Almost 17 months after the City of Milwaukee cut a $184 million sales tax deal that was supposed to have put police officers back in Milwaukee Public Schools, district officials are holding listening sessions to hear why the whole thing was a bad idea.

MPS’ ongoing resistance to complying with the state’s requirement, according to state Sen. John Jagler, chair of the Senate’s Education Committee, is going to boomerang on the financially strapped district the next time it comes to the Legislature looking for tax money.

“I don’t think they realize the damage they’re causing here,” Jagler, R-Watertown, told the Badger Institute. “Right now, there is very little we can do to force their hand, and they well know it. But how are we supposed to make any bargains with them going forward? I’m not going to be fooled again.”

In a spring 2023 referendum, nearly four in five Wisconsin voters agreed that able-bodied childless adults should be required to seek employment to receive government benefits. Despite this near consensus, state government officials have historically taken a different approach — especially in Wisconsin’s FoodShare program. In a recent report, I found that state officials have consistently waived FoodShare’s work requirement, even when plenty of jobs were available.  

It is time for Wisconsin to reverse this policy and re-establish a work requirement for able-bodied FoodShare recipients. 

Google announced a big deal the other day to purchase energy in the next five to 10 years from a fleet of seven new small nuclear modular reactors (SMRs) capable of powering artificial intelligence technology.

Right after that, Amazon announced new agreements that will help build four SMRs in the Pacific Northwest beginning in the early 2030s, and said it would explore an additional SMR in Virginia.

The deals with a variety of utilities and nuclear technology companies could easily add over 1,000 megawatts of power — enough to power a fairly large city or a couple of AI data centers.

These are monumental developments for the big tech and reactor companies. But they are also a big deal for Wisconsin, given our developing AI economy and Gov. Tony Evers’ 2022 Clean Energy Plan.

The value of goods exported from Wisconsin reached a record high in 2023, a trade report by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. found.

The total value of Wisconsin’s exports exceeded $28 billion in 2023, or about 6.5% of its GDP, while the value of imported goods totaled $39.3 billion, according to the WEDC, a quasi-public agency.

“The Hop would never pay for itself.

To raise parking fines and expand issuing tickets to citizens and visitors at a time of general financial hardship is a truly unwarranted policy decision by arrogant politicians.

STOP THE HOP!” — Carol R. Milwaukee, WI

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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