June 1st and 2nd are the Free Fun weekend - where Wisconsin residents can fish, hike or bike state trails, ride public ATV trails at no cost and enjoy free admission to state parks and forests. If you choose to take advantage of these opportunities, please be careful since lakes, streams and rivers are high due to all our recent rain. If you are going boating, click here to learn how to help stop the spread of invasive species.
Education Budget
The Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) approved two more years of a tuition freeze for resident ungraduated students attending UW system schools. After years of significant increases the Legislature voted to freeze tuition in 2013. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates the tuition freeze has saved the average student more than $6,000. We believe that education should be affordable and our students should not begin their careers with unreasonable debt. To offset the cost of the tuition freeze, the JFC voted to increase state funding to the UW system by $93 million over the biennium.
Last week the JFC approved the education budget, which will allocate more than $12 billion for the next biennium. K-12 education continues to be the largest program in the general fund of our state budget. The GOP proposal increases funding by an additional $200 per pupil the first year and $204 per pupil the second year. It also increases funding for special education and expands mental health programs by $12.5 million while fully funding high cost transportation. I have always fought to increase funding for Wisconsin students and I am excited about these proposed increases.
Earlier this week, May 29th, we celebrated our state’s 171st birthday. In 1848 Wisconsin became the 30th state in the Union. When the census was taken in 1850, the newly created Wisconsin was home to 304,456 people, click here to be re-directed to the Wisconsin Historical Society to learn more about the creation of our state! I am so grateful to live on our beautiful state and serve the people of Wisconsin!
