Browsing: News & Analysis

As a Wisconsin stewardship program is up for renewal, northern counties’ budgets, economies are squeezed by how much land already is taken out of equation

Wisconsin’s tourism resurgence has been built, at least in part, by more than $160 million in federal bailout money and a record doubling of the tourism department’s budget.

A state Supreme Court decision wresting rulemaking authority from elected state representatives has opened the door to a barrage of new regulations and fees in Wisconsin.

As self-driving taxis roll out across much of America, Wisconsinites won’t be seeing them without some changes to existing law.

There are 541 days until the next Legislature’s sworn in, and there’s plenty of unfinished business

Wisconsin’s expanded retirement income exclusion will undermine the tax code’s neutrality and shift burdens onto working families over time.

A federal judge’s injunction is blocking the closing down Job Corps centers — including two in Wisconsin — that have an expensive and dismal record ostensibly training the young and disadvantaged for work.

Legislative Republicans’ proposed tax measure “is a relatively well-structured way to provide relief for lower- and middle-income Wisconsinites,” said Katherine Loughead.

Federal taxpayers will save at least $2 million in grant money to Milwaukee PBS alone if the U.S. Senate approves a $1.1 billion defunding of public broadcasting.

Even if one isn’t moved by rising dependency, bigger government or the appalling waste of human potential, that immunity to fiscal disaster is enough to make Wisconsinites think: Thank God Wisconsin’s Republicans had a spine on Medicaid.

The U.S. Senate has an opportunity to slow the growth of Medicaid, something that hasn’t been seriously tried for decades, Sen. Ron Johnson says.

“Decoupling” is an excellent way to simplify Wisconsin school choice funding and eliminate choice’s impact on property taxpayers.

“The ideal situation is to have an alignment of the comprehensive plan and the zoning code to provide as many certainties as possible.”

An analysis of federal data reveals that only 16 percent of violent crimes in Wisconsin’s region of the country result in an arrest of a suspect, and 4 percent of property crimes result in an arrest.

President Trump’s executive order to halt federal funding for public broadcasting will save taxpayers nearly $8.5 million annually in reduced federal outlays to public television and radio networks in Wisconsin alone.

How big a factor are regulatory costs? According to one study, the cost of regulation would be $95,000 on a $400,000 home.

Rent control policies result in a lower stock of available housing, a lower quality of available housing, increased rents for properties that are not controlled, and spillover effects that harm those in the surrounding community.

Gov. Evers’ 2025 budget proposal would reduce the General Fund balance to an amount equal to only 2 percent of annual General Fund state spending — well below the 16 percent that experts in state finance recommend.

According to one housing developer, cooperation with the city is a way for both parties to leave Manitowoc a better place.

Cities could ease the squeeze of low housing supply by allowing more market-driven urban infill, say scholars at the American Enterprise Institute.