Legislature approves school funding hike; several Dems reject Evers-GOP compromise
MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Wisconsin lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday increasing state funding for both public and private voucher schools.
The sweeping education plan was a last-minute addition to an agreement between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican leaders in the Assembly and Senate over how to boost funding for local governments.
In the final votes, only a quartet of Democratic lawmakers voted for the bill, which was part of the bigger compromise negotiated by the Evers administration.
The Senate passed the bill, 24-9, with all Republicans voting for it. Two Democratic senators, LaTonya Johnson and Lena Taylor, both from Milwaukee, joined Republicans in voting 'yes.'
The Assembly then passed the bill, 62-21. As with the Senate, all Republicans voted in favor of the bill while two Democrats joined them. Reps. Dora Drake and Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, both from Milwaukee, were the Assembly Democrats to support the bill.
The Assembly has followed suit, passing the school funding bill, 62-31.
— A.J. Bayatpour (@AJBayatpour) June 15, 2023
Two Democrats joined Republicans in voting for it: Reps. Drake and Ortiz-Velez, both of whom are from Milwaukee.
Johnson said on the floor she supported Milwaukee families having quality public and choice school options but opposed tying the school funding plan to the local government bill that funded Milwaukee's future.
"[Gov. Evers] had a gun to his head," Johnson said. "Either he gave my colleagues what they wanted, or Milwaukee into insolvency. And he chose to save Milwaukee."
Progressives opposed to the bill maintained that conservatives got the better end of the deal, because private schools enrolled in Wisconsin's choice program got a bigger increase in per student funding than public schools.
Under the plan, Wisconsin would provide more than $1 billion in additional funding to K-12 public schools statewide. It amounts to an increase of $325 per student.
Republicans said that increase made the bill a win for everyone.
"Children who attend both of these schools, they require and deserve a basic level of support," State Sen. Duey Stroebel (R-Cedarburg) said. "And that's what this bill does: a basic level of support for two very diverse types of schools."
Private choice schools would see an increase of $1,100 per student at the K-8 level, according to a fiscal estimate submitted by the Department of Public Instruction.
Private choice high schools would receive an increase of nearly $3,000 per student.
Democrats opposed to the bill, including Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard (D-Madison), said too much additional state funding was going toward choice schools, and that decision could harm public education in the long run.
"On a personal level, I am not supportive of this bill," Agard told reporters before Wednesday's session. "I am someone who came through our public schools. I've got four kids that have gone through our public schools, and frankly, if we wanted to prioritize our public schools, we could be putting forward a package that did that."
Republican leaders said the agreement was a concession they needed the Evers administration to make in order to make a key change to the local government funding bill.
The shared revenue legislation allowed Milwaukee to enact a new 2% city sales tax and Milwaukee County to raise its existing sales tax to 0.9% with votes from the common council and county board, respectively; the GOP bill originally called for city and county voters to approve those tax increases through a referendum.
"We had to give up on some things that are really important to Republicans," Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said. "There are an awful lot, I would say most members of our caucus still have major heartburn about giving up the referendum requirement, which has been a core tenet of being a conservative in Wisconsin for the last 35 years."
Evers in a statement late Wednesday called the compromise a "win for Wisconsin," citing the public school and local government funding increases.
Evers, who oversaw the Department of Public Instruction before becoming governor, did not mention the private school funding boost.
To help fund the increase for public schools, the bill lifts the limit on property taxes school districts can levy from $10,000 to $11,000 per student. It would amount to a nearly $650 million property tax increase statewide.
Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire) told Republicans they'd have to run on that increase next year.
However, Republicans in control of the budget committee can cancel out much of that increase by cutting property taxes statewide, then filling in the gap with part of the state's $7 billion surplus.
Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green), who co-chairs the Joint Finance Committee, indicated that could still happen later this month when the committee takes up the state's tax structure as it constructs.