The MacIver Report: Wisconsin This Week
MacIver News Minute: LFB Underestimates Evers' Budget Costs By Billions

No one ever questions the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) and with good reason. It is a non-partisan office of absolute professionals who serve as the legislature’s official accountants. But they are dead wrong when they say that Gov. Evers’ budget would raise taxes and fees by $2.6 billion. It’s not even close. $2.6 billion is less than half of what it would actually be.
The biggest omission is Evers’ plan to increase hospital assessment fees by $3.3 billion to increase funding to Medicaid. Hospitals will, of course, shift those costs onto other patients who are not on Medicaid. That brings Evers’ total up to at least $5.9 billion.
There’s even more to this story that you can apparently only get from the MacIver Institute.
- Broadcast on:
- 01 Apr 2025
No one ever questions the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) and with good reason. It is a non-partisan office of absolute professionals who serve as the legislature’s official accountants. But they are dead wrong when they say that Gov. Evers’ budget would raise taxes and fees by $2.6 billion. It’s not even close. $2.6 billion is less than half of what it would actually be.
The biggest omission is Evers’ plan to increase hospital assessment fees by $3.3 billion to increase funding to Medicaid. Hospitals will, of course, shift those costs onto other patients who are not on Medicaid. That brings Evers’ total up to at least $5.9 billion.
There’s even more to this story that you can apparently only get from the MacIver Institute.