Browsing: Government Transparency

An unnecessary second stimulus is an invitation for state, county and local officials to act irresponsibly with our tax money

Massive federal spending leaves many in the Badger State better off, but the bill is coming due

Badger Institute Public Affairs Associate David Fladeboe submitted written testimony in favor of 2021 AB 149 before the Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Constitution and Ethics on March 10, 2021.

2021 AB 149 would increase the Legislature’s role in approving the expenditure of federal funds related to COVID-19.

Nearly 90,000 Wisconsin small businesses that have taken out loans under the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) will face hundreds of millions of dollars in state income tax liability on those loans this spring, despite the loans being tax-free at the federal level.

As streetcar ridership and funding dwindle, alderman warns of long-term fiscal burden

Brief suggests ways to make officer discipline fair, quick, transparent and decisive

Preferential contracts undermine the truly disadvantaged, and programs are prone to fraud

The current system is vulnerable to politics and perverse incentives

Even failed and troubled ones like the Job Corps training centers are nearly impossible to shut down

Travaux, the authority’s nonprofit arm, has strong ties to Milwaukee city government

The Milwaukee Housing Authority competes with private developers with its luxury apartment project downtown

Last month, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue released data showing the state’s general fund tax collections for fiscal year (FY) 2019 were up nearly $1.2 billion, or 7.4 percent, from FY 2018, and nearly $703 million higher than anticipated when the state’s FY 2018-19 budget was adopted.

The use of historic designation nowadays often has nothing to do with preservation

Wisconsin’s deal should be scrapped for reasons far beyond the possible switch from factory jobs to research jobs

James Madison would be dismayed by his namesake capital’s role in relinquishing local control to get federal grants

Wisconsin newspapers fail to disclose left-wing funding sources for hundreds of stories they publish

New Badger Institute book finds federal grants deprive us of our money, liberty and trust.

How federal grants are depriving us of our money, liberty and trust in government – and what we can do about it. This book by the Badger Institute urges states to push back.

It would seem a simple question to ask of any public agency: How much money do you spend and on what?

‘I have to do a lot of paperwork and spend time testing my kids instead of teaching my kids’