During his 2025 budget address at the State Capitol, Gov. Tony Evers honed in on the tax cuts to child care and prescription budget plans introduced at January’s State of the State, along with health care accountability and farmer support.
Tax relief to lower prescription costs
Evers plans to provide nearly $2 billion in tax relief over the next biennium. He asked for bipartisan support on a plan to lower out-of-pocket expenses for working families, including child care and prescription costs.
The budget would prevent a property tax increase for the average homeowner. As an incentive, he said local governments will receive direct payment from the state to not raise property taxes.
Evers aims to lower prescription costs and price gouging. The “Less for Rx” plan would reduce costs of life-saving medication including insulin, which would be capped at $35, and a Prescription Drug Affordability Review Board would be implemented to prevent price gouging.
Evers also wants to eliminate over-the-counter medication sales taxes, which he said would save Wisconsinites a projected $70 million over the next two years.
‘Year of the Kid’ budget plans
To further the 2025 “Year of the Kid,” Evers announced the “most pro-kid budget in state history.”
Evers’ investment would work to hire more staff, decrease waitlists and lower overall costs of child care. He said parents should not leave work because they cannot afford child care, as it is detrimental to Wisconsin’s economy.
“That’s a win-win-win-win for our kids, our families, our workforce and our state,” Evers said.
The Legislature will also be asked to approve an $80 million investment in literacy support, such as coaches and tutors, to improve the state’s reading scores. Wisconsin’s scores show only 31% of young students being proficient in reading, with Black and Hispanic students scoring even lower.
Evers also wants to combat lead exposure from water in schools and homes. He said Wisconsin kids in recent weeks have experienced lead poisoning due to “dangerous levels of lead” at school.
“At school, folks. That should never happen anywhere in Wisconsin. Period,” Evers said. He plans to invest over $300 million to remove lead from water sources with bipartisan support.
Evers will ask the Legislature to support an investment of over $145 million to eliminate PFAS contamination and provide resources to communities affected by contaminated water.
Agriculture investments
Evers addressed the effect President Donald Trump’s tariffs will have on Wisconsin exporters, farmers and consumers. He said the 25% tariff could spark trade wars that would hurt the state’s economy after working toward becoming a top 10 state for agriculture.
“We can’t afford to lose our momentum because of tariff wars in Washington,” Evers said. He wants to double investments in the Wisconsin Initiative for Ag Exports to increase dairy, meat and crop exports, as well as expanding farmers and producers into other markets.
Earlier this month, Evers announced with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation a $100 million investment for 55 new projects across 36 counties to help farmers and producers transport their products to stores. This plan includes improvements to rural roads and infrastructure through the Agricultural Roads Improvement Program.
Tonight, Evers announced to invest another $50 million to continue the program to ensure reliable roads for farmers and producers. His plan will also create a new agriculture economist position in the state government to help farmers and producers overcome the obstacles caused by Trump’s tariffs.
Insurance company accountability
Evers aims to implement a bill to extend postpartum coverage for pregnant women on BadgerCare to up to one year after giving birth. He said this is a bipartisan bill that 48 other states have adopted and a supermajority of the Wisconsin Legislature supports.
“Wisconsinites aren’t getting a fair shake when it comes to health care,” Evers said.
Additionally, Evers wants Wisconsin to be the first state to audit insurance companies over health care claim denials.
“If an insurance company is going to deny your health care claim, they should have a darn good reason for it,” Evers said. This plan would also create an office devoted to helping Wisconsinites get the coverage they need and holding insurance companies accountable.
Evers also wants to eliminate “prior authorizations” that require health professionals to wait for permission from the insurance company to provide care or medication.
“They’re banking on being able to avoid covering the services and treatment you need,” Evers said. Health conditions can worsen and become life-threatening between the time of request and authorization, Evers said, and he wants automatic approval.
UW System budget increase
Evers will ask the Legislature to approve an additional $856 million in funding for the University of Wisconsin System, the largest two-year increase in history.
With the Trump administration's federal efforts to cut higher education budgets, Evers said “UW could get a whole lot worse.”
UW System has faced multiple campus closings, tuition increases and staff layoffs, and Evers said he aims to protect the system with his budget proposal.
