Contact Badger Institute President Mike Nichols, mike@badgerinstitute.org or (262) 389-8239, for comment.
March 26, 2026
The Badger Institute today launches its 2026 Mandate for Madison, a comprehensive policy agenda to preserve and promote opportunity for Wisconsin and its citizens.
The 2026 Mandate will help inform public debate about the most important issues heading into November’s election and provide evidence-based guidance for leaders on both sides of the aisle to promote opportunity and prosperity.
“We’re undertaking this project for all Wisconsinites and for candidates who want to focus on issues rather than insults. Every successful candidate will find a copy of the complete Mandate on his or her desk come January of 2027,” said Mike Nichols, president of the Badger Institute. “We hope, though, they will read and debate each chapter as it is released during the upcoming campaign season.”
The Mandate launches with an introductory note from Nichols and a preface from Ben Eisen, vice president of policy and research and the Mandate’s editor. These will be followed on Friday with the publication of original research by Jim Bohn that analyzes border county data to assess the impact of market-oriented policy reforms on the state’s recent economic performance.
“Bohn’s piece is nothing less than a tour de force that illustrates the real-world benefits of limited government, free markets and business-friendly policies. It powerfully demonstrates why the Mandate is such an important undertaking,” said Nichols.
Subsequent research will be released incrementally through October. Subjects and recommendations will focus on a wide range of topics, including taxes, spending, education, healthcare, housing and energy.
Four years ago, the Institute’s initial Mandate for Madison resulted in a 300-page book of policy recommendations. The effort helped shape public policy that resulted in the authorization of dental therapy, the return of resource officers to Milwaukee Public Schools, swifter justice for victims of crime, and increased funding for choice and charter schools.
“Policymakers must resist calls to roll back the market-oriented reforms of recent years,” said Eisen. “The 2026 Mandate for Madison will provide evidence-based guidance for continuing Wisconsin’s movement toward greater economic freedom.”
The Badger Institute is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit institute established in 1987 working to engage and energize Wisconsinites and others in discussions and timely action on key public policy issues critical to the state’s future, growth and prosperity.
