Three Percent Increase May Help Some Families Qualify for Benefits Late last week the federal government released the 2012 Federal Poverty Income Guidelines, better known as the "federal poverty level" (FPL). Wisconsin uses the guidelines to determine eligibility for a number of public assistance programs, such as BadgerCare and child...
Low-wage Workers and Seniors Will Pay Millions More in Property Tax The 2012 poverty level was announced late last week, and the new income level for a family right at the federal poverty level (FPL) is now about 3 percent higher than it was in 2011, which reflects an increase in the cost of living. The change in the poverty level...
As tax time is approaching, and the next round of negotiations regarding the payroll tax cuts are gearing up, a bill to deny the Child Tax Credit for those filing with an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) is also moving in Congress. The bill, titled Refundable Child Tax Credit Eligibility Verification Reform Act, would...
A new memo from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) provides a detailed analysis of the status of Wisconsin’s Medicaid budget. A careful review of the memo reveals that the various cost-saving measures proposed by DHS far surpass the estimated budget gap if they are all approved and yield the savings DHS has projected. However, some of...
The Department of Health Services (DHS) estimates that lifting the cap on Family Care (and IRIS) and allowing the program to expand into additional counties will cost $80 million in state GPR funding in the current biennium. As we noted in a previous blog post, the bill to lift the cap has no appropriation because the intent of DHS and...
More Discouraging News Regarding Special Committee RecommendationsIn a blog post last week, Sara Eskrich noted that the Legislative Council met on January 18 and recommended only 3 of the 11 bill drafts developed by the Special Committee on Infant Mortality. That same day, the Legislative Council also considered four bills developed by...
Wisconsin barely missed receiving a $50 million federal Race to the Top- Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grant in a competitive process in December 2011. Wisconsin ranked 11 among the 37 states that applied; the top 9 were funded. If there is a 2nd round, Wisconsin could be in good shape To see the scores and ranks by state, go to:...
As counties have developed more community-based programs and more cost-effective strategies for working with youthful offenders, we have seen a steady decline in the number of youth placed in secure confinement. Yet, another round of reductions to funding for juvenile justice programs, if approved, will hit counties hard as the...
By Forsaking Federal Funds, State Must Halt Effort to Develop “Real Time" Eligibility System It was widely publicized last week that Governor Walker decided to put a halt to the state’s implementation of health care reform, including health insurance exchanges, and to stop drawing down federal funds from the $37.6 million Early...
Some of you will have followed the scandal that reached national notoriety in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania – where judges were ordering youth held in secure confinement in a private facility and money was being funneled back to them by the facility operators. Finally, at least some aspects of that have come to some closure with the...
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