June 2025

Neither Congress, the Administration, nor the public at large has fully acknowledged the depth of the fiscal hole we have dug, or what it will take to dig ourselves out of it. This is why I am releasing my report “FY 2025 Budget Reconciliation: Facts, Figures, and Analysis.”

As the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee begins wrapping up details on the state’s two-year budget, the MacIver Institute says it’s time for legislative leadership to quit negotiating with Governor Evers and actually lead. MacIver CEO Annette Olson says, “the legislature should start at zero and build a conservative government from the ground up incorporating real reforms,” rather than just keep increasing spending, albeit at a lower rate than the Democrats propose.

But part should be jettisoned, and we need to keep working toward flat tax

The best part about legislative Republicans’ proposed tax measure is that it really does cut taxes in a reasonable way for a lot of Wisconsinites, says an authoritative observer of states’ tax reforms.

The proposal, approved by the Legislature’s budget-writing Joint Finance Committee on June 12, would raise the upper limit of the personal income tax’s second-lowest bracket, meaning the tax rate on a lot of income would fall from 5.3 percent to 4.4 percent.

Over the past month, we’ve shared how important fathers are to the family unit and how society is determined to undermine that role. But what exactly are the tangible benefits that fathers provide? The Institute for Family Studies created an insightful list based on respected bodies of research that show the immediate and long-term impact fathers have on all members of the family unit.

Benefits to the family:

• Higher levels of family income
• Reduced risks of poverty
• Increased time flexibility

Benefits to the kids: