Badger Basics
Badger Basics
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Affordability. Care. Opportunity.
These are the three core pillars of Badger Basics.
When the basics are covered, families can plan. Businesses can hire. Communities can grow. And opportunity stops depending on luck.
AFFORDABILITY
AFFORDABILITY
Affordability means controlling costs upstream instead of constantly bailing families out downstream. Badger Basics targets the two biggest drivers squeezing household budgets: housing and energy.
HOUSING | Build More, Expand Ownership, Keep People Housed
Build more housing statewide
Support zoning flexibility so duplexes, fourplexes, ADUs, and small multi-unit buildings can be built where people already live and work. Wisconsin can allow these housing types "by right" — without special permits or neighborhood hearings — through incentive grants that reward cities for updating their codes — and, where necessary, state legislation that ensures no community is left behind by outdated zoning rules. ADUs are especially practical, adding units on already-developed land without new infrastructure costs.
Convert unused commercial and industrial space — empty offices, dead strip malls, underused warehouses — into apartments and mixed-use housing. State adaptive reuse tax credits, streamlined permitting, relaxed parking minimums, and "conversion-ready" zoning overlays can reduce cost and uncertainty for developers. Environmental remediation support would be key for older industrial sites in cities.
Provide planning and predevelopment support to move projects from idea to construction faster. WHEDA could expand predevelopment loan programs to cover early architectural, engineering, and legal costs before financing is secured. One-stop permitting offices and pre-approved standard building designs would cut years off the typical 3–7 year timeline from concept to groundbreaking.
Expand apprenticeship and workforce pipelines so Wisconsin has the workers to build at the scale we need. Partnerships between unions, employers, and technical colleges can grow registered apprenticeship programs in carpentry, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC. Pre-apprenticeship pathways for career changers, returning citizens, and recent graduates will grow the workforce where it's most constrained.
Expand affordable homeownership and protect starter homes
Increase funding for the Housing Cost Reduction Initiative for down payment assistance and wealth-building through homeownership.
Make Housing Cost Reduction Initiative dollars more flexible so funding can shift to where demand is highest — getting help to families faster instead of sitting unused.
Give municipalities the option to set guardrails on bulk investor purchases of single- and two-family homes — because starter homes should go to first-time buyers, not corporate investors buying up neighborhoods.
Keep people housed and prevent homelessness
Strengthen eviction prevention and pair it with eviction diversion so a temporary setback doesn't become a life-altering loss.
Expand rapid rehousing and bring Housing First to every corner of Wisconsin — funded through a combination of existing federal Medicaid matching dollars, state investment, and the proven cost savings the model generates. Milwaukee County saved taxpayers $30 million doing it. Wisconsin can too.
Improve housing voucher programs with landlord incentives, faster processing, and fewer barriers for tenants.
Lower housing-related costs
Expand weatherization and home repair programs to cut monthly bills and keep older housing stock livable.
Strengthen consumer protections so families aren't destabilized by unfair utility practices or shutoffs during extreme weather.
Expand property tax relief by strengthening homestead credit eligibility — especially for seniors and working families.
ENERGY | Cut Bills, Cut Red Tape, Make the Grid Work for Families
Make Big Tech Pay for the Grid, Not Wisconsin Families
Require large data center developers to invest in Virtual Power Plants (VPPs), coordinating home batteries, smart appliances, and distributed storage, as a first-resort strategy before seeking approval to build new fossil fuel generation. This approach will bring hundreds of megawatts online in months at a fraction of the cost of new gas plants and benefit consumers.
Require mega-users like data centers to pay the full cost of grid upgrades they drive.
Establish clear environmental guardrails on water usage, energy sourcing, stringent energy-efficiency building codes, and emissions so data center growth doesn't come at the expense of Wisconsin communities or natural resources
Make efficiency affordable now
Require Focus on Energy rebates to show up as instant discounts at checkout, not paperwork months later.
Offer grants and targeted tax incentives for insulation, efficient appliances, and modern heating and cooling, replacing incentives that the Trump Administration and republicans in Congress cut.
Use regional and statewide bulk-purchase partnerships to reduce upfront costs for heat pumps, furnaces, solar, home batteries, and insulation.
Solar made simple, especially for renters
Legalize safe plug-in balcony solar kits up to 2 kW.
Strengthen solar access so landlords and HOAs can't unreasonably block safe, code-compliant solar.
Standardize rooftop interconnection and require utilities to publish hosting-capacity maps.
Requires municipalities and counties to adopt automated residential solar permitting systems.
Accountability and fairness
Establish a Wisconsin Energy Accountability Office to audit rates and protect families from overcharges.
Extend rebates and on-bill programs to Main Street businesses, farms, and manufacturers.
Support Energy Innovations
Support the responsible expansion of nuclear energy as part of Wisconsin's clean energy future — including next-generation and small modular reactor technology — because reliable, carbon-free baseload power is essential to a grid that works for families and businesses.
Advance geothermal energy development in Wisconsin as a proven, carbon-free baseload resource — because a resilient energy future requires a diverse portfolio of reliable clean power that isn't subject to weather variability or fuel supply disruptions.
Lift outdated barriers to energy development in Wisconsin, so the state can be part of the national conversation on next-generation energy, not left out of it.
HEALTH CARE | A Simpler System That Meets People Where They Are
No Wrong Door — One entry point, real help
Implement a statewide No Wrong Door health system so the first call for help connects someone to the right support — mental health, substance use treatment, or medical care — without referrals or runaround.
Put mental health navigators in all 72 counties to help families find treatment and stay connected to care.
Build behavioral health urgent care clinics and crisis centers across Wisconsin so people have a safe place to go before a crisis becomes a tragedy.
Meet people where they are, especially in rural Wisconsin
Expand telehealth so care is available without losing a day of work or driving an hour each way.
Invest in mobile care and rural clinics to close access gaps and keep care local.
Deploy mobile crisis teams so trained clinicians can respond with or alongside police, freeing law enforcement to focus on fighting crime and keeping neighborhoods safe.
Modernize BadgerCare — A true public option
Open BadgerCare enrollment to any household that wants it, using federal Medicaid matching funds to cover portions of cost.
Use a sliding-scale premium based on income, with targeted subsidies for small businesses, farmers, gig workers, single parents, and college students.
Make BadgerCare comprehensive — medical, dental, and vision — focused on preventive, primary, and mental health care.
Ensure no one is out of network by supporting provider participation with incentives, especially for rural communities.
Rights and protections
Enshrine reproductive freedom in Wisconsin law, including abortion access.
Protect evidence-based health care and adoption rights for LGBTQ+ families, and enshrine marriage equality in state law.
Strengthen domestic violence prevention and crisis support across rural and urban Wisconsin.
Safety and violence prevention
Invest in violence intervention (community and intimate-partner violence) and prevention strategies alongside mental health and substance use support.
Support common-sense gun safety: universal background checks, safe firearm takeback options, and accountability for violent offenders, especially in domestic violence situations.
Expand harm reduction tools including free gun locks to prevent injury and save lives.
CHILD CARE AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT
Child Care Built to Be a Sustaining Infrastructure and Promise
Wisconsin shouldn't build a government-run daycare system from scratch. Instead, we'll fund and coordinate the providers already doing the work — home-based providers, nonprofit centers, Head Start programs, and tribal early childhood programs — under one unified system with guaranteed access and capped costs for families. Universal access doesn't mean government-run — it means more public funds, delivered through the providers already serving Wisconsin families.
Guarantee every family with a child under five a subsidized childcare slot through a publicly funded network of existing providers — home-based, nonprofit, Head Start, and tribal early childhood programs — with no waitlists and capped costs, tracking supply by county and prioritizing rural areas and high-need communities first.
For families with children under five, costs are capped at 7% of household income — the state covers the rest through federal Child Care and Development Block Grant funds (CCDBG) and state investment. For four-year-olds, Pre-K is free to every family regardless of income — because the year before kindergarten is too important to leave to chance.
Supporting the People Who Prepare The Next Generation
Expand Birth to 3 and early childhood development programs to improve long-term health and educational outcomes.
Expand maternal health care including prenatal, postpartum, and fertility care to address Wisconsin's maternal health crisis.
Establish universal Pre-K for all three-year-olds, free to every family regardless of income, through public schools, community centers, and licensed providers.
Tie housing voucher programs to childcare access so families get stability on both fronts.
Upstream Investments in our Children for the Future
Build an early childhood education credential pathway beginning in high school that goes through technical colleges and UW campuses, tied to dual enrollment programs, so Wisconsin grows its own childcare workforce instead of losing it.
Set a provider reimbursement floor that covers the real cost of care so providers stop operating at a loss and workers stop leaving the field.
Improve adoption and foster care by auditing systems, supporting social workers, and cutting red tape for loving families.
Rights and protections
Enshrine reproductive freedom in Wisconsin law, including abortion access.
Protect evidence-based health care and adoption rights for LGBTQ+ families, and enshrine marriage equality in state law.
Strengthen domestic violence prevention and crisis support across rural and urban Wisconsin.
Safety and violence prevention
Invest in violence intervention (community and intimate-partner violence) and prevention strategies alongside mental health and substance use support.
Support common-sense gun safety: universal background checks, safe firearm takeback options, and accountability for violent offenders, especially in domestic violence situations.
Expand harm reduction tools including free gun locks to prevent injury and save lives.
SCHOOL TO CAREER | Clear Pathways from the Classroom to a Paycheck
Strong schools that don't rely on constant referendums
Invest in robust, reliable K–12 funding year after year so schools can plan long-term instead of lurching from referendum to referendum.
Close the special education funding gap so every student gets what they need and districts aren't forced to cut other programs to make up the difference.
Recruit and retain great teachers by making Wisconsin a place where educators are paid fairly, respected professionally, and supported to do their best work.
Earn-and-learn pathways for high-demand careers
Expand apprenticeships, dual enrollment, and earn-and-learn partnerships starting in high school and continuing through technical colleges and UW campuses.
Build targeted loan repayment pipelines for high-need professions like nurses, teachers, and mental health workers in underserved communities; particularly Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) Designations.
Grow industry-aligned training programs so certifications and credentials lead directly to good-paying jobs, not dead ends.
Dual enrollment that fast-tracks Wisconsin talent
Strengthen and expand dual-enrollment partnerships statewide so students can take college or technical courses in high school — earning degrees, certifications, or licenses before they ever leave the classroom.
Let students graduate with college credit, industry credentials, or a two-year degree pathway already underway — cutting cost and time to career.
Tie dual enrollment to local workforce needs so communities grow their own talent instead of losing it.
AI protections for students and their futures
Establish a team in the State Health Department to coordinate enforcement, oversee platform compliance, and lead state efforts on online safety, AI oversight, and emerging technology policy as AI has become a health issue.
Establish an AI & Children Commission including educators, parents, industry representatives, and youth voices.
Require platforms to disclose how their algorithms work, what content is being promoted to children, and what data is being collected.
Schools must disclose which AI tools are in use, their purpose, and data handling practices. Parents have the right to opt out of non-essential AI tools.
Minors’ data cannot be used to train commercial AI models or licensed to third parties under any circumstance; Ed-tech AI may only collect data directly necessary for stated learning outcomes, with strict retention limits.
Restrict AI companion and relationship apps for children under 13.
Require clear disclosures on any AI product designed to form emotional bonds with teenagers.
Zero-tolerance for deepfakes & CSAM; criminal penalties for AI-generated child sexual abuse material and deepfakes targeting minors, equivalent to non-AI offenses.
Support transitioning to analog methods (i.e. removal of laptops in classrooms and cell phones).
GOOD JOBS & ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR WORKERS & SMALL BUSINESS | A Wisconsin That Works for Everyone
Raise the minimum wage — at least $15
Raise Wisconsin's minimum wage immediately to $15 an hour and raise it to $20 an hour by 2030.
Establish clear protections so large employers can't restructure, reclassify, or reduce hours to avoid the wage floor. Workers come first.
Repeal Act 10 and restore workers’ rights
Repeal Act 10 and restore full collective bargaining rights for public sector workers — because Scott Walker's attack on Wisconsin's labor movement was wrong then and its damage is still being felt today.
Stand firmly with unions — public and private — because when workers have power at the table, everyone does better.
Protect workers' right to organize, bargain, and strike without fear of retaliation.
Building Bridges statewide
Scale and expand the small business support program Building Bridges statewide — taking what worked in Milwaukee County and bringing it to every community in Wisconsin, from urban corridors to rural main streets.
Partner with UW Campuses, UW Extensions, and Wisconsin Technical Colleges to connect new graduates with local small businesses — giving students real-world experience and giving businesses access to talent and technical assistance they couldn't otherwise afford.
Provide grants and hands-on support to small businesses — prioritizing those in
Remove barriers for entry, restore futures
Expand state pardons so people can move forward after they have paid their debt to society, so they can find jobs, find housing, and stay out of the cycle of poverty and reincarceration that holds individuals and communities back.
Strengthen reentry pathways by partnering with employers and schools on education and training in prison that give returning citizens a real shot — not just a pamphlet.
Expand reskilling programs for adults returning to the workforce, so losing a job or losing time doesn't mean losing your future.
Remove barriers for entry, restore futures
Make Wisconsin a leader in passenger rail by investing in and expanding service connecting Milwaukee, Madison, and Green Bay — and building toward a statewide network that keeps Wisconsin competitive.
Support federal and regional partnerships to bring high-speed and commuter rail to Wisconsin's major corridors — finishing what Scott Walker walked away from and stuck Wisconsin with a huge bill.
Treat rail as economic infrastructure — connecting businesses to markets, workers to jobs, students to campuses, and communities to opportunity across every region of the state.
Establish regional transit authorities so communities across Wisconsin have the tools and funding structures to build and sustain public transportation systems that actually work for them.