Badger Institute

A Primer on Occupational Licensing

What is occupational licensing, how does it affect employment and consumer costs, and what options exist for reform?

Report: Absence and Violation

Wisconsin licensing boards are routinely in violation of law requiring public representation.

Wisconsin's Missing Rung

Policies linked to work are critical to lifting people out of poverty

Taxpayers Taken for a Ride: The Milwaukee Streetcar

The Hop, a $128 million streetcar that travels a 2.1-mile loop in downtown Milwaukee, is a classic boondoggle made possible by federal grants (i.e., taxpayer money).

Watch the video

Video - Dental therapy: A proven remedy to oral care shortages in Wisconsin

1.2 million Wisconsinites live in dental care shortage areas. Children, seniors, veterans & the disabled are most likely to lack access to oral care. Here’s a successful effort to provide dental care to underserved populations without relying on taxpayers.

Watch the video

What's new from the Badger Institute

'Sunrise review would inform legislators about impact of proposed occupational licenses

Wisconsin should join states that have enacted sunrise laws as an alternative to new licenses that fence out workers and don't protect the public. Read the article here.

Problems with prosecutor funding in Wisconsin

The current system is vulnerable to politics and perverse incentives. Read the article here.

VIDEO: The Importance of Work and Lifting People Out of Poverty

Angela Rachidi, resident scholar in poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and Eloise Anderson, former secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families and a Badger Institute visiting fellow, discuss safety net programs and work in Wisconsin. Rachidi is author of the January 2020 Badger Institute report "Wisconsin’s missing rung: Policies linked to work are critical to lifting people out of poverty." Watch the video here.

Diggings Fall 2019

► Legislators in lockstep: Election reforms gain support
► Government's unfair housing foray
► The perils of state-run retirement plans
► No need for state-run student loan refinancing
► Where dental therapy is longer in the tooth
► Federal programs won't go away
► Wealth tax doomed socialist mayor Emil Seidel
► Wealth tax is counterproductive
► Who's gonna pay for DNC convention in Milwaukee?
► Frontlines: A profile of Margaret Farrow
► Culture Con: Madison school district assumes it knows best
► Editor's Note ► Badger Briefing

Overall tax reform in Wisconsin depends on the sales tax

The state Department of Revenue's guidelines on taxing ice cream cakes illustrate the absurd complexity of state's sales tax system. By visiting fellow Jay Miller.

Expungement law reform

Badger Institute policy analyst Julie Grace testifies on March 19 before the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee in support of Senate Bill 39, which will make necessary reforms to Wisconsin's expungement law.
► Read the transcript of her presentation.
► Watch a video excerpt of her testimony.
► Expungement reform would put people back to work.
► 'Pathways to Employment' news conference.
► Proven successes in reform.

Dental therapists: A solution to Wisconsin's costly dental access problem?

Dental therapists could improve access, use and outcomes, while reducing economic costs associated with the dental care monopoly and unnecessary ER visits for dental treatment. Policy brief by Jason Hicks and Morris M. Kleiner.

► Read the brief. ► Read their op-ed.
► Watch video of Kleiner's presentation at our Policy Symposium.

State's ideal pro-growth tax structure

Wisconsin’s overall tax structure remains behind competitor states in simplicity, tax rates and business climate for residents and investment. How can we reform the tax structure so that the state reaches its full potential? In a video from our Policy Symposium, Joe Bishop-Henchman and Katherine Loughead of the Tax Foundation discuss suggested reforms.
► View their PowerPoint.

Transportation needs and funding

Wisconsin has a transportation funding dilemma. How did it occur, and how can we fix it? In a video from our Policy Symposium, Dale Knapp, director of Forward Analytics, and Robert W. Poole Jr., director of transportation policy at the Reason Foundation, discuss growing expenditures, shrinking revenues and tolling solutions.
► View Knapp's PowerPoint. ► View Poole's PowerPoint.

How Wisconsin policy punishes some low-income parents for getting married

Policy brief: The state should make common-sense changes to Wisconsin Earned Income Tax Credit to mitigate the marriage penalty.

'Banning the box,' or boxing people out?

Policy brief: Fair-chance hiring policies may hurt the job-seekers they aim to help.

Transportation Funding Dilemma

A primer on Wisconsin's unsustainable transportation revenues. The state's funding challenge is exacerbated by its past reliance on borrowing. By Dale Knapp, director of Forward Analytics.

A journey of second chances

Imagine a prisoner reentry program where the mentors include an FBI agent and a former federal prosecutor. Or a graduation ceremony where ex-offenders are cheered and hugged not just by family and friends but by police officers, prison officials and judges. Imagine what could happen if the law enforcement community partnered with nonprofits and employers to increase the likelihood of successful reintegration to the community. This video tells the story of Partners in Hope, a new reentry program in Milwaukee that has made this vision a reality.

Project for 21st Century Federalism

The Project for 21st Century Federalism is the Badger Institute's multi-year investigation of the growth in federal grants and their effect on state and local governance. Highlights of the project: