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GOP leaders say Milwaukee funding could be stripped from local aid bill if deal not reached

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GOP leaders say Milwaukee funding could be stripped from local aid bill if deal not reached


Republican leaders in the state Senate and Assembly say measures to provide Milwaukee with much-needed funding could be stripped from an extensive local aid bill if a deal isn’t reached with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

In addition, deliberations on Wisconsin’s two-year budget will be put on hold after this week until the Republican-controlled Legislature and Evers come to an agreement on the bill, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told reporters Wednesday.

Hours later, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, reiterated Vos’ stance that, if Evers doesn’t agree to a version of the bill approved by both chambers, lawmakers will advance a bill that strips provisions that would allow Milwaukee and Milwaukee County to increase their local sales tax revenue to address pension debt.

“Today we made our last, best offer to the Governor,” LeMahieu said in a statement. “If an agreement is not reached today, the Senate will pursue a shared revenue proposal that does not include an option for Milwaukee to raise additional sales tax revenue.”

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LeMahieu did not provide details on the new agreement, which comes weeks after he and Vos became divided on the Milwaukee provision in the bill.

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“The offer we put forth is fair,” LeMahieu added. “It is a product of months of work and negotiations. The Governor has a chance to save Wisconsin’s largest city and most populous county from bankruptcy. We hope he takes it.”

The hold on budget deliberations, which will begin after the Legislature’s finance committee meets Thursday, comes just a few weeks before the state’s 2023-25 two-year spending plan is slated to take effect. If Evers doesn’t sign a budget effective by July 1, the state would continue operating using spending levels set in the previous two-year budget.

This weekend – June 10th and 11th – Democrats from across Wisconsin will gather in Green Bay for their state party convention. They’ll hear from party leaders, participate in training sessions and make plans to re-elect Senator Tammy Baldwin and President Joe Biden in 2024. Watch WisconsinEye’s Newsmakers as Brown County Democrats Chair, Christy Welch and Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, talk about the Convention agenda and party goals.

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Republicans say discussion on Wisconsin’s two-year spending plan cannot proceed until an agreement is reached on the local aid bill, which boosts state funds to local communities through Wisconsin’s shared revenue program. The budget committee has yet to take up major spending items including K-12 funding and tax cuts.

“We hope to have those negotiations be successful soon so we can continue our work,” said Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, who co-chairs the Legislature’s budget committee, adding that the committee can’t sign off on certain requests without knowing how much money lawmakers approve in the local funding proposal.

At its core, the measure would boost local aid by diverting 20% of the state’s 5% sales tax to local communities through Wisconsin’s shared revenue program. If signed into law, future state aid to communities and counties would be directly tied to the state sales tax. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have largely supported those provisions of the bill.

But division has surfaced between GOP leaders over a component in the bill allowing Milwaukee and Milwaukee County to increase their local sales tax revenue. Assembly Republicans passed a version of the bill allowing Milwaukee County to increase its 0.5% sales tax by 0.375 percentage points and Milwaukee to impose a 2% sales tax to fund pension debt, but only if voters approve those increases.

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Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, told reporters Wednesday putting the measure before voters would be a “death sentence” for Milwaukee because it would fail.

Before passing the amended version of the bill in May, Vos declared his chamber was done negotiating on the matter. However, LeMahieu said the following day he wants to strip the public vote measure from the bill and allow the Milwaukee Common Council and Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors to approve the local tax increases — a provision opposed by Vos but supported by Evers and local officials.

LeMahieu said on WISN’s “UpFront” Sunday he didn’t have 17 Republican votes in the Senate to make the change.

“I am hopeful we will be able to find the answer on shared revenue, trying to stick with the parameters close to where the Assembly passed this bill, not having wholesale radical changes to it,” Vos said.

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Without an agreement on state funding for local communities in the next few days, Vos said, “We will just focus on the balance of the bill, which is repealing the personal property tax and making sure that every community around the state is not held hostage by Milwaukee’s problem.”

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson told lawmakers last month mounting pension obligations have put Milwaukee “on a path to catastrophic budget cuts“ that would have to be made by 2025 if funding is not increased.

LeMahieu didn’t take questions from reporters after the Senate’s floor session Wednesday.

Asked to respond to Republicans’ comments Wednesday, Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said the governor’s position on the negotiations hasn’t changed since he said Wednesday morning that he hopes to figure out the proposal “by the end of this week or very soon.”

Wisconsin’s shared revenue program was created in 1911 and initially provided local municipalities 70% of state income tax collections, while counties and the state received the remaining 20% and 10%, respectively.

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Shared revenue remains among the state’s biggest programs. But the past few decades it has dropped from 12.5% of the general fund budget in 1994-95 to less than 5% now, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

GOP proposes 3.25% flat tax in Wisconsin; Gov. Tony Evers remains opposed

Evers has called for a 10% tax cut for individuals earning $100,000 or less a year and married filers making $150,000 or less.

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Low- and medium-wage earners chief targets in Gov. Tony Evers' proposed tax cuts

The governor’s budget proposal is all but certain to receive pushback from legislative Republicans, who have championed the need to implement a flat income tax in Wisconsin.

Gov. Tony Evers prioritizes mental health funding, education in State of the State address

Evers on Tuesday also unveiled proposals to cut taxes, increase local government funding, spend more than $100 million to deal with PFAS contamination and support child care providers.

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Both sides say they want to improve mental health in Wisconsin, but GOP not sold on price tag

Around a third of students across Wisconsin feel sad and hopeless almost every day, according to the Office of Children’s Mental Health.

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Wisconsin's projected surplus exceeds $7 billion

Wisconsin’s latest fiscal outlook projects the state will wrap up the current fiscal year with about half a billion dollars more than previous projections.

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Wisconsinites will likely see a tax cut this year. Whose will go down the most?

The two top options being discussed are adjusting the state’s income tax to benefit middle class earners or eliminating the current tax and creating a 3.25% flat tax.

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Gov. Tony Evers calls for increased aid for veterans related to housing, employment, mental health services

Evers will unveil his formal budget request on Feb. 15. From there, the Republican-controlled budget committee will rewrite the document before sending it back to the governor.

Drunken driving penalties raised under Tony Evers budget proposal

Of the more than 4.2 million licensed drivers in Wisconsin, 770,000 had at least one OWI citation or conviction as of the end of 2021.

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Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin, first responders were undergoing training when a school shooting happened

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Madison, Wisconsin, first responders were undergoing training when a school shooting happened


First responders in Madison, Wisconsin, were participating in a training session on Monday morning when a school shooting occurred nearby, authorities said.

A student and teacher were killed and six others were injured when a teenage student opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School, a private Christian school serving approximately 250 families on the city’s East Side, said Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes. The shooter was found dead by authorities, police said.

Barnes said the shooting occurred around 10:57 a.m. CT, while medics with the Madison Police Department’s Special Events Team were in a session at the department’s training center — less than three miles away. The SET Medics Team consists of about 16 team members, including several who have worked or volunteered in Emergency Medical Services, according to the city of Madison website.

“They left the training center immediately and came down here and doing in real time what they were actually practicing for,” he said. “And that’s why training is so important, and making sure that we can provide the best possible training and the best possible response for our community members.”

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The police chief said training for such events occurs “constantly,” noting fire and police commanders participated in a separate training session within the past two weeks.

Madison police and local officials shared additional details on Monday following a deadly school shooting at Abundant Life Christian School.

“And so all of that came into play today, and our officers performed extremely well based on their training and based on the expectations that they know exactly what to do,” Barnes said. “Stop the threat, stop the killing, find the threat.”

Training for mass incidents is something “we had hoped we would never have to put into practice one more time,” Madison Fire Chief Chris Carbon said.

A possible motive for the shooting remained unclear late Monday afternoon.

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According to Barnes, police were working to find out “as many answers as we can” while interviewing witnesses and securing search warrants to obtain additional information.

“Many of you have asked me about the why of this,” the police chief said. “Why did this happen? What do we know? What was the motivation? I do not know, but I will tell you this, our detectives are working hard in the investigative process to find out as many answers as we can so that we can further prevent these things from happening, not only in this community, but in other communities around our country.”



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Wisconsin football scores portal pickups as quarterback Danny O’Neil, DL Corey Walker commit

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Wisconsin football scores portal pickups as quarterback Danny O’Neil, DL Corey Walker commit


MADISON – Quarterback and defensive line are two major areas of need for the Wisconsin football team this offseason.

Luke Fickell and his staff scored key pickups at both positions Monday morning.

Quarterback Danny O’Neil and defensive lineman Corey Walker announced commitments to the Badgers to bring the total of known transfer portal pickups for the program to five.

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O’Neil, coming from San Diego State, is the first quarterback recruited with the idea of running new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes’ scheme.

This season the 6-foot, 195-pound redshirt freshman completed 209 of 330 passes (63.3%) for 2,181 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Walker (6-5, 270) played at Western Michigan and was part of the Broncos’ ‘defense that faced Wisconsin in Camp Randall Stadium earlier this season.

He finished the season with 38 tackles that included 6 ½ tackles for a loss and 5½ sacks. He was also credited with five pass break ups. He had three tackles in a 28-14 loss to the Badgers on Aug. 28.

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Walker has one year of eligibility remaining.



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Wisconsin Lottery Pick 3, Pick 4 results for Dec. 15, 2024

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Wisconsin Lottery Pick 3, Pick 4 results for Dec. 15, 2024


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The Wisconsin Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Dec. 15, 2024, results for each game:

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Winning Pick 3 numbers from Dec. 15 drawing

Midday: 9-4-1

Evening: 2-3-5

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 4 numbers from Dec. 15 drawing

Midday: 3-5-2-6

Evening: 4-7-9-7

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Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning All or Nothing numbers from Dec. 15 drawing

Midday: 01-05-08-10-11-12-13-16-18-19-20

Evening: 03-04-05-06-07-08-09-18-19-20-21

Check All or Nothing payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Badger 5 numbers from Dec. 15 drawing

02-04-08-29-30

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Check Badger 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning SuperCash numbers from Dec. 15 drawing

06-07-16-33-35-36, Doubler: N

Check SuperCash payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

  • Prizes up to $599: Can be claimed at any Wisconsin Lottery retailer.
  • Prizes from $600 to $199,999: Can be claimed in person at a Lottery Office. By mail, send the signed ticket and a completed claim form available on the Wisconsin Lottery claim page to: Prizes, PO Box 777 Madison, WI 53774.
  • Prizes of $200,000 or more: Must be claimed in person at the Madison Lottery office. Call the Lottery office prior to your visit: 608-261-4916.

Can Wisconsin lottery winners remain anonymous?

No, according to the Wisconsin Lottery. Due to the state’s open records laws, the lottery must, upon request, release the name and city of the winner. Other information about the winner is released only with the winner’s consent.

When are the Wisconsin Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Mega Millions: 10:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
  • Super Cash: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
  • Pick 3 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
  • Pick 3 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
  • Pick 4 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
  • Pick 4 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
  • All or Nothing (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
  • All or Nothing (Evening): 9 p.m. CT daily.
  • Megabucks: 9:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Badger 5: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Wisconsin editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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