Viewpoint

The poor, powerless casualties of Wisconsin’s school choice lawsuit

By Patrick McIlheran

In the lawsuit bankrolled by the Minocqua beer marketer, Kirk Bangstad, who’s trying to kill school choice in Wisconsin, his lawyers make an icy admission: They know it will “impact tens of thousands of children” to throw them out of their schools. They’re asking the state Supreme Court to hurt those kids anyway.

It’s fair to ask, then, what sort of kids would make this sacrifice.

If the resort-town beer baron manages to kill school choice, 82% of the children put onto the street in Milwaukee will be African-American or Hispanic. By definition, all come from low-income homes.

In other words, exactly the ones progressives tell us we must be most concerned about: the marginalized, the poor and the powerless.

Tracking the Trillions

Years after pandemic, Evers spending ARPA money on soccer and a railroad museum

By Mark Lisheron

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.”

Evers opened himself up to a whole lot of questions that have nothing to do with the public’s fondness for the beautiful game or old trains. Such as: Why is the governor still doling out pandemic money years after the pandemic is over? How much of that pandemic money is still waiting to be spent? And why is he the only person in the state of Wisconsin who gets to decide how to spend it?

“This is Tony’s little game, to keep us guessing,” Stroebel, R-Saukville, told the Badger Institute. “If we (the Legislature) had something to say about it, we’d do this in a prudent manner. But this is Tony’s slush fund for him to splash around in, to buy love and to buy votes.”

Badger in the News

By the Numbers

Ridership on Amtrak’s ‘Hiawatha’

By Patrick McIlheran

The Evers administration is vying for federal money to expand existing Amtrak service that runs from Milwaukee to Chicago. The administration wants to add Amtrak trains from Milwaukee to Madison and to Green Bay. While federal money would cover track upgrades and new equipment needed, state taxpayers would be on the hook for any operating costs not covered by ticket sales. You can read more about that proposal here.

The underlying numbers

The annual ridership on the existing Amtrak “Hiawatha” service between Milwaukee and Chicago had been rising slowly prior to the pandemic, rising about 18% over the 10-year period up to 2019, when ridership hit a peak of 873,537.

Ridership declined sharply amid COVID lockdowns, and Amtrak replaced rail service with buses for several months in spring 2020. Ridership in fiscal year 2021, which began in October 2020, amounted to 241,600, about 28% of the 2019 figure. In the fiscal year that just concluded on Sept. 30, ridership had revived to 635,000, about 27% below the 2019 peak.

Weekly Survey: Do you support the expansion of Wisconsin’s Amtrak service?

Previous Poll Results:

Invest in the Badger Institute

The Institute never has, and never will, accept government funding. We gratefully welcome your online donation or email Angela Smith, Executive Vice President.

The Badger Institute is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization funded solely by the generosity of foundations, companies and individuals.