Analysis

Children’s mental health and the curious case of crisis spending

Sitting on loads of cash, Wisconsin governor wants more pandemic relief funding

By Mark Lisheron

Few Americans question the physical and mental toll taken by COVID-19 and the government response to it. But when elected officials complain that they have so much federal emergency money that they won’t be able to spend it all on time, shouldn’t we ask what happened to the $8.4 billion when they come asking for $500 million more?

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Viewpoint

Those who pay for pavement set the width

To ensure road policy prioritizes roads’ users, replace Wisconsin’s fading gas tax

By Patrick McIlheran

The other morning, drumming my fingers on the wheel while westbound traffic oozed along I-94 from downtown Milwaukee toward the stadium — the Wisconsin Department of Transportation says this now is usual — I pondered how much of the argument over I-94’s rebuild isn’t about making the freeway more useful for the people who paid for it.  

Instead, oddly, a bunch of critics seem determined to make the I-94 user experience worse on the grounds it’ll make users give up.  

Not the DOT: It proposed that as the worn-out 1961 freeway is rebuilt, it be widened by one lane from downtown through Wood National Cemetery.

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Intern at the Institute

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Consider spending your summer with the Badger Institute!

Details on our paid internship opportunities are available now at badgerinstitute.org/intern.

Free Exchange Podcast

LeMahieu on Need for Wisconsin Flat Tax

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu has proposed a 3.25% flat income tax for Wisconsin, a reform that would simplify the code and grant tax relief to every Badger State taxpayer.

LeMahieu sat down with Badger Institute President Mike Nichols in the Capitol to explain the details of his flat tax proposal and the widespread benefits of pro-growth tax policy.

Listen in

Fact Sheets

Economic Trends Fact Sheet

The Badger Institute has a growing library of one-pagers highlighting facts, data, trends and recommendations on a variety of policy issues.

Wisconsin’s economy shows some worrisome signs in top-line economic output and some positive trends, such as fairly large net migration from other Midwestern states, both in people and in income. And while the Badger State’s fiscal and regulatory policy mix is closer to the norm among states than it was even a decade ago, there is a clear need for additional reforms.

Download the fact sheet

Forward Society

Wisconsin’s state motto is the simple and powerfully positive word FORWARD.

The Badger Institute proudly presents the Forward Society to give you the opportunity to invest in the free-market principles of today while ensuring freedom grows in our state for years to come. The Society distinguishes donors who make a $5,000 (total) minimum pledge which is paid over three years.

Members of the Forward Society inaugural class are welcomed at any point during 2023. For more information on Forward Society membership, including access to the pledge form, click below or contact the Institute’s Vice President of Development, Angela Smith, at 414-254-6440.

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Weekly Survey: Should WI taxpayers be on the hook for $500 million in mental health spending when federal COVID funds remain unspent?

Previous Poll Results

What We’re Reading

• Washington Examiner: School choice is the great equalizer

• Heritage Foundation: Iowa and Utah lead states on school choice progress in the new year

• Empower Wisconsin: Evers signals big spending ahead in State of the State

• Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty: Apples to Apples: Assessing Wisconsin’s State of Education

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, Vice President of Development.

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