A reform that wonks are calling “decoupling” — an excellent way to simplify school choice funding and eliminate choice’s impact on property taxpayers — is being opposed by the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials on the grounds it will, among other things, eliminate a source of “negative attention” that choice critics have long used to mount opposition.

Don’t fix the problem, in other words, because then there won’t be an unfixed problem to continue to complain about.

The reform WASBO opposes is logical and straightforward. All funding for Parental Choice Programs and independent charter schools would come from direct state aid, thereby “decoupling” school funding from local funding formulas and preventing any impact on local property taxes.

This is already how it works in Milwaukee, and school reformers are pushing for the same decoupling throughout the rest of the state.

Homeownership — the crux of the American Dream — is an aspiration increasingly out of reach for many Wisconsinites.

The population of wolves roaming Wisconsin’s forests and farmlands exceeded 1,000 in 2023, data from the latest Department of Natural Resources wolf monitoring report show.

The gray wolf population has grown over the past quarter-century, according to published data. In 2000, there were estimated to be at least 65 wolf packs in Wisconsin with a combined population of 248 wolves. As of 2023, the most recent figures available, there were as many as 220 packs, and the population estimate was 1,007.

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson made headlines this week for his opposition to the budget reconciliation bill supported by President Donald Trump. Johnson’s reasons are the same as they were in January, when he addressed Badger Institute staff and supporters in the initial installment of our 2025 Speaker Series.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson kicked off Badger Institute’s 2025 Speaker Series with a clarion call to fiscal responsibility.

According to Johnson, the U.S. doesn’t have a revenue problem; it has a spending problem. But it’s not too late to starve the beast, reduce the size and scope of government, and return to a reasonable level of baseline spending.

Troubled by what he calls the insanity of unchecked federal spending, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson says he will lead an effort to produce a balanced budget and restore the value of the dollar.

Congress needs to return to pre-COVID spending levels, adjusted for population growth and inflation, in order to avoid another massive deficit, said Johnson.

A public hearing was held Wednesday for Senate Bill 280. The bill would return $172 million in interest gathered on unspent COVID relief dollars to the state’s General Fund. State Senator Eric Wimberger (R-Oconto), co-author of the bill, testified in the hearing and released the following statement:

“Senate Bill 280 will uphold the power of the purse given to the Legislature under our State Constitution, and do what the Governor fails to do — follow the law. These funds deserve proper legislative oversight, and should not be set aside so the Governor can spend them any way he wishes.”

In accordance with its longstanding initiative to hold state government accountable for expenditures of federal cash, the Badger Institute is registered in support of SB280.

The Badger Institute 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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