Browsing: Media

Wisconsin’s largest school district is planning to ask its voters to approve a $252 million annual increase in its revenue — and, consequently, spending — in an upcoming referendum. That district, Milwaukee Public Schools, has seen a sharp increase in spending in the two most recent years of state data after nearly a decade of spending that mostly kept up with but did not exceed inflation.

A new bill in Madison could, if enacted, result in substantial property tax cuts in many school districts. It would also result in significantly higher state aid for many traditional public school districts where large numbers of children choose to attend independent charter schools or private schools in one of Wisconsin’s parental choice programs.

Legalizing all adult use is likely to increase the uncontrolled and harmful use of cannabis — that is, “cannabis use disorder” — in Wisconsin. Researchers are more divided on whether legalizing only the medical use of marijuana has similar effects.

“Kudos to the governor and legislators on both sides of the aisle who worked together to make this state a better place for kids and others badly in need of better dental care,” said Badger Institute President Mike Nichols. “This is a long-awaited, great day for potentially hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites, including a lot of poor kids who suffer from toothaches and cavities and poor health.”

Only a certain kind of person or family wants to be in Millville, Wisconsin. And no one grandfathered into residency is clamoring for some kind of economic revival.

The Jones Act, protecting the American maritime industry and driving free trade champions crazy for more than 100 years, is both a boon and a bane to Wisconsin businesses, workers and consumers. 

“This is a long-awaited, great day for potentially hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites, including a lot of poor kids, who suffer from toothaches and cavities and poor health,” said Badger Institute President Mike Nichols.

Wisconsinites who bake food at home for sale in their communities could find their incomes dramatically curtailed under legislation recently introduced in the Wisconsin Legislature.

The Badger Institute summarizes relevant findings related to medical marijuana given the arrival of legislation that would allow its use in Wisconsin.

Cannabis legalization might be a policy that many would assume is a negative for a state’s workforce, but Badger Institute analysis of the limited available research paints a much more complex and positive picture.

In most of rural Wisconsin, population is flat or declining. The Badger Institute identified 116, or nearly 6%, of the state’s 1,939 municipal units that have lost more than 20% of their populations since 1990.

A new study predicting which states are best equipped for social mobility places Wisconsin at 14th. That puts the Badger State behind second-place Minnesota and Iowa (12th place) but ahead of Indiana (21st), Michigan (30th) and Illinois (40th).

The research shows that more adults will use cannabis if it is legal to use in any form. When it comes to youth use of cannabis, the research is still highly disputed, but the available research and data indicate there have not been dramatic increases in youth use of the substance when it becomes legal.

Wisconsin’s Republican lawmakers recently introduced Assembly Bill 660, aiming to help employers provide support for working families in meeting the costs of childcare. While the bill’s intentions are commendable, the approach of directly subsidizing employers to create and subsidize childcare slots has proven ineffective in other contexts.

Over 70,000 Wisconsin students could be impacted If successful, a lawsuit claiming Wisconsin’s private-school parental choice program and public independent…

There is a real possibility for cannabis reform to result in public safety gains for the Badger State but the tradeoffs that must be accepted are a significant reduction in safety on the state’s highways and roads and an increase in minor property and nuisance crimes near cannabis dispensaries if the state were to establish a commercial market for either medical or adult-use products.

After Gov. Tony Evers announced last week he was diverting $36.6 million in federal emergency pandemic funds for, among other things, a soccer stadium, a sports center and a railroad museum, state Sen. Duey Stroebel tweeted, “I struggle to see how any of these projects relate to pandemic relief.”

Legislative leaders say costly project not needed or wanted Wisconsin officials in the Evers administration, supported by politicians in many…

Saying they “have not given up on a colorblind society,” Wisconsin Republicans have filed a bill to remove race-based considerations from an array of UW System and technical college financial aid programs.

Despite all of the millions of dollars, time spent and inconveniences imposed, it’s nearly impossible to determine if Wisconsin’s emission testing program meaningfully decreases exhaust emissions that form ozone and damage air quality.