A Dairyland Sentinel Perspectives column by Christopher Mohrman
What a shame.
Today Governor Evers vetoed Assembly Bill 602 which would have allowed all Wisconsin parents to access new educational scholarships, at zero cost to the state. The scholarships could go to any family earning under 300% of the median income of the area they live in, and for any kind of educational use, from tutoring to supplemental summer camps to tuition assistance at a school.
There will be more to say on this in the coming days. Fortunately, this is a rare instance where the Governor’s ill-thought veto can be corrected exactly as the Democrat Governor of North Carolina announced he would do after vetoing essentially the same bill that was passed in that state.
“I see opportunities for federal scholarship donation tax credit program to benefit North Carolina’s public school kids…I intend to opt North Carolina in so we can invest in the public school students most in need of after school programs, tutoring and other resources,” Josh Stein, the Democratic Governor of North Carolina wrote.
Fellow Democrat Governor of Colorado Jared Polis also got it right when he said, “I think that the much broader benefit to so many Colorado families will be after-school activities, and learning for kids that are in public school, summer school activities, tutoring — so many areas that really kids and families will benefit from.“
Governor Polis went so far as to call opting into the tax credit a “no brainer.”
For today, it suffices to point out some blatant false statements in the Governor’s veto message, all with the hope this is reconsidered and Wisconsin money is not shipped off to other states.
- The Governor wrote that the federal program will “effectively redirect public funds to private school tuition…”. This is simply false. Not one dime of state money or any money for Wisconsin school districts is in any manner impacted by this federal program. The idea that federal income tax credits are somehow money “redirected” from Wisconsin public schools to private schools is, to put it kindly, utter nonsense.
- The Governor wrote that the new federal tax credit is, “the first major federal program to effectively redirect public funds to private school tuition…” This is simply false. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, which the new tax credit program is explicitly based upon and cross references for the definition of “qualified educational expenses,” was created two decades ago. Tens of thousands of Wisconsinites have received federal tax cuts from that program over many years. If you have a solid case for a veto, why fabricate information in the veto message?
- Returning to the Governor’s statement the federal tax credit is all about “private school tuition.” Just wrong again. The tax credit can fund qualified educational expenses for any family, regardless of the type of school their child attends. It is this very fact that two Democratic governors have already cited in opting their states into the new scholarships.
The Governor got one thing spot on. He closes the message by writing, “perhaps I am wrong…”
Wisconsin taxpayers can, and will take advantage of this new tax credit to cut their federal taxes by $1,700 and instead let that money be used directly by parents for all kinds of educational needs. It just won’t be Wisconsin parents who get to use the funds, unless the Governor recognizes this veto was wrong by January 1, 2027.
What a shame.
Mohrman is a national legal scholar, specializing in education policy, and a former senior advisor to Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. A native of Bloomer, Wisconsin, he most recently co-authored a nation-wide column with former Education Secretary William J. Bennett, in which they advocated for all states to authorize this new federal tax credit.
Published March 30, 2026
Previously at Dairyland Sentinel
