Bipartisan Deal Reached to Save Milwaukee From Bankruptcy

MADISON, Wis. (AP) Republican lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers announced Thursday that they had reached a bipartisan deal to provide more funding to local governments across Wisconsin, including allowing cash-strapped Milwaukee to raise sales taxes without voter approval.

As part of the deal, the GOP-controlled Legislature agreed to spending an additional $1 billion on K-12 schools, along with increasing payments to families whose children attend taxpayer-funded private voucher schools. Evers, a former state superintendent of education in the first year of his second term as governor, has made spending more on education a cornerstone of his time in office.

The much-discussed local government funding plan has taken on urgency in the Legislature this year. Milwaukee officials have warned about dire consequences and deep cuts as the city faces bankruptcy by 2025. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson warned lawmakers of catastrophic budget cuts" if a deal for more funding wasn't reached.