Browsing: Spending and Accountability

Wisconsin should replace its current graduated individual income tax with a single-rate structure and set that rate as low as fiscal conditions responsibly allow.

Wisconsin transportation policy should begin with the people who use the system: where they want to go, how they want to get there and how those choices may change as new technologies become available.

Truth be told: Madison Metropolitan School District is as troubled as Milwaukee Public Schools is.

A costly proposed commuter rail system between Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee is back on the radar of municipal leaders, even as frequent service on high-end buses already serves commuters on the same route.

If Wisconsin children receive poor instruction, attend chaotic schools, and learn through weak, incoherent curricula, then industry and civil society will struggle accordingly.

With important reforms, Wisconsin can meet both the demands of ensuring safe and affordable childcare for Wisconsin families while controlling overall costs.  

Overall spending by the federal and state governments on Medicaid has never once been reduced since Congress approved the program in 1965.

Promoting employment, rather than simply awarding benefits, should be the central goal of Wisconsin’s safety net program design.

Wisconsin’s next governor and Legislature should strengthen the state’s safety net by focusing it more clearly on work, family stability and upward mobility.

At a time when Medicaid fraud is making national news, Wisconsin ought to impose greater discipline on a program that now costs taxpayers $36.4 billion over the 2025-27 budget cycle.

Wisconsin’ recent failures of accountability share a common feature: Power has increasingly shifted away from the Legislature and toward governors, agencies, courts and other institutions that operate further from direct democratic control.

Millions of dollars have been spent on the aim to build 80 charging stations for electric vehicles at gas stations, hotels, and other venues across Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Department of Administration has spent nearly $2 million operating two state offices that have since 2019 been denied funding by the Legislature.

Milwaukee Public Schools, amid a fiscal crisis, should close 25 underutilized school buildings to free up wasted resources, says City Forward Collective.

Wisconsin and Ontario are both manufacturing centers with similar economic strengths and vulnerabilities. The Badger State should learn from Ontario’s mistakes.

Subjecting big development proposals to popular vote risks killing statewide economic growth, observers say in the wake of a successful effort by Port Washington data center opponents to give citizens the ability to nix the future use of a key financing tool.

Per-pupil spending by Wisconsin school districts is at its highest level since 2000 even after adjusting for inflation, according to data from the Department of Public Instruction.

While down from pandemic era highs set in 2022, the average FoodShare benefits per Wisconsin household remain well above the pre-pandemic high water mark, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Nearly 50 years after the U.S. government banned lead-based paint, Milwaukee Public Schools officials have again been trying to cover up or remove the toxic substance that parents likely presume was dealt with long ago.

Gov. Tony Evers is pressing the Legislature for $70 million to process FoodShare applications to stave off federal penalties that could cost state taxpayers as much as $225 million.