How will the state budget impact low-income families? WCCF has updated two analyses to show how the budget -- as amended by the Joint Finance Committee -- will affect low-income families:Effects of the Biennial Budget and Budget Repair Bills for Working Families: This is a summary of the ways the proposed 2011-13 budget bill and the...
Ten-year Tax Cut Tally Tops Two Billion
According to a June 9th Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo prepared for Senator Mark Miller, the combined cost of the tax cuts in the biennial budget bill and in other bills already enacted this year will be $212 million in the 2011-13 budget period. The annual cost of many of those credits will grow significantly in future years, and the...
Icing on the Cake for Corporations, Crumbs for Working Families
Late last week, the Joint Finance Committee approved a $129-million tax break for corporations that produce goods in the state. The Wisconsin Budget Project has a new post explaining the top ten reasons why this tax break is a bad idea. Here's an excerpt: Governor Walker’s budget bill was already very generous for corporations. While...
Questions About School Choice Expansion
The school choice program got a big boost in the biennial budget. First, Governor Walker proposed repealing enrollment caps, income eligibility restrictions, and specific testing requirements for the Milwaukee school choice program. Although the Joint Finance Committee restored income eligibility and testing requirements, it also...
Adding to the Deficit — Through Subtraction
According to the newest Wisconsin Budget Project blog post, the Joint Finance Committee seemed geniunely committed to addressing the structural deficit (at least on the spending side), until it created a last-minute tax break for manufacturers. This move will nearly eliminates the income tax for many corporations that produce goods in...
Compromises Result in Improved Income Maintenance Proposal
Late Friday night the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) unanimously passed a motion that greatly improves the Governor’s proposal to centralize and privatize income maintenance (IM) administration. The IM program includes Medical Assistance, the FoodShare program, and the WI funeral and cemetery aids program. WCCF and other groups expressed...
Questions to Ask Before Privatizing Government Functions
The Wisconsin Budget Project has a blog post with a checklist of questions we should ask ourselves before we move to privatize government functions. Here's an excerpt from the post:Governor Walker has proposed a number of initiatives to privatize government functions or to make it easier to do so. One of those proposals, privatization...
Rock County Making Progress Toward Reducing DMC
Rock County is highlighted in the latest issue of the DMC Action Network e-Newsletter, reviewing some of the progress made over the past couple of years in creating alternatives to detention, implementing sound screening and assessment practices, and reducing reoffending. Much of this progress began under the leadership of Jason Witt,...
Increasing Taxes on the Working Poor
The Wisconsin Budget Project has this to say about the prospect of increasing taxes on the working poor: The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) voted Tuesday evening for a package of state policy changes that cut taxes for multistate corporations and the wealthy, while raising taxes on working poor families with two or more...
Congresswoman Baldwin Stood Up for Wisconsin Children, Again, By Opposing the State Flexibility (Child Fragility) Act
Representative Tammy Baldwin stood up for children, people with disabilities and the elderly by opposing the “State Flexibility Act” (or perhaps more appropriately, the Child Fragility Act) a bill that would eliminate the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program stability protections. Representative Baldwin and other Members of...
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