Our State Budget Primer

Highlights

Budget Kickoff & Pending Agencies: September 15 was the statutory deadline for state agencies to submit 2027–2029 budget requests; while 32 smaller agencies/boards have been processed, major cabinet agencies (such as Health Services, Transportation, Natural Resources, Corrections, and Public Instruction) have not yet been made public by the State Budget Office.

Notable Spending Requests: Overall state funding requests are led by the Universities of Wisconsin ($730.0M All Funds, including a $190.0M GPR “Tuition Pledge” to freeze resident undergraduate tuition). The Wisconsin Elections Commission requested $21.82 million All Funds for the 2027–2029 biennium, a 30.8% GPR increase ($14.37 million total GPR), and requested +13.0 new permanent positions (expanding agency staff from 36.0 to 49.0 FTEs) to handle information technology, Help Desk, legal, and clerk training workloads..

Fiscal Environment: Most cabinet agencies strictly adhered to Governor Tony Evers’ “zero-growth” mandate for General Purpose Revenue and completed Act 201 5% budget reduction exercises, despite state forecasters projecting a general fund surplus approaching $3 billion.

The starting gun has officially fired on Wisconsin’s next state budget. September 15 marks the statutory deadline for state agencies to submit their formal biennial funding wishlists to the Department of Administration Division of Executive Budget and Finance.

The submissions officially kick off a nearly year-long marathon that will ultimately determine how taxpayer dollars are spent from July 2027 through June 2029. While the final product won’t be signed until next summer, the critical first steps have been playing out inside state agency offices for months, and official requests are now rolling in.

Editor’s Note on Agency Availability: As of press time on September 15, the Department of Administration’s consolidated portal at Wisconsin Department of Administration Biennial Budget Requests continues to process incoming documents. A number of major executive cabinet agencies—including the Department of Health Services, Department of Transportation, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Corrections, and Department of Public Instruction, ave not yet made their complete agency budget documents publicly available. Our tracking database will be updated immediately as additional agency requests are published by the State Budget Office.

Decoding the Jargon: “General Purpose Revenue” vs. “All Funds”

When the final tally of all state requests is published, the top-line number will be massive—likely well over $100 billion. However, lawmakers won’t actually be fighting over all of that money.

State budgets are divided into distinct funding buckets. The massive headline number is the “All Funds” budget. But that total is significantly higher than the General Purpose Revenue budget, which is generated by general state taxes like income and sales taxes. General Purpose Revenue represents the flexible state dollars over which the governor and lawmakers have the most policy control.

The remainder of the “All Funds” total consists of restricted revenue streams:

Federal Funds (Program Revenue-Federal / Segregated Revenue-Federal): Grants and aid passed down from Washington, D.C.
Program Revenue: Money earned by charging specific service fees, such as university tuition, professional licenses, or state park passes.
Segregated Funds: Cash legally walled off for dedicated uses, such as the state gas tax feeding the Transportation Fund.

Capital infrastructure projects—such as major university buildings or state facilities—are funded via borrowing and tracked in a separate Capital Budget, with only the ongoing “debt service” (the state’s monthly loan payment) appearing in the main operating budget.

The Running Tally: 32 Agencies Processed

Below is the current synthesis of the 32 state agencies, commissions, and authorities whose biennial budget submissions have been parsed and logged into our master database:

Major Higher Education & Economic Authorities

Universities of Wisconsin: The Board of Regents approved a $730.0 million operating budget request. The proposal centers on a $190.0 million “Tuition Pledge” to freeze resident undergraduate tuition across the 2027–2029 biennium. Seeking 497.0 new full-time equivalent positions to support workforce development, advising, and health care pipelines, alongside a $2.0 billion capital budget request.
Office of the Commissioner of Insurance: Requested $709.6 million All Funds ($64.7 million General Purpose Revenue) with 0 new positions. Includes an $18.7 million net General Purpose Revenue reduction as increased federal funding offsets state costs for the Wisconsin Healthcare Stability Plan reinsurance program.
Department of Revenue: Requested $567.0 million All Funds ($445.96 million General Purpose Revenue) and +43.0 net new positions. Key proposals include a self-funded 19.0 position expansion of the Statewide Debt Collection program (projected to recover $40 million annually), an 18.0 position regulatory framework for legalizing medical and recreational marijuana (targeting $341 million in annual tax revenue by Year 4), $4.2 million for cybersecurity identity verification, and 4.0 positions for a centralized gaming enforcement unit.
Office of the State Public Defender: Requested $354.89 million All Funds ($351.77 million General Purpose Revenue) and +162.50 new positions. Seeking 140.5 positions for trial/appellate workload staffing to reduce court backlog, raising private bar attorney rates to $177/hour for major felonies, and replacing the legacy electronic public defender case management system.
Department of Veterans Affairs: Requested $329.72 million All Funds ($4.69 million General Purpose Revenue) with 0 new positions. Highlights include a $50.0 million General Fund transfer request to support operations across State Veterans Homes (King, Union Grove, Chippewa Falls) and $9.6 million for cybersecurity infrastructure.
Higher Educational Aids Board: Requested $324.7 million All Funds ($321.0 million General Purpose Revenue) with 0 new positions to maintain baseline state financial aid. Seeking a statutory voting seat for Tribal Colleges on its board and an administrative attachment to the Department of Administration.
Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection: Requested $274.2 million All Funds ($83.7 million General Purpose Revenue) with 0 new positions. Asks include $10.0 million in new soil and water conservation bonding and $12.8 million over the biennium to support county conservation staff.
State of Wisconsin Investment Board: Submitted a flat Program Revenue request of $226.52 million ($0 General Purpose Revenue) with 0 new positions. The Investment Board manages $185.3 billion in state assets, including the $161.6 billion fully funded Wisconsin Retirement System.
Wisconsin Technical College System: Approved a $168.0 million request focused on workforce expansion, dedicating $54.2 million specifically to dual-enrollment programs for high school students.
State Building Commission: Requested $105.65 million All Funds ($99.36 million General Purpose Revenue) with 0 positions to cover debt service, principal repayment, and interest for state facility bonding.
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation: Requested $97.85 million in Segregated Funds ($0 General Purpose Revenue) with 0 state positions. Proposed modernizing the Economic Development Surcharge by raising the maximum cap from $9,800 to $15,000 to generate $7.4 million annually against inflation.

Public Safety, Regulatory & Executive Agencies

Department of Military Affairs: Requested $458.98 million All Funds ($90.25 million General Purpose Revenue) with 0 new positions. Priorities include $3.45 million to provide required matching funds for the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program, $1.8 million for information technology/network cyber defenses, and a Wisconsin Disaster Fund statutory cleanup.
Public Service Commission: Requested $87.61 million All Funds ($0 General Purpose Revenue) with 0 new positions. Includes $1.13 million for information technology server storage and electronic services modernization, $500,000 annually for Intervenor Compensation, and $208,900 to fund Department of Natural Resources environmental reviews.
Department of Financial Institutions: Requested $52.3 million Program Revenue ($0 General Purpose Revenue) and +4.0 new positions. Funding covers cybersecurity upgrades and four new regulatory specialists to investigate online scams and cryptocurrency fraud.
Educational Communications Board: Requested $46.0 million All Funds ($14.7 million General Purpose Revenue) with 0 net new positions. Seeking $1.3 million General Purpose Revenue to upgrade Emergency Alert System cyber infrastructure following federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding cuts.
Medical College of Wisconsin: Requested a flat $29.4 million All Funds ($28.9 million General Purpose Revenue) with 0 new positions for medical student tuition aid and rural residency programs.
Wisconsin Elections Commission: Requested $21.82 million All Funds ($14.37 million General Purpose Revenue) and +13.0 new permanent positions. Seeking $3.75 million Program Revenue to rebuild the WisVote 2.0 statewide voter registration database on .NET before Microsoft ends Dynamics support in 2029, +13.0 positions for information technology, Help Desk, and legal capacity, and $81,300 for Electronic Registration Information Center voter list maintenance.
Environmental Improvement Program: Requested a flat $17.0 million All Funds ($9.0 million General Purpose Revenue) with 0 positions for municipal clean water and drinking water loan debt service.
Board on Aging and Long-Term Care: Requested $11.74 million All Funds ($5.32 million General Purpose Revenue) and +9.50 new positions to expand Medigap Helpline counselors and Ombudsman advocates.
Office of the Governor: Requested $9.92 million General Purpose Revenue with 0 new positions, submitting a zero-growth baseline request for executive administration and residence operations.
Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board: Requested a flat $8.84 million All Funds ($3.99 million General Purpose Revenue) with 0 new positions for Family Resource Centers.
Labor and Industry Review Commission: Requested $6.4 million All Funds ($371,000 General Purpose Revenue) and +1.0 position Legal Associate for worker’s compensation appeals.
Board for People with Developmental Disabilities: Requested $3.41 million All Funds ($188,400 General Purpose Revenue) with 0 new positions under its federal state plan.
Kickapoo Reserve Management Board: Requested $2.75 million Segregated/Program Revenue ($0 General Purpose Revenue) and +3.0 new positions (two Foresters, one Recreation Technician).
Employment Relations Commission: Requested $2.4 million All Funds ($2.1 million General Purpose Revenue) with 0 new positions.
Office of the Secretary of State: Requested $1.89 million Program Revenue ($0 General Purpose Revenue) and +4.0 new positions for apostille processing and records archiving, proposing to eliminate the mandatory fee lapse to the General Fund and expand Department of Financial Institutions transfers.
Office of the Lieutenant Governor: Requested $1.08 million General Purpose Revenue with 0 new positions.
Judicial Commission: Requested a flat $743,600 General Purpose Revenue with 0 new positions.
Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board: Requested $598,600 Segregated Revenue ($0 General Purpose Revenue) with 0 new positions.
Office of the State Treasurer: Requested $532,200 Program Revenue ($0 General Purpose Revenue) and +1.0 position Program & Policy Analyst to boost unclaimed property returns.
Fox River Navigational System Authority: Requested $300,000 Segregated Revenue ($0 General Purpose Revenue) with 0 new positions.
Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority: Receives $0 in state funds, requesting statutory policy modifications to finance non-profit working capital.

The Executive “Zero-Growth” Mandate & Act 201

For cabinet agencies, funding requests are tightly restrained by executive instruction. Gov. Tony Evers issued a strict “zero-growth” policy for the 2027–2029 budget submission, directing agencies not to request new General Purpose Revenue spending or expanded staff positions unless specific statutory or safety exceptions apply.

Under state budget rules, agencies must request baseline tax funding equal to their adjusted base year doubled. Furthermore, under Wisconsin Act 201, every state agency must submit a contingency exercise detailing how it would absorb a 5 percent budget reduction.

This fiscal restraint occurs as state revenue analysts project a general fund surplus approaching $3 billion heading into 2027. With leadership urging caution against long-term operational expansions, agency heads are maintaining tight baseline requests.

Political Dynamics & Next Steps

This budget cycle is shaped by an impending transition in executive and legislative leadership. With Governor Evers not seeking a third term, a new governor will take office in January 2027 to deliver the formal executive proposal. Also significant, legislative leadership changes and contested races mean the final budget bill will be crafted under new political leadership and possibly under Democratic legislative control for the first time in a decade.

Following the September 15 deadline, the State Budget Office and the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau will analyze agency requests. Key milestones over the next year include:

The Budget Timeline

Once the DOA finalizes its receipt of all agency requests today, the Governor’s office and the LFB will spend the fall analyzing the numbers, agency performance metrics, and anticipated tax revenues. By early next year, the legislative branch will take the reins.

Here is a look at the road ahead for the 2027-2029 budget (Click on icon for details):

September 15, 2026

Agency Requests Deadline

The statutory deadline for state agencies to submit their formal budget requests to the Department of Administration.

January/February 2027

Governor’s Executive Budget

The Governor presents an executive budget proposal to the newly sworn-in legislature. The budget is handed over to the Joint Committee on Finance (JCF).

Spring 2027

Legislative Review & Hearings

The Joint Committee on Finance effectively takes control of the bill. The committee travels the state to hold public hearings, allowing citizens to weigh in. Following hearings, the committee frequently rewrites significant portions of the Governor’s proposal.

June 2027

Floor Votes

The revised budget heads to the full Assembly and Senate. A majority vote is required in both chambers. If the two houses pass different versions, a conference committee is convened to iron out the differences.

July 2027

The Veto Pen & Enactment

The finalized bill returns to the governor, who reviews the legislation and can make alterations before signing it. Wisconsin’s governor wields one of the most powerful “partial veto” powers in the country, allowing them to strike specific words, numbers, and appropriations from the document. The legislature can attempt to override any vetoes, but such attempts have rarely succeeded over the past several decades.

The goal is to have the new budget signed and effective by July 1, 2027. However, a government shutdown does not happen if political gridlock pushes the process past the deadline. Agencies would simply continue to operate at their previous funding levels until a new deal is reached.