Bill to Study Putting Educators in State Health Plan Goes to Committee
Bill to Study Putting Educators in State Group Health Insurance Assigned to Committee
With educator health insurance premiums increasing three times as fast as wages and hundreds of dollars more coming out of paychecks for co-pays and deductibles, more teachers and staff are leaving the profession for jobs with better benefits. In response, a bill (SB516) has been introduced to initiate a study into putting educators in the state group health insurance. The bill is in the Senate Committee on Insurance, Housing, Rural Issues and Forestry. WEAC supports.
General Aids for Public Schools
WEAC President Peggy Wirtz-Olsen spoke at a recent news conference at the state Capitol in support of the Kids First package of bills consistent with WEAC’s demands to increase school generalization aid, require voucher transparency and provide healthy school meals for all. While WEAC continues to advocate for a sweeping package to support public education in the wake of a disappointing 2025-27 state budget, Wirtz-Olsen said these initiatives cannot wait. The bill to provide an increase in general aids for schools (AB 495) comes after the 2025-27 state budget was passed with zero increases in this area. The bill would guarantee that every school district receives at least as much state aid as it did last school year. The bill is in the Assembly Education Committee.
Bill Package Seeks to Even the Voucher Playing Field, Require Transparency
There are several bills introduced by Democrats to require private schools receiving taxpayer funding through vouchers to follow some of the same high standards as public schools, along with improving transparency about where the money goes. All bills are in the Assembly Education Committee.
- Income Requirements. This bill (AB 496) would ensure fiscal responsibility in government-issued voucher payments, calling for families exceeding 220 percent of the federal poverty level to leave the taxpayer-funded program. Currently, if a family income increases while in the voucher program, vouchers are still provided in Wisconsin’s once-on-a-voucher, always-on-a-voucher system.
- Open Meetings. This bill (AB497) would apply Wisconsin’s public records and open meetings laws to privately run charters and voucher schools, the same as public schools follow. Bill authors note that since many of these institutions take state funding for most or all of their students they are essentially government-funded and should be transparent to taxpayers who fund them.
- Tax Bill Transparency. This bill (AB 504) would require the amount of taxpayer funding for private schools receiving vouchers to be printed on the property tax bill, rather than the current practice of accounting the entire amount of school funding under the local public school district.
- Prohibiting corporal punishment in public and private schools. This bill (AB 500) would expand current law prohibiting corporal punishment in public schools to private run charter schools and private institution taking government funding through vouchers.
Bill Would Loosen Voucher Requirements on Verifying Residency. Republicans have introduced a bill (AB 485) to ban the Department of Public Instruction from verifying the residence of a family before issuing a government-funded private school voucher, unless the family reports their residence has changed. The bill is in the Assembly Education Committee.
Other Bills We’re Watching
‘Free speech, academic freedom’ at UW and WTCS. This Republican bill (AB 501) establishes due process in disciplinary proceedings at UW and WTCS campuses, setting certain standards and opening the schools to lawsuits. Referred to Committee on Colleges and Universities.
Circulating for Co-Sponsorship
Dual enrollment. This proposal would change Wisconsin’s dual enrollment regulation to expand access for high school students.
Income tax subtraction for education loan payments. This proposal would create a new individual income tax deduction for both principal and interest paid on qualified education loans, especially useful for families who are unable to save for higher education costs through Wisconsin’s EdVest program. For the 2025 tax year, the deduction would be limited to $5,130, an amount that, like EdVest, would then be adjusted annually for inflation. Under existing law, borrowers may only deduct up to $2,500 in interest payments, a benefit that is quickly phased out as a graduate’s income rises.
