Northeast Wisconsin lawmakers react to budget agreement

OSHKOSH, Wis (WISS) – As Governor Tony Evers announced that he and the Republican leadership in the legislature had reached a tentative budget agreement for 2025-2027, lawmakers from across Northeast Wisconsin reacted.

The agreement includes investments in child care, public K-12 schools, and the Universities of Wisconsin. It includes $137.5 million for the renovation of UW-Oshkosh’s Polk Learning Commons (formerly Polk Library). Additionally, it allocates $14 million for the Municipal Services Payments (MSP) program. 

Oshkosh reacts

“This is the first budget in over a decade where the Democratic Senate Caucus had a seat at the table. The new, fair maps created a balanced government, and this is the result: a government that can work together to reach an agreement where everyone walks away wishing they’d gotten more but no one leaves feeling kicked in the teeth,” said 18th District Senator Kristin Dassler-Alfheim (D-Appleton). “It’s encouraging to see local priorities like UW-Oshkosh’s Polk Learning Commons and MSP payments addressed in this deal, and I’m hopeful that we can work together to get this over the finish line and move Wisconsin forward, together.”

Oshkosh Common Council member DJ Nichols took to social media to applaud the increase in Municipal Services Payments to 51.8 percent. The city of Oshkosh argued for 100 percent funding, while Governor Tony Evers’ budget called for 72 percent funding for MSP payments.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s a meaningful step forward—and a reminder that when we work together, change is possible,” Nichols said in a Facebook post.

Oshkosh has the third-largest holder of state-owned facilities for which it must provide services, such as fire, police and waste management. State-owned facilities such as the UW-Oshkosh campus and the Oshkosh Correctional Institution had only been funded at 37.6 percent, causing Oshkosh property owners to make up the difference in taxes.

Green Bay reacts to budget agreement

Meanwhile, 30th District State Senator Jamie Wall (D-Green Bay) announced Tuesday that the budget contains $30 million for a new railroad bridge at Red Maple Road in West De Pere

“The new railroad bridge will improve safety and prevent congestion on the approach to the new South Bridge,” said Wall. “These funds will also directly reduce the cost for local property taxpayers in De Pere and throughout Brown County.”

In conjunction with the budget talks, the Joint Committee on Finance announced a proposed closing date of 2029 for the embattled Green Bay Correctional Institution. 

Local leaders, lawmakers, and law enforcement have been calling for the 126-year-old facility to be closed for years. State Representative Ben Franklin (R-De Pere) reacted to that news. 

“I am thrilled to see the Joint Committee on Finance take a tremendous leap toward the necessary and final closure of GBCI,” Franklin wrote. “Formalizing a decommissioning date into state law will ensure decisive action is taken to solve this longstanding issue and prevent the bureaucratic delays that have plagued this situation for far too long.”