Republicans and Democrats found a way to reach a compromise on Wisconsin’s 2025-27 state budget, and Gov. Tony Evers explains how it happened. Retiring Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley served 30 years on the bench of the high court, and in an exit interview, explains just how much things have changed in that time.
 

Gov. Tony Evers
(D) Wisconsin

• How and when Wisconsin’s 2025-27 state budget would get passed by the state Legislature and what approach Gov. Evers might take with his partial veto powers remained an open question for weeks leading up to the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. There were negotiations between the two Republican-controlled chambers of the Legislature, as well as between the legislative leadership and the governor’s office. The two branches of state government struck a deal as the deadline arrived, though, and the budget was passed and signed in quick sequence a couple of days later. Evers said compromise on the state budget was only possible because redistricting in 2024 allowed Democrats to pick up seats in the Senate and Assembly.
• Evers: “This budget would not have looked anywhere near as positive if it wasn’t for that. Having good maps that are reflective of actually what happens on the ground — that was huge. And we’ll continue to do a good job as far as taking, not taking advantage of it, but actually reflecting that. But, you know, from my side too — from the Democratic side — just because we have better maps doesn’t mean that we can run roughshod over the other side either. This won’t work — we’re as purple as they come in our state as compared to other states, and we recognize that.”

Justice Ann Walsh Bradley
Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice

• Justice Ann Walsh Bradley was the first woman elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court – taking office in 1995 — and served in that office for three decades. She said it’s remarkable to see the progress that the legal profession has made since the early days of her career.
• Bradley: “Well, we’ve come a long ways, you know. That’s a perhaps a worn out phrase, but it holds some truth to it. When I got on the circuit court in Marathon County, there were only 10 women judges in the entire state, and I was one of three north of Madison and Milwaukee. When I became an attorney and went to Wausau, I remember that very first day being welcomed by my supervisor with this. He said, ‘I want you to know I have no problem with a woman trying to do a man’s job.’ So, it has been a journey from the first days of being an attorney and then being a circuit court judge, and now we have six of the seven members on our court serving as women.”

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