Dear Governor Evers:

As supporters of your proposed 2025-2027 State Budget, we are writing to respectfully urge you to use your full constitutional power to push over the finish line a budget that meets the needs of Wisconsin communities by making it clear that you will veto any budget that fails to meet minimum standards for investments in education, health care, child care, and effective criminal justice reform.  We believe that if you do this, you will get very strong support from our members, and the larger community. Having tracked the testimony at each of the public hearings on your proposed budget, we can affirm that the support for your proposed investments was nearly universal in the testimony heard around the state.

During your tenure as Governor, a disturbing pattern has emerged in which the GOP majority has rejected both your proposed state budget and the will of the people, and imposed a largely partisan budget on a state with divided rule. Changing political dynamics can make this year different.  

The only way to achieve a budget that meets the needs of Wisconsin is for you to use the full force of your strongest-in-the-nation veto power to leverage a truly bipartisan budget. We believe this is the only way to break the cycle of chronic state disinvestment in public education, health care, and child care, and an unbalanced criminal justice system that prioritizes dilapidated prisons over more effective alternatives.

We urge you to hold the line on the following priorities by vetoing in full any budget which fails to:

Expand BadgerCare. This will close a dangerous coverage gap for moderate income Wisconsinites without good health insurance at work. The infusion of federal Medicaid dollars will provide health care to 90,000 additional people and free up over $1 billion in state revenue to backfill expected federal cuts.

Provide at least a 60% Sum Sufficient Special Education Reimbursement Rate. After decades of underfunding, the proposed increase is a critical step forward. Failure to fund special education harms students and pushes more costs onto local taxpayers.

Honor the Promise to Close Green Bay Correctional Institution. Public funds should invest in futures, not prisons. It's time to close GBCI and to insist on full funding for TAD, Earned Release, and Alternatives to Revocation, which can make that possible.

Protect Predictable Revenue Limit Increases and Increase Spendable Aid for Public Schools. Our schools cannot meet rising needs without real, flexible funding. After 16 consecutive years of state budgets that have not even kept pace with inflation for our public schools, we cannot afford another budget that leaves districts dependent on referenda to survive. 

Reject Voucher Schemes such as Decoupling Voucher Funding from School Aid Formulas. Decoupling hides the financial drain of private voucher programs on public schools and lays the groundwork for reckless expansion. Transparency matters, and public dollars belong in public schools. 

Restore funds for Child Care. In order to improve access to high quality affordable child care fairly across the state, protect a direct state investment to child care programs of at least $480 million.

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME HERE]

Also signed by:

Heather DuBois Bourenane, Executive Director, Wisconsin Public Education Network

Robert Kraig, Executive Director, Citizen Action of Wisconsin

David Liners, Executive Director, WISDOM

Peggy Wirtz-Olsen, President, Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC)

Other Organizational Endorsers:

W.E.C.A.N 
AFT Wisconsin
Green Bay Education Association
Madison Teachers, Inc.
Madison Teachers, Inc.-Retired
Kenosha Education Association
Racine Educators United
Progress North
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
Monona Grove Education Association
Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools
Wisconsin Family Child Care Association
Green County Child Care Network
MOSES (Madison Organizing in Strength, Equity and Solidarity)
Oregon Area Progressives
Support Our Schools Wauwatosa
JOSHUA Green Bay
Worth Fighting For Wisconsin
Our Wisconsin Revolution
Chippewa Valley Transit Alliance, Inc.
ADVANCE NPO Solutions, LLC
Diane's Daycare
Tiny Diny Academy
Little Feet & Helpful Hands
Mother Forward
Tree Top Child Development Center & Preschool
Lauren Faith Smith Ministry for Nonviolence
Madtown Mommas & Disability Advocates
Fox Cities Advocates for Public Ed
GSAFE
Germantown Parents for Public Education
The Goddard School
Wisconsin Association of Parents and Teachers
Elcho School District
Wisconsin Indian Education Association
Citizen
Fox Cities Advocates for Public Education
Call For Peace
JONAH
School District of Mauston
Indivisible East
Donovan Hines Foundation of Exuberance Co
Blackhawk School
RUTH Manitowoc
School District of West Salem
Heritage Committee of Racine
Yes to Dodgeville Kids

This form will be updated as organizational signatories are added; individual names will be shared with the Governor's office.