Wisconsin's Spending Crisis
$200 Billion Budgets are Right Around the Corner!
The 2026 effort is gearing up!!!!! We will have a new governor! And hopefully, an improved legislature. Our “We’ve Had Enough” effort is starting to come alive and this time around we have some new allies, and some new energy! Please consider helping the effort!
Anyone who has followed this Substack knows that I view the budget as the most important thing the legislature will do over the course of the 24 month session. The budget is the engine of government. For those of you who vote “Republican” because of their stance on limited government, less spending and reducing the size and scope of government, you are either extremely upset at the Wisconsin State Republicans in the past 12 year or so, or your simply not paying attention. There is NOTHING limited about the size of this government and it is the current Republican regime that is responsible. 100% responsible. Many don’t like to hear that but it’s an unavoidable truth. The current governor cannot spend a dime unless the legislature, which is controlled, completely without obstacle, by the Republicans approves the spending. Furthermore, you cannot blame Evers for signing a budget that almost every Republican voted for, and almost every Democrat voted against.
The chart below shows the path of Wisconsin’s Biennial Budget through the course of the last 8 budgets starting with the 2009 budget while Jim Doyle was in office. Notice Governor Walker’s first budget (2011) had a relatively small increase, if you can call over $282 million small. The budget amount includes the savings from Act 10.
“Every lobbyist is the state is happy” is a quote from a long time conservative inside the the Capitol (there are very few) and he is correct. Speaker Vos met with the governor and not the senate. Read this from Senator Andre Jacque.
I would fully agree that this is all a leadership problem but those who continue to vote and support the current leadership are every bit to blame for the spending crisis, and I do call it a spending crisis. Some simple math shows the budget will be at $200 Billion in very short order. The thirst for more and more of OUR money by corrupt politicians and lobbyists will never end.
The amount of spending that has been done by the Republican controlled legislature is worth noting. Starting in 2011, both the Senate and the Assembly have enjoyed majority party status, and for the most part, a sizable majority. It also needs to be understood that both houses need to approve any increase in spending right down to the penny. Also, note that in Walker’s four budgets, spending increased by $10.7 billion, while the Republicans under Robin Vos’s leadership (after Walker left office) the budget increased $22.9 billion in just three budgets. And now it’s just short of $38 Billion in just four budgets!
NOTE: Mark Born has been on JFC since 2015, he loves to spend YOUR money!!
There are several items of interest:
1. Other than the 2011 budget (the Act 10 budget) 2015 was the smallest budget increase to date. Interestingly enough Rep(s) Krug, Edming, Novack, Nerison, Bernier and Ripp cast their only no votes for any of the budgets. Did the budget not spend enough for their liking? Krug and Novak were nays for a 4.16% increase in 2015 but were ayes for a 9.2% increase in 2019, 11.4% in 2023 and 15.1% in 2025!? Hmmm.
2. Our biggest criticism of the spending is that there has not been any accountability attached to the massive amounts of taxpayer dollars flooded into public education and the UW system. For the 2009 budget state spending on public education was 12,994,858,800 and by the 2023 budget was 17,492,819,500. A 35% increase while test scores plummet. The UW system went from 10,824,986,800 in 2009 to 13,738,682,900 in 2023. That is a 27% increase for a university system that does not tolerate free speech on campus and spends millions on woke programs. You can form all the “free speech” committees you want; the only thing that moves the needle is a good swift kick in the pocketbook. Once again money is poured into the system without an ounce of accountability. The numbers after this past budget are even more concerning!
3. The Republican led leadership in both houses put all the legislators in a position to fail in 2023. The leadership is responsible for the budget. 100% responsible. The Republican leadership put together a budget that increased spending by a whopping 11.36%! I suspect that is the largest single budget increase in the history of the state. I’d be interested to hear differently. The carrot was a massive $2 billion middle class tax cut that the governor all but said he’d veto before the budget was even voted on. The onus clearly falls on leadership. So, in essence, the Republican leadership asked their caucuses to either vote for a massive spending increase or against a sizeable tax cut. Note – I advised the legislators I spoke with to abstain from voting, since they could not vote for the spending or against the tax cuts.
No Votes in the Assembly -
Since Scott Walker took office, the Republican has had a sizable majority in the assembly and a majority in the senate. As we pointed out, the budget is completely controlled by the legislature. The governor does have veto power but cannot increase spending. Below is the short list of no votes for each budget since 2011 (Assembly Republicans only).
2011 – No Republican voted no on Walkers first budget which was almost without increase (due to Act 10 savings).
2013 – No votes were Rep(s) Nass, Marklein, Kestell, and Pridemore.
2015 – No votes were Rep(s) Bernier, Edming, Novak, Nerison, Krug and Ripp (see point number one above).
2017 – No votes were Rep(s) Allen, Brandtjen, Gannon, Jarchow and Sanfelippo.
2019 – No votes were Rep(s) Brandtjen, Gundrum and Ramthun. NOTE: In 2024, Dan Knodl ran a extremely deceptive hit piece against Brandtjen for her no vote on the budget in 2019. Rick Gundrum who was also a no vote in 2019 stood by quietly. Read about it here.
2021 – No Republican voted no.
2023 – No Republican votes no (see point number three above).
2025 - No Assembly Republican but Scott Allen voted no! A 15% increase!!!! and only one voted no. Over in the senate, kudos to Sen(s) Nass, Kapenga, Hutton and Felzkowski for saying no. Leadership relied on Dem votes to pass it!
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Bill Savage is a former Chief of Staff in the Wisconsin State Capitol. Current editor of the Wisconsin Conservative Digest and author of Savagespeaks.Substack.com.