be targeted at trying to limit further property tax increases. Property tax burdens across the state have grown in recent years in part because schools and local governments have turned to referendums as a way of securing funding.
“My budget would create a new incentive for local governments to freeze their local property taxes. If local governments agree not to raise local property taxes, they’ll get a direct payment from the state,” Evers said. “This will ensure local partners can still afford to pay for basic and unique local needs alike without property taxes going up.”
Under his proposal, about $1 billion would be directed towards aid for local governments that pause property taxes and direct property tax credits to taxpayers over the biennium.
His proposal would also increase the school levy tax credit by $375 million across the biennium.
Evers is also proposing eliminating taxes on tips — similar to a recent proposal from Republican lawmakers — and eliminating sales tax on electricity and gas for Wisconsin homes and on over-the-counter medications.
“Working to prevent property tax increases is a key part of my plan to lower costs for working families, but we can do more to reduce everyday, out-of-pocket costs for folks across our state,” Evers said.
One major proposal that went unmentioned in Evers’ speech would create a new, higher income tax bracket for high-income residents. The administration’s budget brief said the measure would “ensure millionaires and billionaires in Wisconsin pay their fair share.
Evers’ proposal calls for a new individual tax income tax bracket with a marginal rate of 9.8 % on taxable income above $1 million for single filers and married joint filers, and above $500,000 for married taxpayers who file separately. The current top tax bracket has a 7.65% rate and applies to single filers making $315,310 and joint filers making $420,420.
The proposal would bring Wisconsin an additional $719 million in the first year of the biennium and $578 million in the second.
Expand access to health care
Evers called for his fourth budget in a row to expand Medicaid to cover people up to 138% of the federal poverty level — a proposal that would expand eligibility to approximately 95,800 low-income individuals and allow the state to save $1.9 billion in state money and receive an additional $2.5 billion in federal funds over the biennium.
“Health care should not be a privilege afforded only to the healthy and the wealthy,” Evers said.
Wisconsin is one of 10 states to not expand Medicaid, according to KFF.
The budget also includes a proposal to extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers to a year after the birth of a child. Wisconsin is one of two states that haven’t accepted the federal expansion.
“Nothing against Arkansas, but come on, folks. I’ve proposed this in every budget I’ve introduced as governor. There’s also a bipartisan bill to get it done that almost 90 legislators support,” Evers said. “One legislator should not be able to single-handedly obstruct a bill that’s supported by a supermajority of the Legislature.”
The comments got some of the loudest cheers from Democrats during the whole night.
Evers was alluding to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester), who held the policy up last session after the proposal passed the Senate and has said this session that he doesn’t support expanding “welfare” in response to questions about the policy. A bill that would accomplish this, with 23 Senate cosponsors and 67 Assembly cosponsors, recently received a hearing in the state Senate.
Evers also is proposing making Wisconsin the first state to start auditing insurance companies over denying health care claims. The state would provide a corrective action plan for insurers found to have too high denial rates. The plan would also create a “Public Intervenor Office” that would focus on helping Wisconsinites who have claims denied.
The governor said the measure would increase accountability and transparency for health insurance companies.
“If an insurance company is going to deny your health care claim, they should have a darn good reason for it. It’s frustrating when your claim gets denied and it doesn’t seem like anyone can give you a good reason why,” Evers said.
Preparing for Trump administration, potential tariffs
Evers’ budget would leave the state with about $646.3 million at the end of June 2026. Evers said this would be to ensure the state remains in a good financial position into the future and because of the unpredictability of the Trump administration.
“We must continue our work to be reasonable and pragmatic. The needless chaos caused by the federal government in recent weeks has already made preparing a state budget that much more difficult,” Evers said. “We prepared for the worst: popular programs that kids, families, schools, veterans, seniors and communities rely upon every day being drastically cut; resources and investments that Wisconsin is counting on and budgeted for, suddenly stalled or gutted; trade wars with Wisconsin’s largest export partners hurting our ag industries and our economy; costs for working families skyrocketing to the point they can’t make ends meet.”
Evers said that with the unpredictability, it wouldn’t have “been wise or responsible” to spend everything.
Evers also took aim at the Trump administration and the potential impact a trade war and tariffs could have on agriculture one of Wisconsin’s ’s largest industries.
The state, according to the USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture, has 58,521 farms with 13.7 million acres producing $16.7 billion in agricultural products.
Trump threatened to place 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada in January, then paused implementing them for a month. While it was unclear which items would be included, fresh produce could be one category of goods.
“Wisconsin is on its way to becoming a top 10 state for ag exports — we can’t afford to lose our momentum because of tariff wars in Washington,” Evers said.
To help blunt impacts should the tariffs return, Evers proposed creating an agriculture economist position in the state government to help farmers navigate market disruptions and volatility caused by tariffs. He also wants to increase investments in the Wisconsin Initiative for Ag Exports and invest $50 million in the Agricultural Roads Improvement Program, which was created in the last budget to enhance roads, bridges and culverts in rural communities.
Lawmakers’ reaction
With Evers’ budget proposal introduced, the Republican-led Legislature’s 16-member Joint Finance Committee will go to work writing the state budget. The committee will hold some public hearings in the coming weeks.
GOP leaders were quick to throw cold water on Evers’ plan. “We are not going to let Wisconsin become Tim Walz’s Minnesota,” Vos said after the address.
JFC Co-Chair Sen. Howard Marklein said all the policy changes that Evers included would be stripped out and the next budget will be built from the current state budget, “the base.”
“We’re going back to base like we have for the last several budgets. We’re going to build a budget that’s fair, that’s sustainable into the future and doesn’t impact our businesses and our families adversely,” Marklein said.
Marklein also emphasized that the budget surplus is “largely one-time money” and said it should be used to support one-time spending, not ongoing programs.
JFC Co-chair Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) said that Evers budget was “bloated” and included “reckless spending.”
“Just finding ways to grow the government, making up all sorts of new agencies or sub-agencies or offices again tonight,” Born said. “We know we have to toss it to the side.”
Born said that instead, Republicans will focus on finding ways to shrink the size of government and find ways to support families and businesses “without the heavy hand of government.”
Republicans reiterated their intention to cut taxes, which they’ve repeatedly called a major priority.
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) said at a GOP press conference that the budget surplus only exists because Evers rejected the majority of their tax cut proposals last session. He called Evers’ tax relief proposals “gimmicky.”
“What we’re going to do is provide broad-based tax cuts to all taxpayers in Wisconsin, and that’s what we’re going to do before we send a budget to him,” LeMahieu said.
Vos and LeMahieu both said that President Donald Trump winning Wisconsin in November is a sign that voters don’t want increased government spending.
“Wisconsin voted for Donald Trump and his agenda to cut spending and find inefficiency in government,” Vos said. “Giving a 20% increase to the bureaucracy is the exact opposite of what people voted for.”
Vos said that Republicans would unveil specific tax cut proposals in the coming weeks.
In contrast to Republicans’ scorn, Democratic lawmakers called on their colleagues to get on board with Evers’ budget.
Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) said in a statement that the budget proposal would help “lower everyday costs for working people and improve the lives of residents across our state” and said it would do what is best for kids.
The budget, Hesselbein said, showed Evers’ “commonsense and comprehensive leadership on issues that matter to working people and families.”
“I hope my Republican colleagues put partisanship aside and do what is best for our state,” Hesselbein said.
Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) called the proposal “ambitious” and said it would “move our state forward, deliver good things for the people of Wisconsin and set our state up for long-term success.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.