Read the below opinion in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1/16/2023) here.
By Michele Mackey, CEO & Executive Director
For decades, Wisconsin has received national attention as both a harbinger of public opinion and a key battleground state.
Regrettably, Wisconsin also stands out nationally for a more insidious reason. While policies rooted in racism have led to inequitable outcomes for Black people across the country, these disparities are particularly egregious in Wisconsin.
How so?
From birth, Dr. King’s dream remains illusory for too many Black people in our state.
- Black babies are 3 times more likely to die in their first year of life than white babies.
- Black birthing parents are 5 times more likely to die due to pregnancy-related causes than white birthing parents.
- Second only to that of Native Americans, Black people have a much shorter life expectancy at birth than Asian, Latinx, or white people in our state.
- 14 percent of Black adults hold a Bachelor’s Degree, while 30 percent of white adults do.
- Black Wisconsinites are also far less likely to own homes in our state.
These stats should be appalling enough on their own. But even worse, the gaps in outcomes listed above between Black and white people are some of the worst in the nation.
It didn’t have to be this way.
State decision makers intentionally chose policies and practices for decades that made this gap larger than many neighboring states. The result has been worse outcomes in education, income and more for Black people in contrast to their white neighbors. Discriminatory housing policies and predatory lending practices by rich corporations have denied access to homeownership and generational wealth to Black families.
At Kids Forward, we advocate for effective, long-lasting solutions that break down barriers to success. During our 140 years in existence, we have seen firsthand the positive impact public investments have on the day-to-day lives of children and families across our state. But, not every family has received the benefit of these investments. We can’t address poverty by ignoring race and place.
One of our greatest opportunities to address past wrongs is coming up very soon.
In a few weeks, Governor Evers is going to release his proposed state budget.
The state’s strong fiscal condition means that policymakers have the opportunity to make a down payment on a better future for all children and families. The implications are huge.
The state budget impacts every facet of daily life – childcare, healthcare, schools, roads and highways, jobs, and so much more.
We look forward to working with state lawmakers to pass a budget that breaks down barriers for children and families of color and those furthest from opportunity.
Over the coming months, we will share more specifics here at KidsForward.org, but here are a few high-level ways Wisconsin can achieve this:
- Increase and expand state tax credits for working parents with low wages. The expanded child tax credits issued in 2020-2021 were lifesavers.
- Expand BadgerCare and eliminate unnecessary barriers to health care and other public assistance programs. Overwhelming evidence shows that assistance programs work.
- Ensure that public schools have the resources to safely educate children and address racial- and poverty-driven gaps. As we’ve all seen in the pandemic, schools have become a critically underfunded hub for children and families.
- Extend postpartum coverage under BadgerCare from 90 days to one year, and help support continuity of care for both moms and babies.
- Raise and enforce the minimum wage.
- Ensure wealthy corporations and the richest 1% pay what they owe. Refuse to implement tax cuts for Wisconsin’s most wealthy.
Wisconsin will likely be recognized nationally as a battleground state for decades. We may not always agree across the aisle, but ensuring all Wisconsinites have the opportunity to live safe, healthy, and happy lives is something that everyone can agree on. We cannot thrive as a state unless we all have the opportunity to thrive.
