The MacIver Report: Wisconsin This Week

Would you believe that the state legislature writes the state budget every two years without using a spreadsheet? We couldn’t believe it either. That’s why MacIver did it for them. But, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Bill and Mike explain exactly how the state assembles its budget, and why everything about it is wrong. At the end of the day, the state knows exactly where it gets its money from, but it only has a vague idea of where it goes… Bill and Mike also share the 400-year history of American tax uprisings, and why Americans don’t share their ancestors’ sense of outrage over out-of-control government. All that and more on this episode of the MacIver Report.

Governor Evers thought he’d play a game of chicken with the legislature over school funding, and last week, he lost big time. Unfortunately, Evers wagered your property taxes. When he pulled that line-item-veto stunt last session, Evers enabled school districts to increase their revenue limits by $325 per student every year for the next 400 years. That comes out to about a quarter of a billion dollars each year with the state’s current student population. School districts can get that extra money through one of two ways: more state aid or higher property taxes. Evers thought it was a safe bet that lawmakers would increase state aid, so that most taxpayers would never have a clue about his unprecedented power grab and his absurd 400-year-line-item veto. Instead, the legislature took a pass and left Evers holding the bag. So now when you get that higher property tax bill this December, be sure to thank gov. Tony Evers.

The legislature made a key decision on the state budget last night when it choose to make Gov. Evers own the real world consequences of his 400-year-veto stunt. Bill and Mike talk about what that means for your property tax bill next year and every year after that for the next 400 years. Also, don't forget the left has a big rioting plans for this weekend. We tell you where in Wisconsin they plan to make a scene on this edition of the MacIver Report.

The negotiations between republican lawmakers and governor Evers over the state budget broke down last week and it’s just as well. Republicans had nothing to gain and Evers had nothing to lose. Republicans wanted assurances from Evers that he wouldn’t veto their tax cut plan, and Evers wanted to increase total spending by 20 billion dollars (20% more than the current budget). Even if republicans got assurances from Evers, his word is worthless. He stabbed them in the back after they had assurances for the last state budget. Anyone remember the 400-year-veto stunt? As far as Evers is concerned, he doesn’t need to convince republicans to increase spending. They’re already doing it. So far, they’ve just gotten low cost, routine items on the budget, and they’ve already increased spending by $1.3 billion. Looks like the budget was going to balloon with or without negotiating. Check mate, Evers.

Republicans ended budget negotiations with Gov. Evers this week after reaching an impasse. Bill and Mike explain why they should never have tried negotiating with Evers in the first place, after he stabbed them in the back after the last budget had been negotiated. Evers could have had a really tough week too, had Republicans exploited two great opportunities he handed them. Evers' people ended the Senior Employment Program and treated to defund the State Historical Society. There was plenty of drama in Washington, as Trump and Musk exchanged barbs, resulting in some amusing social media content. All that and more on this episode of the MacIver Report.

The Wisconsin senior employment program places low-income senior citizens in temporary jobs and subsidizes their $7.25 an hour wage. About 300 of Wisconsin’s most vulnerable residents participate in the program. For them, it’s the difference between making ends meet and being homeless. The Evers administration just made the abrupt and unilateral decision to end the program, sending local coordinators scrambling to head off 300 individual tragedies. It’s unknown how this decision was made. Adding to the mystery, Evers never even mentioned the program in his budget request, and the legislature has just gotten started writing the next state budget. You can’t blame trump. He hasn’t touched the federal funds tied to the program. In fact, congress is still working on the next federal budget. No, it’s pretty clear that this decision was made entirely within the Evers administration without even consulting all the major stakeholders. It just goes to show how bad government can screw up even a simple charitable program – and why the legislature really needs to take a closer look at exactly what’s in and is not in the state budget.

Bill gives an insider update on the state budget, and Mike walks us through exactly what the Big Beautiful Bill would do to the county's balance sheet. Plus, you won't want to miss highlights from MacIver's documentary on the State Street race riot.

Bill and Mike go through President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” and why Ron Johnson has concerns about it. That’s a perfect setup for a discussion about Wisconsin’s current budget dilemmas. Finally, they have a frank discussion about three different maps and what they mean for Wisconsin’s political future.

It was a disappointing, but all too predictable, start to the state budget writing process last week. The Joint Committee on Finance began by tossing the governor’s $120 billion budget proposal – choosing instead to use the current budget as its starting point. The current $100 billion budget. In other words, they don’t plan to cut anything. Current spending is now locked in – and throughout the executive hearings this month, committee members will just be adding to the pile. How much more do they plan to spend? Well, that will depend on the new tax revenue estimates that are scheduled to come out this Thursday. Sen. Marklein wants to increase spending on public education and healthcare. He says the estimates will determine how high they can go. It would have been nice to see the committee start the budget at $0 and make every agency and program justify all its funding. Instead, it’s just business as usual in Madison, and no one can say they’re very surprised.

Bill and Michael walk you through three of the top issues playing out in Wisconsin state politics right now from a free market perspective. Get the latest lowdown on: the state budget debate, Democrat immigration enforcement opposition, and Democrat lawfare. Budget Stories: JFC Bosses Look to Evers-proof Next State Budget Schoemann: We Need to be Honest About Size, Cost of UW System JFC Democrats slam Republicans for Slashing Evers’ Budget Budget Analysis: MacIver’s Guide to the 2025-27 State Budget Budget '25: Transportation Analysis Budget '25: Children and Families Analysis Immigration: Wisconsin’s Liberal Leaders Stand Against the Rule of Law Gov. Evers: "I’ve Never Encouraged or Directed Anyone to Break any Laws” Make No Mistake: Hannah Dugan is a Criminal | Video | MacIver The Mantra of Due Process Lawfare: Wisconsin A-G Joins Another Lawsuit Against Trump Administration

One of the secret perks of being governor is the ability to take foreign vacations on the taxpayer dime. Oh sure, officially they’re called “trade missions,” and their purpose is to promote Wisconsin products overseas, but their results are nothing to write home about. Evers’ first big trip was to Japan in 2019. Of course, he took his wife. There were 28 people in the delegation all together. Since then, total annual exports from Wisconsin to Japan have dropped 11%. That’s $83 million a year. Agricultural exports even worse. They’ve plummeted by 35%. Evers choose Europe for his second vaca- trade mission. That was two years ago. He visited Belgium, a fast-growing market for Wisconsin goods – at least it was until Evers’ visited. Since then, exports have dropped by 15%. Now, Evers just got back from a third trip. This one was to Germany, another hot market for Wisconsin goods. We’ll see if it stays that way now that Evers stopped by to shake hands.

Mike gives an update on MacIver's research about Wisconsin's utility companies, their owners, and their efforts to expand their monopoly in Wisconsin. Also, against the backdrop of Germantown's controversial TID project, Bill gives a couple quick lessons for local officials on how TIF is supposed to function and where local revenue actually comes from. Finally, a story that should send shockwaves throughout society barely registered as blip on most people's radar. What it says about our culture that no one cares that the government is sterilizing people based on their income level.

If you make less than $48,000 a year, the state of Wisconsin will pay to have you sterilized. You heard that right. The state of Wisconsin actually has a program that sterilizes poor people. It’s all part of the department of health services’ family planning only services program, which falls under medical assistance. Apparently, this has been going on for the past 40 years. It flies below the radar because DHS never mentions it in its budget requests – and the department doesn’t really keep track of it either. When the MacIver institute asked for the costs and participation numbers in its sterilization program, DHS said the records were buried its database and could not be easily retrieved. So, sinister and unaccountable. The whole idea of sterilizing poor people harkens back to progressive era eugenics programs, that sought to improve the gene pool. Wisconsin banned the practice back in the 1970s, but apparently, progressives simply rebranded it as “family planning.”

Wisconsin Republicans are coping with their Waterloo moment (losing the Supreme Court in the April 1st election) by doubling down on crony capitalism. They’re rebranding the toxic ROFR bill as the Wisconsin Energy Reform Act. Meanwhile, they’re shirking the fight for a responsible state budget. And speaking of Waterloo, the City of Waterloo has an authoritarian new policy masked as a concession to private property rights. Bill Osmulski and Michael Lucas have all the details on this edition of the MacIver Report Podcast.

Nothing in life is simple or easy when the government gets involved. Take the city of waterloo Wisconsin for example. Not really a liberal place. Trump won there. But when some residents wanted to get backyard chickens – the city government lost its mind. Following months of committee meetings, draft proposals, hearings and debates, it finally hatched a plan. The city will issue up to six licenses at $50 each. There are 21 requirements. Seven different breeds are not allowed. And the best part – this is only a 2-year pilot program to figure out whether residents should be allowed to keep chickens or not. The city can pull the plug on the whole thing at any time. You might get all ruffled up about what’s going in Washington or even in the state capitol – but this is a great example of what happens when you overlook what’s going on in your own backyard.

No one ever questions the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) and with good reason. It is a non-partisan office of absolute professionals who serve as the legislature’s official accountants. But they are dead wrong when they say that Gov. Evers’ budget would raise taxes and fees by $2.6 billion. It’s not even close. $2.6 billion is less than half of what it would actually be. The biggest omission is Evers’ plan to increase hospital assessment fees by $3.3 billion to increase funding to Medicaid. Hospitals will, of course, shift those costs onto other patients who are not on Medicaid. That brings Evers’ total up to at least $5.9 billion. There’s even more to this story that you can apparently only get from the MacIver Institute.

What do you do when you wake up one morning and learn your local government is hell-bent on making a terrible decision. It could be anything – a bad real estate deal, an idiotic public works project, maybe it’s a high-density housing project in your sleepy suburban downtown. I get calls about these things all the time, and I hate to say it, but it’s usually too late to do anything about it. Sure, you might be able to flood the council chambers with enough angry residents to move the needle, but you’re just throwing a “Hail Mary” at that point. You have to realize that when you elect someone to public office, you give them the authority to make decisions on your behalf. So, you have to make sure to elect the right ones up front. Then you have to attend their meetings regularly to make sure they stay on track. You can’t just expect to pop in at the 11th hour and exercise a “citizen’s veto,” because there’s no such thing. I call these situations painful lessons in civics, and they’re going to keep happening until conservatives start taking their responsibilities as citizens seriously.

Wisconsin is dealing with another mental illness outbreak, with drag queens campaigning for Crawford in Madison, Bernie Sanders' opening act signing vulgar songs about God, and Democrats arguing that there are just as many hermaphrodites in the US as redheads... MacIver's Bill Osmulski and Mike Lucas don't mince words about what's going on here, and why Republicans are playing defense despite overwhelming public support on these issues. They also talk about all the issues that will be impacted by the outcome of the state Supreme Court election on Tuesday. Hear about all that, plus a review of MacIver's biggest stories from the past month.

Two weeks ago, Bernie Sanders came to Wisconsin parading some crossdresser around who was singing the most vile and vulgar songs about God in front of cheering crowds of everyday liberals. Last week, a democrat representative from Ashland lectured republican lawmakers about how there are just as many hermaphrodites in the us as there are redheads. You would think stunts like these would alienate the left from the general public, and yet, they only seem to be getting bolder, louder, and crazier. That’s probably because the right keeps voluntarily giving up ground to them. Bernie and his friends essentially got a pass on their outright blasphemy. No one dared correct that democrat in committee about her make-believe transgender statistics. For some reason, the right allows the lunatic left to set the terms, conditions, and definitions for all public discourse. Until they decide to get serious about pushing back – the culture war will continue to be a rout against rational thought.

Girls’/women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines explains what’s truly driving the transgender movement, why so many people are afraid to confront it, why Democrats are so committed to it, and how Republicans are finally growing a backbone to stand up to it.