Wisconsin lawmakers in both the Senate and Assembly are introducing record numbers of bills — well over 50% more than 10 or 20 years ago — despite dramatically decreased chances of ever seeing them made into law.

In both of the two most recent legislative sessions, legislators introduced just over 2,300 bills and saw less than 12% enacted.

Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed more legislation than any other governor in at least two decades, almost 200 bills in total in the last two sessions.

But that is only a small part of the story. 

“Debt relief” was how the news reports described the scheme outlined by President Biden at a Madison technical college the other day, or even “debt forgiveness,” giving a sheen of moral altitude to the president’s promises.

But when the president tells borrowers not to bother paying back what they owe, it isn’t relief in the way medicine relieves your pain — it doesn’t alter any painful underlying causes. It isn’t forgiveness in the divine sense, metaphysically washing away the stain. The stain remains in the form of blood-red ink on the federal books.

This is a transfer of debt, and if you aren’t now repaying a student loan, it’s going to be transferred onto your back.

“Rather than forgiving student loan debt,” states CROWE in a newly-released paper, “public policy should recognize that the main problem with student debt is lack of earnings. Students’ lack of information about the impact of major choice on lifetime earnings is sadly setting some of our graduates on a road to high debt and low earnings.”

According to the paper:

“Among graduates with a bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison, earnings vary significantly across majors . . . In the first year after receiving a bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison in 2016-18, median earnings range from about $30,000 among Psychology majors to about $74,000 among Computer Science majors. The median earnings of all individuals with a bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison in 2016-18 were $44,836.

“The lifetime returns vary considerably. The lifetime return to an Economics major exceeds that of an Engineering major, even though Engineering graduates start with a higher salary. Some majors involve a lower starting salary that trades off against a higher growth rate in the future. Education majors have the lowest earnings over their lifetimes, with the second lowest being Area/Ethnic/Cultural/Gender Studies.”

Join Mike Nichols, Badger Institute president, for a presentation and timely discussion on the state’s most pressing policy and business issues of the day: education reform, licensing and regulation, taxation, childcare, redistricting, economic trends and more.

Host: Ruder Ware (appetizers and cocktails provided)

Cost: Free

RSVP: Contact Katie Colson ([email protected])

Wisconsin’s largest metropolis, Milwaukee, has been one of the nation’s largest urban areas for decades, but its comparative position has changed.

One way of understanding that is to look at greater Milwaukee’s five nearest peers in population in the 1950 census’ tabulation of “urbanized areas” and to follow the growth trajectory of each in the decennial censuses that followed.

The Badger Institute, formerly known as the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI), has long been at the forefront of the fight for school choice, right to work, welfare reform, tax restructuring, limited government, civil society and so much more. If you appreciate the Institute’s legacy and want to support free markets, opportunity and prosperity, please consider donating today. Your support will help the Institute continue to advocate for conservative principles now and in generations to come.

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