From James McKenzie

Monroe

& Jon Aleckson

Candidate for State Assembly

To the Editor:

As a concerned citizen of Monroe, I (James McKenzie) am disappointed that the bipartisan bill to return part of Wisconsin’s budget surplus to our schools, special education programs, and taxpayers failed in the Senate.

Our Senator Howard Marklein was a strong supporter of this negotiated bipartisan legislation. However, 15 Democrat members of the Senate voted against the bill, which would have lowered property taxes, provided income tax relief to working families, and significantly increased funding for special education.

Republican Assembly candidate Jon Aleckson shares my disappointment and joins me in these views. According to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau’s May 12, 2026, analysis of the May 2026 Special Session bill (LRB-6707 and LRB-6710), Monroe School District would have received:

● Additional special education aid: funding would have substantially improved reimbursement for the district’s costs serving students with disabilities: $281,000 right away and more than $763,000 next year for our local schools and families.

● New general school aid: An estimated $855,102, providing direct property tax relief to Monroe homeowners and taxpayers.

That’s more than $1.9 million for our local schools and families — all from existing surplus dollars, without raising taxes.

Some conservatives preferred returning all the surplus directly to taxpayers and disagreed with this bill’s passage. While I understand their perspective, this negotiated legislation nevertheless offered immediate and meaningful relief to our schools and families at this time. This state support was especially critical because a recent Monroe referendum failed, leaving our schools badly in need of these resources.

Because the bill did not pass, Monroe students, parents, and taxpayers will now miss out on this meaningful relief. It is frustrating to see partisan opposition block common-sense solutions that would have directly benefited our community.

We urge our state legislators to put politics aside and deliver this targeted relief to Wisconsin’s schools and taxpayers in the future.