Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
No.
Wisconsin Republicans oppose defunding the police, going as far as passing a 2021 bill — vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers — that would have reduced state funding to municipalities that cut police funding.
In 2019, Republican state senators rejected a contract that would have given most Wisconsin State Patrol troopers a 2% pay increase over objections that it slighted existing troopers by boosting starting trooper salaries by 20%. But in 2020 and 2022, the GOP-run Legislature approved hefty raises for the troopers of 9.9% and 8.5% respectively.
Evers has accused Republicans of indirectly reducing police funding by blocking increases in state-funded shared revenue in his 2021-23 budget. Municipalities use shared revenue to pay for core services including public safety. Shared revenue has remained flat since 2013, while local spending on public safety has increased from $2.2 billion in 2001 to $3.6 billion in 2019, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
Sources
AP News: Evers OKs use-of-force bill, vetoes plan to defund cities
AP News: GOP to reject proposed Wisconsin state troopers pay raise
Wisconsin Department of Transportation: Statement on new State Patrol contract
AP News: Evers proposes increase into local funding for public safety
State of Wisconsin: Shared revenue payments and local government public safety expenditures
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
