Browsing: News & Analysis

Residents in high-tax states like ours are stung harder by cap on state/local tax deduction

Wisconsin’s ‘arbitrary’ exam scores fencing out many young professionals

Wisconsin ranks 38th in the latest state highway systems report.

‘I have to do a lot of paperwork and spend time testing my kids instead of teaching my kids’

Federal requirements in special ed are especially burdensome, educators tell Badger Institute in survey

Badger State requires higher score on national exam than most other states

Priorities should include tax reform, corrections, professional licensure and tolling

Funding regulations hamper districts and don’t improve education, local officials say in survey

Several regulations removed from the books, freeing professionals from onerous and unneeded requirements

Paperwork takes staff away from daily responsibilities and educating kids, officials say.
By Julie Grace
November 13, 2017

Hordes of Wisconsin government workers are employed to ‘check boxes’ for the feds

Many taxpayers in the Badger State could take a hit under changes proposed in House Republican tax bill.
By Jay Miller
November 8, 2017

Effort to scrap popular Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is a case study in how difficult it is to reduce spending

U.S. education secretary also plans to give them more say over federal school dollars

ESSA could offer opportunities for state to involve districts in decision-making

School officials make decisions they wouldn’t make otherwise to comply with funding requirements.
By Julie Grace and Dan Benson
September 12, 2017

The announcement of Foxconn’s $10 billion planned investment in Wisconsin with up to 13,000 new jobs was broadly hailed as “transformational.”

When Taiwan-based Foxconn, manufacturer of iPhones and iPads for Apple, announced it wanted to build a $10 billion LCD panel plant in Wisconsin by 2020, it seemed like the timing couldn’t be better.

The potential for the Foxconn deal to provide a boost to Wisconsin’s economy and the excitement provided by media coverage make it difficult to think objectively about the deal.

Much of the discussion thus far about Foxconn Technology Group bringing an LCD screen manufacturing plant to southeastern Wisconsin has focused on the deal itself and the money that could flow out of — and eventually into — our state Capitol.