Gov. Tony Evers Unveils 2025-27 Budget Proposal

Governor Tony Evers recently unveiled his 2025-27 state budget proposal, which focuses on education, healthcare, environmental, and tax initiatives. The proposal also includes numerous economic development-related provisions, which include the following, broken down by state agency/issue area:

  • WEDC:
    • Main Street Bounceback Grant Program – $50 million to restart funding for the Main Street Bounceback grant program to aid businesses in occupying or expanding into vacant commercial spaces
    • Advanced Manufacturing Grants – $5 million to establish a matching grant program for small and midsized manufacturing companies located in Wisconsin for investments in advanced manufacturing technologies.
    • Rural Capacity Building – $5 million to fund the Thrive Rural Wisconsin project to increase the availability and accessibility of local project capital in rural Wisconsin.
    • Opportunity Attraction Fund – $5 million to the opportunity attraction fund to bolster the state’s resources for attracting opportunities and events to the state.
    • Enterprise Zone Jobs Credit and Business Development Credit Wage Minimums – Increase the wage thresholds for the enterprise zone jobs tax credit and the business development tax credit.
    • Business Development Tax Credit Workforce Housing Modifications – Modify the BTC’s incentive related to workforce housing to specify that the qualifying workforce housing does not need to be exclusively for the employer’s workers to qualify for credit earnings.
    • WEDC Funding Level – Increase WEDC’s total annual baseline block grant funding from $41,550,700 to $46,000,000.
    • Enterprise Zone Jobs Credit Limit – Implement a 30-zone limit on the Enterprise Zone Jobs Credit program and repeal the current law allowing WEDC to designate additional enterprise zones subject to the Legislature’s approval.
    • Historic Rehabilitation Credit Technical Modifications – Modify the historic rehabilitation tax credit program under Wisconsin law to eliminate the requirement that projects must have $50,000 in qualifying expenditures.
  • Housing:
    • TIF for Workforce Housing – Modify current TIF law to increase the amount of residential housing development in a mixed-used TID from 35% to 60%, if the additional 25% is comprised of workforce housing.
    • TIF Lifespan Extension for Housing – Increase the current allowable extension to a TID’s lifespan from one year to three years for housing purposes.
    • State Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Increase – Increase the total amount of state housing tax credits that may be authorized annually by WHEDA from $42 million to $100 million.
    • Workforce Housing RLF Programs – Modify current law to improve the Infrastructure Access Loan program, the Vacancy-to-Vitality program, and the Restore Main Street program and to encourage greater use of the programs by local communities.
    • Local Affordable Housing and Workforce Development Grants – $1 million for a grant program that would support new programs of local units of government, businesses, nonprofits, and school districts that focus on the development of the skilled workforce through the building or rehabilitation of affordable housing in their communities.
  • DWD
    • Workforce Innovation Grant Continuation and Expansion – $140 million to establish an ongoing workforce innovation grant fund to allow eligible entities to apply for funding to support locally driven workforce solutions.
    • Workforce Advancement Program – $20 million for the establishment of an ongoing Wisconsin Worker Advancement Program to engage in outreach efforts to reach population groups disconnected from the labor force.
    • Youth Apprenticeship Appropriation – Increasing expenditure authority for local youth apprenticeship grants to allow grant awards to fully match demand without restricting program participation.
  • DOR
    • TIF Equalized Value Limitation Exception – Allow municipalities to exceed the 12% TIF limit on the creation of new TIDs if the municipality certifies to DOR that a TID or TIDs with sufficient value increment to bring the municipality back below the 12% threshold will close in the following year.
    • Manufacturing and Agriculture Tax Credit – Limit to $300,000 the amount of income from manufacturing that can be claimed under the credit.
  • PSC
    • Broadband Expansion Grant Program – $400 million in additional funding for the state program to meet broadband needs in remote and hard-to-serve locations that will not be addressed with federal funds.
    • Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity Final Action Extension – Modify current law to allow the PSC chairperson to grant an additional 180-day extension before taking final action on a project’s CPCN.

While there are numerous positive economic development proposals in the Governor’s budget – along with some of concern – it is important to note the Legislature will likely set aside the Governor’s budget and build the two-year budget bill “from scratch” during the Joint Finance Committee process.