Announcements
Opportunities for Tax Reform: IRG Announces New Plan to Reduce Tax Burden on Workers and Families
Eliminating income tax on overtime wages will let hardworking Wisconsinites keep more of their hard earned money. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 1, 2023 Delafield, WI - Today, the Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) released a new tax reform opportunity as...
Pandemic Recovery Slow for Low-Performing Students
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 10, 2023 Pandemic Recovery Slow for Low-Performing Students Green Bay, Janesville Not Recovering, Choice Working in Milwaukee Delafield, WI – Today, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released test score data from...
IRG Promises Oversight on $50 Million in Literacy Efforts as DPI Announces Literacy Council
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 28, 2023 IRG Promises Oversight on $50 Million in Literacy Efforts as DPI Announces Literacy Council Nine members of Literacy Council announced - will choose new curricula by December 1st DELAFIELD, WI - Today, the Department of...
Now Hiring: Major Gifts Officer
Now Hiring: Major Gifts Officer In the last 3 years, IRG has raised over $3.5 million to advance our vision of making Wisconsin the heart of the American dream. To take the next step in our organization’s growth, IRG is hiring a full-time Major Gifts Officer to work...
As MPS Closes Due to Heat, IRG Offers Expertise on ESSER School COVID Relief Funding, HVAC
August 23, 2023 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Quinton Klabon, [email protected] As MPS Closes Due to Heat, IRG Offers Expertise on ESSER School COVID Relief Funding, HVAC Delafield, Wis. — As Milwaukee Public Schools closed today from dangerously high...
IRG and WILL Sue to Obtain Public Records
Nobody is above the law, not even Wisconsin’s Secretary of State The News: Today, the Institute for Reforming Government (IRG), represented by lawyers at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), filed a lawsuit in Waukesha County Circuit Court. WILL and...
How the Public Can Conduct Oversight: IRG CIO’S Open Meetings Primer Released to the Public
Delafield, WI - Coming on the heels of several groundbreaking reports from IRG’s Center for Investigative Oversight - including discovering United Nations Foundation funding of Governor Evers’ climate change agenda and unconstitutional hiring practices by UW-Madison -...
IRG Releases State of Wisconsin Public Debt Overview
2023-25 State Budget reduces borrowing and results in significant cash reserves Delafield, WI – Today the Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) released Wisconsin's Finances: Debt and Borrowing. In the 2023-2025 budget, the Legislature chose to pay down existing...
IRG’s CIO Exposes UW-Madison’s Unconstitutional Faculty Hiring Program
IRG’s CIO Exposes UW-Madison's Unconstitutional Faculty Hiring Program Report Highlighted in Wall Street Journal Exposes TOP Program and demands answers and full transparency from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. WHAT IS IT: IRG’s Center of Investigative...
First Analysis: Historic Middle-Class Tax Relief Vetoed
WHAT HAPPENED:Governor Evers signed the 2023-2025 state budget, but not before issuing 51 partial vetoes, including vetoes that remove 95% of the income tax relief that was included in the legislature’s budget. Because of his veto, taxpayers will only see a $175...
IRG’s K-12 COVID Relief Audit Update: Hundreds of Millions Unallocated with One Year Remaining
WHAT HAPPENED Since its January release, the Institute for Reforming Government’s (IRG) K-12 COVID Relief ESSER III Audit has driven statewide momentum for financial transparency and made swifter action for students front-page news. IRG was the first Wisconsin entity...
United Nations Foundation Funneling Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars to Evers Administration to Fund Radical Climate Agenda
Private grant money supports staff in the Office of Sustainability & Clean Energy Delafield, WI – Today, IRG’s Center for Investigative Oversight released a new report, “Shadow Agency: How the United Nations Foundation and Evers Administration Are Colluding to...
Lost Revenue. New Analysis Details Lost Revenue From Wisconsinites Moving to No-Income or Low-Income Tax States
WHAT IT IS: A new report by IRG, Lost Revenue, details how over 92,000 income tax filers left Wisconsin in 2021, with almost 60% of them moving to states with either a flat income tax or no income tax at all. Using recently released data from the IRS to compile this...
IRG Releases Playbook for Income Tax Relief in Divided Government
IRG Releases Playbook for Income Tax Relief in Divided Government Historic Tax Relief for Middle Class, Small Businesses Within Reach Delafield, WI – Today the Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) released a new policy playbook on income tax relief. It includes...
IRG Turns to the People to Solve Kitchen Table Issues
IRG Turns to the People to Solve Kitchen Table Issues Releases lessons, insights and stories from a year of building bridges into communities across Wisconsin Delafield, WI – After visiting 25 cities, convening 42 listening sessions, and driving 5,367 miles across...
Policy Solution: Teacher Apprenticeships – Tackling the Teacher Shortage
Click here to find a print-ready version of the "Tackling the Teacher Shortage" policy solution. We have a teacher shortage, but we did it to ourselves. College’s costs and complications encumber teachers with debt, don’t prepare them for actual classrooms, and...
Increasing the Bandwidth: IRG’s New Plan to Increase Access to High Speed Internet
Increasing the Bandwidth: IRG’s New Plan to Increase Access to High Speed Internet What IRG Did: Today IRG released a report outlining common sense reforms to Wisconsin’s Broadband Grant Program aimed at increasing internet availability across the state. Underscoring...
How to Save Walker-Era Reforms
New memo explains how to enshrine and protect conservative reforms in the Wisconsin Constitution What IRG Did: On the heels of Tuesday’s election results that shifted the balance of power on the Wisconsin Supreme Court to a new liberal majority, IRG released a memo...
IRG Digital ‘Encyclopedia’ Tool Details Wisconsin’s State Agencies
What IRG Did: The IRG’s Center for Investigative Oversight released a new digital encyclopedia tool that starts the process of cataloging the twenty largest state agencies. The unprecedented digital encyclopedia details the mission, personnel, programs and functions...
IRG Calls for Greater Oversight of DNR Wolf Management Decisions
IRG CALLS FOR GREATER OVERSIGHT OF DNR WOLF MANAGEMENT DECISIONS NEW Investigatory Report follows unilateral DNR decision to eliminate numeric wolf population goal in Wisconsin. Delafield, WI – The Institute for Reforming Government's Center for Investigative...
IRG’s K-12 COVID Relief Audit Massive Update Shows Construction Now Largest Category at 28%
IRG’s K-12 COVID Relief Audit Massive Update Shows Construction Now Largest Category at 28% Just 7% to Mental Health, Major Questions about Milwaukee WHAT HAPPENED Since its January release, the Institute for Reforming Government’s (IRG) K-12 COVID Relief ESSER III...
IRG Releases Memo on Future of Wisconsin Supreme Court
IRG Releases Memo on Future of Wisconsin Supreme Court Breaks down potential impact of a new court composition Delafield, WI – For years, Wisconsin conservatives have held a majority in the state Supreme Court, issuing a number of landmark decisions. In a memo...
IRG’s K-12 COVID Relief Audit Forces Public DPI Response
IRG’s K-12 COVID Relief Audit Forces Public DPI Response IRG Responds to State Supt. Jill Underly on Continued Opacity: “The Only Thing that Matters Is Kids” Delafield, WI - The Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) today issued a letter to State Superintendent...
IRG Releases Groundbreaking Report on Common Sense, Patient-Centered Healthcare Solutions for Wisconsin
IRG Releases Groundbreaking Report on Common Sense, Patient-Centered Healthcare Solutions for Wisconsin Focused on driving down costs and improving outcomes Delafield, WI – Today, the Institute for Reforming Government released an unprecedented playbook for...
IRG Releases Report on Modernizing and Decentralizing State Government
Delafield, WI - Today the Institute for Reforming Government released a brand new report – Reimagining Wisconsin Government for the 21st Century – that presents a clear roadmap for modernizing and strengthening state government, removing its inefficiencies, and...
IRG Releases Comprehensive Analysis of Gov. Evers’ 2023-2025 Budget
Delafield, WI – Today, the policy team at the Institute for Reforming Government released its summary analysis on Governor Evers' proposed 2023-2025 budget, highlighting how it impacts families in areas of state spending including on taxes, K-12 and higher education,...
IRG Launches Center for Investigative Oversight
IRG Launches Center for Investigative Oversight Will promote accountability, transparency and conservative governance at state and local level Delafield, WI – Wisconsin is witnessing an alarming trend in executive and bureaucratic failures, as well as claims of...
Anthony LoCoco Joins IRG as Chief Legal Counsel & Director of Oversight
MADISON, WI. – Today, the Institute for Reforming Government announced the hiring of Anthony LoCoco, J.D., to join the team as Chief Legal Counsel & Director of Oversight. LoCoco, a graduate of Harvard Law School and former Deputy Counsel at the Wisconsin...
IRG Releases Transparency Tool for $1.49B in Federal K-12 COVID Relief
IRG Releases Transparency Tool for $1.49B in Federal K-12 COVID Relief Calls on legislature to conduct oversight of spending plans Delafield, WI. – Today, the Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) released an interactive database for taxpayers to see how Wisconsin...
New Poll Shows Wisconsinites Support Elimination of Income Tax
MADISON, Wis. – A survey of registered Wisconsin voters conducted in December 2022 shows a plurality of voters - across partisan lines - support eliminating the income tax AND that nearly 6 in 10 think that state taxes are too high. The State Policy Network (SPN)’s...
IRG Team Expands Into Fox Valley, Northern and Rural Wisconsin
MADISON, WI. - In 2022, IRG embarked on an ambitious community engagement campaign, driving over 5,200 miles across Wisconsin and holding over 40 listening sessions with community leaders in over 20 cities and towns. As IRG continues carrying out these efforts...
IRG Announces New School Finder Tool for Parents
MADISON, WI. - Today, the Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) announced a new School Finder Tool designed to help parents find a school that fits the needs of their children. By entering your address, the free School Finder Tool - powered by Schoolahoop and...
ICYMI: Senate President Chris Kapenga Supports Elimination of State Income Tax
Last week, Senate President Chris Kapenga called for the elimination of the income tax during an interview on WISN Radio's The Vicki McKenna Show, adding to the momentum that IRG’s proposal to eliminate the income tax has gained across the state. Below are key quotes...
10 Challenges Facing Tony Evers
If the core mission of the Governor, the state’s chief executive officer, is to operationalize the functions of government and manage the bureaucracy, then government in Madison no longer works the way it was intended. Over the last four years, executive branch...
IRG President CJ Szafir Responds to Sen. Alberta Darling’s Retirement
Madison, Wis. – CJ Szafir, President of the Institute for Reforming Government, issued the following statement after State Senator Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) announced her retirement from the state legislature after 32 years of public service: Senator Darling has...
20 State Agency Briefings: IRG Completes State Agency 101 Series
Today, IRG is releasing the last of its Wisconsin State Agency 101 Briefings, highlighting everything you need to know about the Department of Transportation, the Department of Children and Families, and the Wisconsin Technical College System. This concludes our...
Policy Solution: Get Right on Reading
Click here to find a print-ready version of the "Get Right on Reading" policy solution. Wisconsin ranked 40th among states in reading when adjusted for race and income. Our state cannot be prosperous without fantastic schools statewide, and our schools cannot reach...
Analysis of DPI 2022 K-12 Test Scores
Last Thursday, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released test score data from 2021-2022, the best indicators we have of student learning loss from COVID and school closures. Here are some initial takeaways from Quinton Klabon, IRG’s Senior Research...
New K-12 Data Shows Schools Falling Further Behind
The numbers are in: our students are not rebounding from the Evers administration's school shutdowns. 14,000 fewer Wisconsin children can read well enough for college, a 4% drop. 103,000 kids across the state can't even read at grade level. 9 Milwaukee Public Schools...
IRG’s Agency Budget Request Analysis Finds $7.5 Billion Increase in Government Spending
Click here to view a printable version of our state agency budget analysis. MADISON, WI – Today the Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) released an analysis of the 2023-2025 budget requests submitted this month by state agencies, finding that the proposed...