(The Center Square) – Wisconsin state agencies have requested to spend $53.8 billion next fiscal year and $55.8 billion in fiscal 2026-27 in the state’s upcoming biennial budget.
Those are increases from the adjusted base of $49.4 billion this fiscal year with a large portion of that increase coming from the Department of Public Instruction’s $3 billion requested increase and Gov. Tony Evers’ proposed $800 million increase for the University of Wisconsin System.
The combined requests are for roughly $5.2 billion, according to the state’s Department of Administration.
The budget requests would be an 8.8% spending increase in 2025-26 and a 3.7% increase in 2026-27.
Evers’ recommended budget will be submitted to the Wisconsin Legislature in early 2025. The state is projected to have a $4 billion surplus by the end of this fiscal year.
The state is expected to collect more than $22 billion in taxes this fiscal year, a 3.2% increase equal to $683.1 million, this year.
Estimates were also recently updated for the next two years with $22.7 billion in tax collections expected in fiscal 2025-26 and more than $23 billion expected in collections in 2026-27.
“Agency budget requests do not generally include funding for possible increases in debt service, fuel and utilities, state employee compensation and fringe benefits, or University of Wisconsin faculty pay adjustments,” the Department of Administration overview of budget requests said. “These items will be addressed in the Governor’s recommendations in the budget bill he submits to the Legislature in early 2025. In addition, state agencies’ capital budget requests are not included in this document.”