This post originally appeared at https://wifamilycouncil.org/radio/budget-work-duty-is-ours/
2025 | Week of January 13 | Radio Transcript #1601
At the State Capitol, the Assembly and Senate have gaveled in to begin the new two-year session. While the legislative bodies will tackle many different topics this spring, including Voter ID, education, and possibly even life, marriage and family, and religious freedom, the big focus for the first half of this year will be the state budget.
Every two years, the legislature is obligated to pass a two-year state budget. Of course, every two years, that budget seems to grow larger and larger – and, in correlation, the burden of taxation on Wisconsin families too often grows, too. The budget passed in 2023 and signed by Governor Tony Evers contained almost $100 billion in spending commitments.
Typically, only 15 to 20 percent of Wisconsin’s revenue comes from federal transfers, which is still taxpayer money. But that does mean the remaining 80 to 85 percent of the budget comes from state taxpayers in the form of income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, car registration fees, and more.
The largest areas of spending are almost always the same – public welfare and public education always carry massive price tags, and unsurprisingly, the current head of public schooling in Wisconsin, Jill Underly, wants to take the existing state surplus for public schools rather than return it to “we the people.”
Next month, Governor Evers will propose his new budget. From there, Republican majorities in the Assembly and Senate will make changes, add and remove items, and eventually, once they agree, they will pass the budget and send it back to the Governor. Once the governor has received the budget, he will use his powerful line-item veto pen to certain remove budget provisions he doesn’t like, and then, he’ll sign it into law.
While Republicans have majorities in the Assembly and Senate, their majorities are not large enough to override a veto from the governor; so effectively, barring involvement by the courts, Wisconsinites will have to simply live with the Governor’s budget decisions.
“We the people” do, however, have a role to play in this process. While it may seem far away and out of our control, we have the opportunity, through our elected officials, to make our voice heard in the budget process. We need to ask our Assembly rep and Senator for updates on the process. Ask them about their plans to keep spending in check, whether or not they’ll support increasing taxes to pay for new spending proposed by the governor, and how they will handle the surplus.
Our government works properly only if “we the people” are involved in the process. It’s our government, and our elected officials must answer to those they represent—which is “we the people.” Whether we are represented by Republicans or Democrats, we dare not let them be a rubber stamp for bad fiscal policies. We need to hold them accountable to the will of the people.
Unsurprisingly, we’re having much the same conversation at the federal level. As President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in just a few days, he will inherit a national debt that has now eclipsed $36 trillion dollars.
While Republicans in D.C. control Congress and the U.S. Senate, they have such small margins that they’ll need to be completely unified to achieve much of anything. As citizens, we have the same opportunity and responsibility with our federal elected officials as we have with our elected officials in Madison. While the federal officials seem harder to reach and further away, they also have offices locally that can pass along messages from, and receive information on behalf of, citizens.
Visit legis.wisconsiv.gov to find your state representative and state senator. Visit house.gov to find your congressional representative and contact information and senate.gov for contact information for our U.S. Senators, Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin.
Wisconsin Family Council urges Wisconsinites to learn how to get involved in government, build strong relationships with those who represent you, and remain up-to-date on the happenings of government, including their budget work.
Human government is stewardship of God’s authority on this earth. If men and women of faith choose not to be involved, a secular power will fill the void. And while it isn’t always within our control to steer the outcomes, we still have a responsibility to engage. As John Quincy Adams observed, “Duty is ours; results are God’s.”
For Wisconsin Family Council, this is Julaine Appling, reminding you that God, through the Prophet Hosea, said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
Sierra John