Legislative proposals introduced that intend to curb school referendums in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. (Civic Media) – A set of proposals intended to limit the practice of ballot measures placed by school districts in Wisconsin has been introduced in the state legislature for sponsorship.

The trio of legislative memos would eliminate recurring referendums, require tax impact statements as part of the referendum language on ballots, and block large referendums from being calculated in equalization aid.

After a record-setting year for school referendums in Wisconsin, there are 94 scheduled for this spring, including five on Tuesday in the primary. Legislators are concerned that the amount of school referendums will contribute to rising property taxes and inequal distribution of state aid.

The first proposal, targeting recurring operating referendums, is authored by Republican Rep. Cindi Duchow and Sen. Chris Kapenga. It would cap operating referendums to four years. The memo states that recurring referendums would take power away from taxpayers who can’t vote on whether to continue exceeding levy limits to pay for operations at school districts.

Proposal number two would add estimated tax impacts to the referendum language on ballots. Most school districts already provide this information readily, but the proposal adds several financial figures to the ballot. Republican Rep. Scott Allen and Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara authored the proposal, justifying it by saying it helps voters make an informed choice.

Finally, the third proposal would remove referendum funds over $50 million from the equalized aid formula. The authors are Republican Rep. Scott Allen and Sen. Julian Bradley. The goal is to prevent the loss of equalization aid from other districts in the state to help cover large referendums. The memo cites Milwaukee and lists examples of Madison, Waukesha, and Wautoma as districts that send money to Milwaukee.

The state legislature has several bills dealing with education topics already introduced, including repeat bills from the last legislative session on school curriculum reviews and cursive writing. Some of the other bills including banning electronic communication devices from classrooms, requiring 70% of a district’s budget to be spent on classrooms, school safety grants, and adding a civics course.