Senator Duey Stroebel is spot on.

During its final meeting on the budget, the Joint Finance Committee voted to increase general state aid for K-12 schools by $650 million. As a result of this action, the state will fulfill the federal government’s “maintenance of effort” requirement for the $1.5 billion windfall that Wisconsin K-12 schools are set to receive through the most recent COVID-19 spending bill (the American Rescue Plan Act). Absent a veto from Gov. Evers, the state will cover over two-thirds of K-12 funding during the second year of the budget. Two-thirds state funding for K-12 education has been one of the oft-repeated goals of Gov. Evers.

 

Across the three federal COVID-19 spending bills (the CARES Act, the Consolidated Appropriations Act and the American Rescue Plan Act), $2.6 billion will be provided to K-12 schools. The lion’s share of these funds ($2.4 billion) were allocated through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER funds).

 

Congress directed 90% of the ESSER funds be distributed through a formula based on the number of low-income students residing in each school district. As a result, MPS will be by far the largest beneficiary of the infusion of federal dollars. Per the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, MPS is estimated to receive 38% of these funds, or $797 million. This amounts to an increase of $11,242 per student, which comes in addition to the $15,844 MPS already spends per student. Put another way, the federal funds alone amount to 79% of the $1 billion operations budget approved by the MPS School Board for the 2020-21 school year.

Some in the public school lobby have been quick to characterize the federal COVID-19 funds as “one-time” money that should be given no consideration in the Legislature’s deliberations on the next state budget. However, Congress authorized the third round of funding ($1.5 billion through ARPA) to be spent through September 30, 2024. Moreover, the authorized uses of these funds are very broad.

The MPS School Board is in no position to complain about a lack of taxpayer funding for K-12 education. The sum of these federal funds makes the $87 million property tax increase through 2023 that MPS secured via referendum last year look “paltry.”

Good for him. I wish more prominent people would weigh in on local elections.

Speaking of elections, the Wisconsin Spring Election is quickly approaching on April 6th.  With respect to the state Superintendent race, Deborah Kerr is clearly the best choice – I urge all to support her.  But we also need to focus on our local spring elections.  These races are critical to effective governance of our towns, villages, cities, counties and school boards.  Please research the races and get out to support our conservative candidates.  And I do not just mean vote….I mean get out and help these candidates in any way you are able.  We have to actively engage – it DOES make a difference!
I am doing what I can in a local school board election in my hometown of Cedarburg.  Our school districts desperately need common sense conservatives to provide leadership.  I fully support Dave Krier and Kate Noetzel for our Cedarburg School Board.  If you are in the District, please take note of the attached flyer and stop by their “Meet and Greet” this Thursday – I will be the special guest at the event.  Their races will not be easy; it is going to take an intense team effort from grassroots leaders to get these great candidates across the finish line.

Sincerely,

Duey Stroebel
State Senator
20th Senate District

Stroebel isn’t wrong.

“The first two-and-a-half months of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution have put many of the pitfalls of unchecked, government central planning on full display. The latest pitfall is the Evers administration’s arbitrary decision to rely exclusively on measures of poverty and race to determine the school districts that are being placed at the front of the line for teacher vaccination,” Stroebel said. “As a result, school districts that have offered little to no in-person instruction over the past 12 months are being rewarded for placing the interests of teachers’ unions above the best interests of children and families.”

 

But Stroebel’s concerns with vaccine prioritization may be moot. During a press conference Tuesday, DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said that they haven’t had to use those rankings and may not ever need to.

I love the response from the DHS person… “sure, we have those rankings but we haven’t had to use them.” So? How does that change the fact that they are ranking priority based on arbitrary distinctions instead of following the science?

Good.

The effort, being led by Sen. Duey Stroebel of Saukville, would require absentee voters to provide an ID for every election, limit who can automatically receive absentee ballots for every election and create more paperwork for those who vote early in clerk’s offices.

 

The proposals would also put new limits on when voters are considered indefinitely confined because of age or disability. Under a long-standing law, confined voters do not have to show ID to receive absentee ballots and do not have to regularly reapply for ballots.

Most of these measures are merely affirming existing law or plugging loopholes that Democrats exploited last year. Either way, the effort seeks to support an electoral process that we all say we want – one that balances election integrity with ballot access.

This is very good news.

Madison, WI – State Sen. Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville) released the following statement today after being appointed Senate Vice-Chairman of the Joint Finance Committee:

“I am honored to be appointed to this position and grateful to Majority Leader-elect LeMahieu for this opportunity. Since being appointed to the Joint Finance Committee in 2017, I have advocated for common sense budgeting and fiscal responsibility.

“To taxpayers, I pledge to continue fighting for your interests and the wise stewardship of your hard-earned tax dollars. Decision-makers in Madison need to stay grounded in the realities faced every day by Wisconsin’s workers, farmers, and employers. Those realities will continue to guide my work on the Finance Committee.

“To my colleagues, I will work diligently to represent the interests of our chamber during the budget process. Senate Republicans have a great track record of pushing for more efficient, more effective, and smaller government that spends only what it needs and returns savings to the taxpayers. I look forward to working with each of you to craft the next state budget.

Senator Darling had been drifting more purple as her district has (she was even running ads bragging about how she was responsible for the most spending on government schools in the history of Wisconsin). Stroebel is a smart conservative and we couldn’t ask for a better Senator to help craft the budget.

CORRECTION: I mistook “vice”chair for “co”chair. Stroebel moved up in the leadership, but Senator Marklein actually took Darling’s position. Still… good moves that are good for Wisconsin.

This is exactly the right response. I highly encourage all of those Republicans and republicans who espouse beliefs in individual liberty, capitalism, and the wisdom of individual citizens to reject any attempt to create a new plan to micromanage our lives and oppress our rights. The new plan is no plan. Government should fulfill its traditional and rightful role of providing guidance and resources to combat the pandemic.

Madison, WI – State Senator Duey Stroebel (R-Cedarburg) released the below statement following the State Supreme Court’s ruling in Legislature v. Palm.

“By ruling in favor of the State Legislature the Supreme Court has made clear that Governor Evers’ Secretary-designee has unlawfully exceeded her authority. With this decision in hand it is time to immediately reopen our state.” “Regardless of state regulations, I have watched my neighbors and constituents exercise reasonable care and caution as they have gone about their lives. I believe we can fully reopen our state by relying upon the judgement and discretion of our citizens to navigate the challenges of COVID-19 while resuming our day-to-day lives. If it is necessary to set statewide policies through the administrative rule process, I look forward to being a voice for targeted policies to protect our vulnerable population rather than the broad  policies advanced by Governor Evers that have had disastrous consequences for so many Wisconsinites.”

It’s hard to argue with any of these reforms… but I’m sure liberals will fins a way.

I have advocated, and will continue to advocate, for reforms to provide greater transparency in the referendum process and to remove policies that incentivize overspending. Among these reforms are:

• requiring ballot questions to show the total actual cost of referendums with projected debt service
• requiring borrowed money to be spent on what is listed on the ballot
• making referendum costs non-shareable, so that one school district’s taxpayers do not subsidize another’s referendum
• requiring public bidding of school district projects
• and clarifying what communications are allowable information to voters and what is illegal electioneering with public money.

The size and importance of these expenditures demands no less from our public officials.

This is reasonable.

Stroebel’s measure would limit school referendums to the regularly scheduled fall and spring election dates, when voter turnout tends to exceed that of special elections. In addition, it would bar districts from going back to the taxpayers with a new referendum for two years after one fails.

In Wisconsin, school districts are restricted in what they can raise property taxes every year. The exception is that the district can ask the voters through a referendum to approve a property tax increase above the limit. In general, I support this process. It prevents a rogue board from jacking up taxes too much, but allows individual districts to increase their taxes if the voters expressly approve.

The problem is that too many school districts have abused the process. Instead of waiting for normal election days, they have held special elections to suppress voter turnout while district employees flooded the polls. They have also asked the voters multiple times – over and over again – to raise their taxes. They do this because they know that all they need to get a “yes” vote once regardless of how many times the voters have said “no” before that.

Stroebel’s reforms would still allow districts to ask the voters to exceed state-imposed limits on property tax increases, thus preserving local control, but force school boards to put together a valid justification the first time instead of throwing referendum after referendum against the wall until something sticks. Also, making the districts schedule the referendum elections for the same day as normal elections is perfectly reasonable and encourages higher voter turnout. There is nothing so urgent in a school referendum as to warrant a special election.

For public employees.

Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, is proposing to raise the minimum age for most workers in the Wisconsin Retirement System from 55 to 57, or 52 from 50 for those in protective services jobs.

A second bill would say retirement payouts would be calculated on the top five years of an employees’ work, rather than the three years considered currently.

“Look at the private sector. Who even has a pension anymore, let alone the ability to retire at 50?” Stroebel said. “It just isn’t out there.”

Stroebel said while the WRS is considered fully funded currently, he believes it could help the future solvency of the trust fund.

“We have to be ahead of the curve on these things, and I don’t think anyone would consider these changes unreasonable whatsoever,” Stroebel said.

Whenever retirement ages are discussed, whether it is for Social Security, public employees, or private employees who still have a pension, I am always amazed at the ridiculousness of the objections. The only reason to oppose raising the retirement age is because you want to retire earlier rather than later. Well, duh, we all do. But as life expectancy has risen, so should the retirement age. There is no rational reason that the taxpayers should be paying someone for 40 years of retirement for someone who only worked for 30 years.

Raise it. And then index it to the national average life expectancy so we can stop fussing with it.