The COVID-19 pandemic has created an urgent need for safety planning within secure facilities due to a unique set of risks and vulnerabilities for youth who are in custody.1 In comparison to other states, Wisconsin has demonstrated a strong commitment to preserving the health and safety of all by implementing Coronavirus emergency...
Recent Poverty Guidelines Shed Light on Health Policy Debates
The new federal poverty guidelines, which are adjusted for inflation each January, provide an opportunity to reflect on the challenges faced by low-income families, and they help illustrate why state and federal policymakers ought to help more Americans gain access to health care. These guidelines largely control who is eligible for...
Wisconsin Working Families Will Miss Out on $31 Million in Tax Refunds if Lawmakers Don’t Act
Working families with low incomes could get an economic boost from a tax cut included in the federal COVID-19 package — but in order for them to get the full benefit, state lawmakers need to take action to tweak Wisconsin’s tax code. By not acting, the legislature will deny parents $31 million dollars to protect their families from the...
COVID Compromise Bill Blocked by Assembly Republicans Who Seek to Limit Role of Local Communities
It has been more than nine months and 5,300 COVID-19 deaths in Wisconsin since state lawmakers have enacted any legislation to help combat the pandemic. In fact, Wisconsin’s legislature has been the least active full-time legislature in the country since the pandemic began. Instead, legislative leaders have sued to block Governor Evers...
Kids Forward Names Michele Mackey as New CEO
The board of Kids Forward, a statewide policy advocacy organization, has named Michele Mackey to be its next CEO effective January 1, 2021. Mackey succeeds Ken Taylor, who served in the position for 11 years, and co-led the organization with Mackey since 2017. The Kids Forward Board is deeply grateful for Ken's eleven years of dedicated...
Wisconsin COVID-19 Proposal is an Attempted Power Grab in Disguise
Wisconsin Assembly Republicans have released a proposal that is theoretically a plan to fight COVID-19 but in reality is a thinly-veiled attempt to strip power from schools, local officials, and the Governor, and transfer that power to legislative leaders. The Wisconsin legislature last passed a bill in April, almost eight months ago,...
Moving Wisconsin Forward: Balance, Healing, and Sowing for Our Shared Future
“We need real investment in our communities, in our safety and our ability to access jobs and our ability to access good quality education and housing and not to be discriminated against in every aspect of society.” - Opal Tometi, Black Lives Matter Co-Founder The key question facing all who are committed to systemic change rooted in...
Wisconsin’s Property Tax Code, Which Never Mentions Race, is Slanted in Favor of White Wisconsinites
For Wisconsin’s economy to work for everyone, we need a tax system that takes an active role in undoing the legacy of racial discrimination that makes it difficult for many families of color to thrive. With targeted reforms, state and local tax policies can expand opportunity and ensure that public resources are invested in a way that...
Putting the Challenges and Opportunities of this Election to Work for Wisconsin
2020 continues to deliver revelations, challenges, and opportunities for each and every one of us. Revelations we are still processing from last week’s presidential election, the structural inequities exacerbated by health, economic, and racial justice crises, and the opportunities to alleviate the systemic inequities that...
Latina Women Have to Work Ten Months into 2020 to be Paid the Same as White Men in 2019
This week marks Latina Equal Pay Day, which signifies how long a Latina woman has to work into 2020 to bring her 2019-20 earnings to the same amount a White man made in 2019. Latina Women’s Equal Pay Day is half a year later than National Equal Pay Day, which falls in April and is the date in 2020 when women overall matched the earnings...
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