Lawmakers suspect state bungling will trigger penalty for bad-payments rate, but governor won’t show data

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.

Republican leaders, frustrated in private discussions with the administration, say the Department of Health Services’ inattention to new federal work requirements for FoodShare eligibility in 2025 will almost certainly trigger the penalties, state Sen. Chris Kapenga told the Badger Institute this week.

Much of the funding that Evers wants would be used to expand the Department of Health Services by as many as 60 employees to vet an estimated 43,000 food program recipients who are subject to the new work requirements that went into effect in July, Kapenga, R-Delafield, said.

If those recipients don’t work or provide proof of trying to find work, they will be ineligible for benefits.

Badger Institute exploring impact on neighborliness, civil society, government

Two-thirds of Americans under the age of 30 say they believe most people cannot be trusted, a dramatic generational shift, according to the results of a recent nationwide Marquette University Law School poll.

The November survey was the latest benchmark on a question the poll has been asking the last five years. General trust in others among Americans was down to 51 percent in 2025, a four percentage point decrease since 2021.

Pollster and Marquette University Law School professor Charles Franklin told the Badger Institute on Wednesday that the most interesting findings came when splitting respondents by age group. Those aged 18 to 29 led in distrustfulness at 66 percent, a figure which fell to 60 percent among those aged 30 to 44.

For those aged 45 to 59, only 45 percent said most people can’t be trusted. Just 25 percent of those aged 60 and up felt similar distrust, a stark difference between generations.

Traditional district-run public schools continued to shed students at a faster rate this year while enrollment at independent schools through the parental choice program and at independent public charter schools saw healthy growth, according to recent headcount data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

The count of students in traditional district-run schools dropped by more than 14,500 to 777,677, a decrease of 1.8 percent.

Enrollment in independent public charter schools increased by 542 students over the past year, to 12,8321. Among private schools, enrollment by students using parental school choice programs increased by 4 percent to 60,972.

According to the National Weather Service, the lowest daily temperature (not including wind chill) recorded in Wisconsin was -55°F on Feb. 4, 1996 in Couderay — a small village in Sawyer County.

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