by Benjamin Yount
Most of Gov. Tony Evers’ building plan is earmarked for the University of Wisconsin System, but a new report says there are also millions of dollars dedicated to non-state agency “pork-barrel” projects.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty released its report on the governor’s capital budget on Thursday. It details how Gov. Evers plans to spend $3.8 billion for construction, remodeling, maintenance, and renovation in the next two-year state budget.
“The capital budget is important because it represents a deceptively high cost to Wisconsin taxpayers. Much of the spending in the capital budget is financed through borrowing (supported by the general fund). This means that the costs to taxpayers are, in the long run, even higher than what is reported here due to interest payments. As such, it is critical that any projects financed with the capital budget be absolutely necessary and represent good stewardship of taxpayer money,’ the report states.
Nearly half of Evers’ proposal, 47%, is dedicated to the UW System.
“By far the largest share of the proposed capital budget goes to the UW-System; this was true under Governor Walker and it remains true under Governor Evers,” the report’s authors said. “The UW-System accounts for about 47% of all capital spending proposed at $1.760 billion. The next largest category, “All Agency,” is a program that funds the maintenance, repair, and renovation of state facilities across all state agencies.”
After that comes a budget line for “other projects,” at 10% of the governor’s proposal, then an 8% budget line for spending at the state’s prisons.
Then, the report notes, comes a 7% line for “non-state agency’ spending.
“The Governor’s 2023-25 recommended capital budget earmarks a record $270.7 million in all funds for ‘non-state agency’ requests, with nearly $62.8 million in taxpayer dollars supporting non-agency requests,” the report states. “Now, this sum doesn’t even include the $290 million that Governor Evers included in his 2023-25 Executive Budget to fund improvements of American Family Field, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers.”
But WILL did question some of the projects that will be covered by “non-state agency” dollars, including:
- $15 million in cash for a new sports and convention center in Janesville.
- $9.3 million in cash to build a private soccer stadium in Milwaukee.
- $7 million in cash to expand the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay.
- $5 million in cash to build the Bronzeville Center for the Arts in Milwaukee.
- $1 million to upgrade the dormitories of the Peninsula Players Theatre in Door County.
“These projects aren’t all clearly in the public interest. All of them seem to promise regional, rather than statewide, benefits, which calls into question their quality as potential investments for statewide taxpayer dollars,” the authors added.
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Benjamin Yount is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Tony Evers” by Tony Evers. Background Photo “University of Wisconsin Campus” by Phil Roeder. CC BY 2.0.
