Hong: Republican Budget Falls Woefully Short of What Our Communities Need

MADISON – Today, the Wisconsin State Assembly passed the 2025–27 biennial budget, a plan crafted by Legislative Republicans that leaves behind working families, public schools, and critical infrastructure across our state.

Representative Francesca Hong (D–76), ranking Democrat on the Assembly Committee on Education, voted no on the budget’s passing and issued the following statement:

“This budget is not a compromise, it is a surrender of the values Wisconsinites have been fighting for. From paid family leave to well-funded public schools, the people of Wisconsin made their priorities clear. Republican lawmakers have ignored them and once again left our communities to fend for themselves.

As the ranking Democrat on the Assembly Committee on Education, I’m particularly alarmed that this budget provides ZERO dollars in new state aid for public schools while raising the special education reimbursement rate to a dismal 42% in the first year of the biennium and only 45% in the next. As a result, communities across Wisconsin will once again be forced to rely on referenda just to keep their classrooms open, an approach that divides our state into winners and losers and punishes communities with fewer resources.

But the damage goes beyond education. This budget abandons efforts to replace toxic lead lines, under-invests in child care stabilization, and strips support from vital public services — all while failing to bolster the social safety nets Wisconsin desperately needs ahead of the anticipated federal cuts by the Trump administration.

We had an opportunity to craft a budget that met the urgency of this moment. Instead, we got one that shifts responsibility down to the local level, and tells Wisconsinites: you’re on your own.

This budget is a false compromise dressed up as bipartisanship, but built on the backs of working families. It lets Republicans off the hook while leaving our communities without the investment or care they deserve. We needed bold action; instead, we got a half-measure that preserves the status quo and calls it progress.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.