MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today celebrated his and the Evers Administration’s work serving the people of Wisconsin over the past year, highlighting a list of accomplishments as 2023 comes to an end. Among Gov. Evers’ and the Evers Administration’s accomplishments include: enacting 86 bipartisan bills; securing a generational increase in support to local communities through shared revenue; negotiating and signing a bipartisan deal to keep the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee until 2050; improving more than 7,400 miles of road and 1,780 bridges since 2019, including more 900 miles of road and more than 200 bridges just in the last year alone; building more than 14,000 units of affordable housing since 2019; and the governor using his broad, constitutional veto authority to enact a 2023-25 biennial budget that includes more than $1 billion for public education, one of the largest investments in workforce housing in state history with a $525 million investment, $125 million to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination, support for Wisconsin farmers, tax relief for working families, and investments to build the 21st-century infrastructure to support Wisconsin’s 21st-century economy and workforce, among other key provisions. “I’m still jazzed as hell that Wisconsinites elected me as their governor, and I’m proud we kicked off the first year of my second term with some of our most important work to date: building a strong economy that works for everyone, bolstering our workforce and preventing a collapse of our child care industry, doing what’s best for our kids and our schools, fixing the darn roads, expanding access to healthcare, and trying to do the right thing every day,” said Gov. Evers. “This past year, we also passed significant bipartisan legislation to provide a generational increase in support to local governments, to provide one of the largest investments in affordable housing in state history, and to keep the Brewers in Wisconsin until 2050, ensuring future generations will grow up rooting for the home team just as so many of us have. “I’m grateful to Wisconsinites across the state for the privilege of serving them and for their partnership and support in doing this work, and I’m thrilled to keep working together to build upon our achievements in the new year.” A comprehensive but not exhaustive list of Gov. Evers’ and the Evers Administration’s 2023 accomplishments is available below.
Strengthening the Economy and Supporting Small Businesses
- Gov. Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) announced the state of Wisconsin ended Fiscal Year 2023 with a positive balance of $7.07 billion—eclipsing last year’s record-breaking $4.3 billion balance. In addition, the state maintained its ‘rainy day’ fund (Budget Stabilization Fund) at a record-high $1.8 billion, according to the new Annual Fiscal Report released by DOA.
- Gov. Evers announced for the fourth consecutive year that the state’s General Fund recorded a positive balance at the end of the 2022-23 fiscal year using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The state’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report shows the state’s GAAP balance increased by over 40 percent from a positive balance of $4.6 billion at the end of the 2021-22 fiscal year to a new record high of $6.7 billion at the end of the 2022-23 fiscal year.
- After months of collaboration and negotiations between the Office of the Governor, members of the Wisconsin State Legislature, the Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee County, the city of Milwaukee, and local stakeholders and partners, Gov. Evers signed Assembly Bill 438, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 40, and Assembly Bill 439, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 41, to keep the Milwaukee Brewers and Major League Baseball in Wisconsin through 2050.
- Gov. Evers and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) announced $80 million to support entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the state, which is available through the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) under the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). In November, the governor and Sen. Baldwin also announced the SSBCI had awarded the state $1.9 million in technical assistance funding to support legal and financial advice for small businesses.
- Due to the state’s leadership in the field of personalized medicine and biohealth technology, in October, the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) designated Wisconsin as a Regional Technology Hub (RTH). The RTH designation clears the way for Wisconsin to compete for up to $75 million in funding under the federal CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The EDA announced it is also awarding Wisconsin a $350,000 strategic development grant as part of the designation.
- Gov. Evers announced Microsoft will invest billions of dollars to expand its data center footprint in Mount Pleasant, which will bring significant benefits to both the local community and the entire state. Microsoft’s investment is a testament to Wisconsin’s economic strengths, which include a skilled workforce, excellent power and internet infrastructure, and outstanding educational facilities.
- Gov. Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Tourism and the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation, announced that the latest release of data from the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) shows that Wisconsin’s outdoor recreation industry contributed a record-breaking $9.8 billion to the state’s gross domestic product in 2022, growing 6.8 percent over the previous record set in 2021 and supporting more than 94,000 jobs. This comes as earlier in the year, Gov. Evers announced Wisconsin’s tourism industry saw a record-breaking year in 2022, generating $23.7 billion in total economic impact and surpassing the previous record of $22.2 billion set in 2019.
- The Department of Tourism announced Wisconsin as the host for Season 21 of Bravo’s Top Chef. The filming of the show has resulted in between $5 and $6 million in local spending, including approximately 7,000 room nights in Wisconsin.
- In the last year, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) stopped $305 million in fraudulent income tax refunds, returned $38.8 million in unclaimed property, distributed over $2.4 billion to local governments in shared revenue and property tax relief, and the lottery achieved record sales of $981.6 million, over 30 percent of which is typically returned to homeowners in the form of a property tax credit.
- In 2023, DOR’s average processing time for individual income tax returns was fewer than five days, and the tax revenue forecast error was 1.5 percent with an eight-month time horizon, which is within DOR’s two percent objective. This is based on Wisconsin’s history as the best tax forecasting state in the country.
- DOA marked the 40th anniversary of the Supplier Diversity Program, and according to the program’s annual report released this year, the state spent a record $200 million in general procurement, facilities construction, architecture/engineering, and state highway services with Minority Business Enterprises in 2022.
Bolstering the Workforce and Investing in the State’s Child Care Industry
- Gov. Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) celebrated a new record-low unemployment rate of 2.4 percent in April and May, and the state’s unemployment rate held steadily below the national average for the remainder of the year. DWD also reported new record-high non-farm job numbers several months in a row, with the final record of 3,020,300 non-farm jobs in November 2023.
- Gov. Evers signed Executive Order #208, calling a special session of the Legislature to occur on Wed., Sept. 20, 2023, to complete their work on the 2023-25 budget and pass a meaningful, comprehensive plan to address the state’s longstanding, generational workforce challenges. The governor’s plan included investments to prevent a looming collapse of the state’s child care industry, expand paid family leave, invest in higher education to help educate, train, retain, and recruit talented workers, and support targeted solutions to workforce challenges in high-need areas, specifically the state’s healthcare and education workforce sectors.
- After months of inaction from Republicans in the Legislature, Gov. Evers, in October, announced $170 million in emergency funding to the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF) to continue the Child Care Counts Stabilization Payment Program at current levels through June 2025. While the emergency stopgap measure does not meet the same funding levels Child Care Counts has received previously, the funding will still provide direct relief to over 4,400 child care providers across the state to help ensure child care providers can afford to keep their doors open and continue providing care for kids to keep workers in Wisconsin’s workforce.
- The Wisconsin Policy Forum named DCF the inaugural recipient of the La Follette/Gladfelter Award for Innovation in State Government for their efforts in stabilizing and sustaining Wisconsin’s child care industry, including through the successful Child Care Counts and Project Growth grant programs and a historic Wisconsin Shares rate increase that supports families, child care providers, and communities. Child Care Counts has helped more than 4,440 child care providers keep their doors open, ensuring the employment of 22,000 child care professionals and allowing providers to continue care for more than 113,000 kids.
- DCF and the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (WECA) launched the Provider Assistance for Licensing (PAL) program funded through federal relief funds to increase the number of licensed child care providers in Northern and Western Wisconsin by providing grants and technical support to individuals who want to become licensed child care providers. So far, 19 new child care programs have been successfully licensed after going through PAL, with more in the pipeline for 2024.
- Gov. Evers and DWD announced Wisconsin’s Registered Apprenticeship Program achieved a state record of more than 15,900 apprentices during 2022 thanks to strong growth in traditional sectors, including construction and manufacturing, and innovative opportunities in fields such as IT and healthcare. During “National Apprenticeship Week” in November, Gov. Evers and DWD also announced a new all-time record in the program’s 112-year history with 16,384 enrolled apprentices for this year.
- In 2023, DWD awarded more than $5 million in Wisconsin Fast Forward (WFF) Worker Training grants to support employers across the state in providing new or increased wages, $1.1 million through WFF to expand paid internship opportunities for University of Wisconsin (UW) System students in high-demand fields, and $700,000 in Wisconsin Fast Forward Technical Education Equipment grants to help school districts expand advanced manufacturing education programs.
- DWD launched a pilot registered nurse apprenticeship pathway to address the nursing shortage in Wisconsin. In an innovative partnership with UW Health and Madison College, the four-year pilot program is the first of its kind to incorporate an associate degree and compliance with rigorous nursing industry certification standards.
- The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) launched an initiative to train 10,000 people as certified direct care professionals to combat the state’s shortage of caregivers.
- DWD was awarded $806,379 by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to expand the state’s Registered Apprenticeship and Certified Pre-Apprenticeship programs and enhance the state’s connection to the national apprenticeship system.
- In September 2023, DWD was awarded $11.25 million in federal funds by the U.S. DOL to continue strengthening and modernizing the state’s unemployment insurance system. Wisconsin’s unemployment insurance system programming was originally developed in the early 1970s. Gov. Evers has long been a proponent of updating the antiquated system, including calling a special session of the Legislature to fix Wisconsin’s broken unemployment system during his 2021 State of the State address. Gov. Evers later proudly signed 2021 Special Session Senate Bill 1, now 2021 Wisconsin Act 4, bringing the state closer to modernizing Wisconsin’s unemployment system after more than a decade of inaction. According to a recent statement by agency officials at DWD, the state’s modernization efforts are progressing and are expected to be completed “on time and within budget.”
- Gov. Evers and DWD celebrated that more than 33,000 Wisconsin residents have been served through the Workforce Solutions Initiative since its inception. As of October 2023:
- Workforce Innovation Grants have made an impact on 27,020 people;
- The Worker Connection Program has served 2,457 participants; and
- The Worker Advancement Initiative has reached more than 3,881 participants.
- Gov. Evers signed Executive Order #211, creating the Governor’s Task Force on Workforce and Artificial Intelligence, charging the task force with gathering and analyzing information and producing an advisory action plan to identify the current state of generative artificial intelligence’s impact on Wisconsin’s labor market and to develop informed predictions regarding its implications for the near term and future. Gov. Evers later announced 30 members of the task force, including leaders from state government, academia, nonprofit organizations, the technology industry, and other sectors.
- Gov. Evers signed several bills providing general wage increases for certain state of Wisconsin employees, including state attorneys, troopers and inspectors in the Wisconsin State Patrol, UW System employees, and those in the building trades. Gov. Evers later signed Senate Bills 554 and 555, 2023 Wisconsin Acts 38 and 39, respectively, which provide additional general wage adjustments for State Patrol troopers and inspectors and state of Wisconsin employees in the building trades for 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- Additionally, as part of the new Compensation Plan, the starting pay for correctional officers was increased to $33 per hour, which can be as high as $41 per hour with add-ons. Hiring security staff has been a challenge at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections’ (DOC) adult institutions, and it is expected that these wage increases will have a substantial impact on the department’s recruitment and retention efforts. For example, with the influx of new recruits graduating from the academy, the vacancy rate is projected to decrease from 35 percent to 26 percent heading into 2024.
- Gov. Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) announced new efforts improving professional license processes. The efforts include a new public-facing licensing dashboard designed to help improve transparency around licensing processes and department processing capacity. As a result of reforms and improvements made within the department, license review times for new applications have dropped to three days on average, plan review times for commercial, industrial, and other public buildings have dropped from 60-80 days in 2017-18 to 11-23 days as of December 2023, and legal review times have dropped from a six-week average processing time in 2022 to a two-week average processing time in 2023—a decrease of 67 percent.
- DSPS, in the last year, has developed collaborations with the UW System, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, and DHS, as well as the Dentistry Examining Board, the Wisconsin Dental Association, and the Marquette University School of Dentistry, to reduce bottlenecks and streamline licensing in a variety of health-related fields.
Doing What’s Best for Kids
- The 2023-25 budget signed by Gov. Evers made historic progress toward fully funding public schools by providing an overall increase of nearly $1.2 billion in spendable authority for public school districts. This increase is more than ten times larger than the increase in spendable authority for public school districts in the 2021-23 biennium. The governor’s partial veto also provided school districts with continued, additive per pupil revenue adjustments of $325 every year through 2425, ensuring predictable, long-term spending authority increases to help meet rising costs for the foreseeable future. This budget also:
- Provided $97 million over the biennium to achieve a special education reimbursement rate of 33.3 percent each year, which is the highest reimbursement rate the state has seen in over 20 years;
- Set aside $50 million to improve reading and literacy outcomes for K-12 students; and
- Provided $30 million to continue support for school-based mental health services modeled on the governor’s successful “Get Kids Ahead” Initiative.
- Gov. Evers signed Assembly Bill 321, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 20, which makes several comprehensive updates to literacy instruction in the state designed to help improve reading and literacy outcomes for K-12 students. Some aspects of Act 20 were also designed to use $50 million previously
