Thank you for taking the time to read this week's e-update. I always strive to include information you find interesting and informative as it relates to my work in Madison and the 60th Assembly District.
My most important goal remains serving you, my constituents. Helping you find solutions to difficult problems when it seems like the state is unresponsive is the single greatest reward for my staff and me. I take constituents' input seriously and continually work hard on your behalf.
I always have your thoughts and concerns in mind when deciding whether or not to support legislation. Furthermore, I appreciate when you take time out of your schedules to contact me.
Have a great week,
This week's survey question
Since 2012, taxpayers have passed referenda totaling $5.2 billion for maintenance, expansion, improvement, and construction of school facilities. What is more, 59 school referendums were on the April 2, 2019, ballot. Of the 26 referendums to issue debt, 16 were approved and 10 failed. Of the 7 referendums to exceed revenue caps, 6 were approved and 1 failed. Lastly, of the 22 referendums to exceed the revenue cap on a non-recurring basis, 22 were passed and 4 failed. In total, $766,916,500 was spent by taxpayers to issue debt, exceed revenue caps on a recurring basis, and exceed revenue caps on a non-recurring basis, in last Tuesday's election.
The state provides financial assistance to school districts to achieve two goals: reduce the reliance upon property tax as a source of revenue for educational programs; and guarantee that a basic educational opportunity is available to all pupils, regardless of local fiscal capacity of the district in which they reside.
The cost of K-12 education is supported by the state through three different methods: general aids, categorical aids, and property tax credits.
General aids are provided primarily through a formula that distributes aid on the basis of the relative fiscal capacity of each school district as measured by the district's per pupil value of taxable property.
Categorical aids partially fund specific program costs such as special education, achievement gap reduction, pupil transportation, and bilingual education. What is more, categorical aids are either paid on a formula or per pupil basis.
The third method of state support is through property tax credits. The school levy tax credit and first dollar credit are paid to municipalities to offset the property tax.
School aid represented nearly 33 percent of the state's total general fund budget for fiscal year 2018-19. It is the largest commitment by the state to any single governmental program.
In an effort to establish statewide funding uniformity, the legislature developed the equalization aid formula. This formula operates under the principle of equal tax rate for equal per-pupil expenditures. In pure form, this means that a school district's property tax rate does not depend on the property tax of the district, but on the level of expenditures. The rate at which school costs are aided through the formula is determined by comparing a school district's per pupil tax to the state's guaranteed tax base.
Five factors are used in the computation of equalization aid: pupil membership; shared cost; equalized property valuation; the state's guaranteed valuations; and the total amount of funding available for distribution.
State support of K-12 education has traditionally been measured using the concept of partial school revenues, which includes only revenues received by school districts from state aid and the property tax levy. State support can be calculated on a statewide basis and for an individual school district. The level of state support received by a district may be higher or lower than the statewide percentage depending on the district's per-pupil aidable costs and equalized value, as well as the amount of funding the district received through categorical aids and levy credit.
For instance, in 2017, 42.29 percent of Cedarburg's revenue came from state aid. As for Port Washington, 58.18 percent of its revenue came from state aid. Fond du Lac, a community that passed a $90 million referendum received 71.41 percent state aid. Sun Prairie passed a referendum exceeding $170 million, last Tuesday, received 59.61 percent of its revenue from state aid. Beloit, on the contrary, received 85.2 percent of its revenues from state aid, the second highest percentage in the state. Northern Ozaukee's percentage of state aid is 51.08 percent, whereas Nicolet receives just 26.77 percent of its revenue from state aid; one of the lowest percentages in the state. Because of the state shared revenue formula, taxpayers pay for referendums outside their local school districts. As such, it is imperative for voters to be mindful of the cost and fiscal implications of a referendum.
Please, take a minute to answer my one-question survey on referendums and state shared revenue.
Thank you to everyone who provided input on term limits for elected officials. Overall, 92 individuals responded to this week's survey questions.
Question One:
Eighty-seven percent of respondents support term limits for members of Congress; just seven percent of respondents opposed congressional term limits.
Question Two:
Eighty percent of respondents would support term limits for the Wisconsin governor; fifteen percent opposed limiting the governor's term.
Question Three:
Eighty-seven percent of respondents indicated that they support term limits for members of the Wisconsin legislature. Just eleven percent of respondents opposed term limits for members of the legislature.
Question Four:
Seventy-six percent of respondents support term limits for local elected officials, whereas twenty-three percent opposed term limits for local officials.
Listening Sessions and Town Hall Meetings
I encourage you to attend my upcoming listening sessions and look forward to your input on Governor Evers' 2019-21 budget. I enjoy listening to your concerns and using the input you provide to draft legislation that improves the quality of life for every Wisconsinite.
On April 18, 2019, I will be participating in two half-hour town hall meetings with United States Representative Jim Sensenbrenner. I will be available to hear your concerns regarding the biennial budget and Wisconsin-based policy issues.
Representative Sensenbrenner and I will visit the following locations on April 18, 2019:
9:00-9:30 a.m.: Newburg Village Hall, 614 Main Street, Newburg.
11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: Jackson Village Hall, N168W20733 Main Street, Jackson.
Participating in a town hall meeting with United States Representative Jim Sensenbrenner.
Additionally, on Thursday, April 25, 2019, I will be hosting a series of budget-related listening sessions. The times and locations of these meetings are as follows:
12:00-1:00 p.m.: WJ Niederkorn Public Library, 316 West Grand Avenue, Port Washington.
12:45-1:45 p.m.: Cedarburg Public Library, W63N589 Hanover Avenue, Cedarburg.
6:00-7:00 p.m.: Trenton Town Hall, 1071 State Highway 33, E, Trenton.
Participating in a budget listening session.
If you are unable to attend my town hall meetings or listening sessions, but would like to convey your thoughts on Governor Evers' 2019-21 biennial budget, please contact my office; I value your input.
This week in Madison
This week, I had the opportunity to meet with constituents who were visiting the Wisconsin State Capitol for the National Association of Social Workers,' Wisconsin Society of Occupational Therapists,' and Wisconsin Dairy Business Associations' legislative days. Additionally, I welcomed students from Westlawn and Dunwiddie Elementary Schools and the Ozaukee County Youth Apprenticeship Program to the capitol.
My staff meeting with occupational therapy students who were in Madison for their annual legislative day.
Students from Westlawn Elementary School visited the Wisconsin State Capitol.
Students from Dunwiddie Elementary School visited the Wisconsin State Capitol.
Meeting with Ozaukee County Youth Apprenticeship students.
Additionally, I testified on legislation before the Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary. Both bills originated from the Study Committee on Child Placement and Support that I chaired last summer.
Assembly Bill 100
I had the opportunity to testify before the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Assembly Bill 100, which would allow courts in a family law action involving minor children to take judicial notice of records for specific convictions and restraining orders. The convictions must involve crimes subject to domestic abuse surcharges, crimes against the convicted individual's child, or restraining orders that were ordered by the other parent.
Furthermore, Assembly Bill 100 would allow judges to have all of the relevant information when determining periods of physical placement of a child.
Testifying in favor of Assembly Bill 100 before the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means.
Assembly Bill 101
The Assembly Committee on Ways and Means heard public testimony, this week, on Assembly Bill 101 which eliminates new family support orders in order to ensure that these payments are consistent with current state and federal tax laws.
Currently, family support combines portions of child support and maintenance into a single payment. For tax purposes, family support payments are considered to be maintenance payments, so the payment is deductible to the payor-spouse and taxable to the recipient spouse.
Under the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, maintenance payments, such as family support, are no longer deductible for the payor and not included as income to the recipient.
Testifying on Assembly Bill 101 before the Assembly Committee on the Judiciary.
60th District Events
The following are a few events that will be occurring this week, in the 60th Assembly District. If you have any upcoming events that you would like included in my weekly e-update, please contact my office.
One of the best ways to date with what is happening in Madison is to sign up for the legislature's notification tracking system. This service affords you with the opportunity to track legislative activities in Madison. Upon creation of a free account, you can sign up to receive notification about specific bills of committees as well as legislative activity pertaining to a subject (i.e., health care, education, etc.).
If you have any comments regarding the subject of this E-Update, please feel free to contact me.
Rep. Rob Brooks State Capitol, Room 216 North P.O. Box 8952 Madison, WI 53708 Toll-Free (888) 534-0060 or (608) 267-2370 Rep.Rob.Brooks@legis.wi.gov| |
