So what should Wisconsin do with this extra money?

So now what should we do with the $818 million in extra revenues and $620 million in extra funds that we are projected to have for the rest of the 2020-21 biennium? Let's go over some of the ideas from the top people in state government, and then I'll enter a few of my own.

In his State of the State address, Gov Evers called for a special session starting next week that'll try to deal with the conditions that led to more than 800 dairy farms closing last year. And it seems logical that a part of that extra money would go to pay for thes initiatives.

One bill creates a Wisconsin Initiative for Dairy Exports to help boost U.S. dairy exports to 20% of the nation's milk supply by 2024, up from about 16% now.

Evers in his Wednesday address said the bill would increase Wisconsin's dairy exports to 20% of the U.S. milk supply, which would require billions more pounds of milk to accomplish. A spokeswoman clarified Thursday the governor meant the goal was to boost U.S. dairy exports to 20%, not Wisconsin's.

Another bill would provide grants to producers who want to add a new product to their operation. And, under another measure, the state's agriculture department would add five staff positions to provide mental health services for farmers.

Altogether, the bills would spend $8.5 million over two years, Evers told reporters.

Even though I'm generally skeptical of industrial policies that try to pump up exports without dealing with demand for the products or the base problem of overproduction by mega-farms, it seems worthy to at least try something that'll increase farmers' chances of survival.

Of course, Republicans are going to want to use the projected extra money on tax cuts, including the GOP's leader in the Senate, who wants to improve his image ahead of a run for Congress this Fall.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau has focused on that idea in recent months. He hasn't released a specific plan but could develop one now that legislators know how much cash is available.

"Once again, Wisconsin’s budget has run a massive surplus," Fitzgerald said in a statement. "After money has been set aside in the rainy-day fund, the Legislature should prioritize giving that money back to Wisconsin families in the form of a property tax cut."

Fitzgerald and other Republicans have extra concern after a Wisconsin Policy Forum report last month which showed property taxes for K-12 schools rose by the largest amount since 2010. Although it's worth noting that statistic is a bit skewed because it does not account for the larger School Levy credits, which offset some of those school property taxes, and gives a bigger benefit among individuals with higher property values and taxes.

Assembly Speaker Robbin' Vos gave a typically obnoxious response, saying he also might lower taxes, and also mentioned the opportunity to cut into the state's debts.

“In this growing economy, we’re not going to grow the size of government. While Democrats will likely try to spend every cent, Republicans will make sound fiscal decisions and return surplus dollars to the people who earn them. I look forward to working with my colleagues on a plan to pay down debt or reduce taxes.”

Do we want to tell Robbin' that most of the extra money has little to do with a "growing economy" but instead is because of corporations shifting around money to get a bigger windfall from the GOP Tax Scam in DC? Nah, let's allow him to cling to his delusions.

Joint Finance Committee co-Chair John Nygren said he wanted some of the extra money to go toward water quality measures.

I believe that some of these new revenues should be set aside for the establishment of a Clean Water Fund to aid in the rapid response of water contamination issues. I co-authored a bipartisan bill creating a Clean Water Fund.

— John Nygren (@rep89) January 23, 2020

I'm sure that has nothing to do with Nygren's hometown of Marinette having much of its drinking water affected by PFAS contamination due to activities at a Johnson Controls facility. But hey, if that's what brings them to the table to do the right thing...

Assembly Dem Leader Gordon Hintz thought the extra money would give a good chance to catch up on state needs that were neglected by Robbin' and the rest of the ALEC Crew in the 2010s.

“These new state revenues should be used for areas of urgent need. There has been bipartisan agreement about the issue of school-based mental health care. Governor Evers called for the legislature to act on additional funding in December after incidents at high schools in Oshkosh and Waukesha. There must be urgency to get this done. With this new revenue, it is my hope that Republicans will come back to the table to look at funding critical school-based mental health care programs they cut from Governor Evers’ budget.

“With this news comes opportunity. Shortsighted decisions by Republicans during the state budget debate resulted in cuts that are worth reconsidering at this time. For instance, despite a decade of national revenue growth, the UW system has been decimated by funding cuts since 2011. Legislative Republicans rejected the funding Governor Evers proposed in his budget that would have begun restoring higher education in Wisconsin, like the majority of other states have done during these strong economic times.”

And along those same lines, it would look pretty bad for people to talk up the extra money in the state budget, and then do nothing after seeing this headline on the same day.

UWW College of Letters and Sciences will be cut 14% in the upcoming year. The current plan is to eliminate 2/3rds of our great academic staff. pic.twitter.com/BhqaSgBNDg

— Jeff Olson (@ProfOTweets) January 23, 2020

My thoughts? Given that we are still projected to spend $442 million more than we take in for 2020-21, I wouldn't do too many permanent things. Here are 3 items I came up with.

1. Actual funding of the UW tuition freeze for one year (estimated at $16.8 million) and some more funding to the individual campuses to give it a cushion against enrollment drops such as the one that victimized UW-Whitewater.

2. General School Aids are already projected to go up by $163.5 million and Special Education Aids are scheduled to rise by $65.8 million next year. Those two increases are far overdue, and indicate that property tax increases for schools might be limited some as a result. So a better option might involve targeting more aid to local governments, as shared revenues have dropped significantly over the last decade, resulting in many more wheel taxes and service cutbacks across the state.

Maybe for every $2 a community gets in extra shared revenue, their levy limit rises by $1, which could give stability of funding that those communities need, while also giving homeowners a bit of property tax relief.

3. The state's new $75 million program for local transportation projects generated nearly $1.47 BILLION in applications. If there are that many unmet needs, it sure seems like you could do another $100 million or $150 million to take care of more of those projects. Alternatively, those funds could go to add to maintenance programs or large highway projects to clear some of the backlog that grew during the Age of Fitzwalkerstan, and lower the deficit of needs that we have in future years.

Now that the extra money is around, there will be a lot of ideas flying fast and furious in the next couple of months (before GOPs adjourn to go on a 10-month paid vacation). Opportunities exist, but we better be smart about them.