The Wisconsin Budget Project has a new blog post describing how the budget adjustment bill provides a disincentive -- at least in the short term -- for public employee unions willing to make concessions.Here's an excerpt:"A number of local public employee unions have indicated their willingness to re-open their contracts to make...
We have recently added some ways you can keep abreast of the work WCCF is doing on issues related to health care, early care and education, juvenile justice, child welfare, and other topics. Here are some possibilities:Subscribe to the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families blog to get updates via email or feed reader;“Like” WCCF on...
In action yesterday, the Joint Finance Committee approved Governor Walker’s recommendations related to two key issues for juvenile corrections: (1) Approving the daily rates for services provide by the Division of Juvenile Corrections, and (2) Approving the consolidation of three juvenile correctional institutions (JCIs) – closing Ethan...
We have been anxiously awaiting the Joint Finance Committee’s review of the Governor’s proposal to centralize and privatize the income maintenance (IM) system, which is responsible for intake and related services for the Medicaid and FoodShare programs. That issue will be part of the committee’s lengthy agenda for June 2 and 3. The...
As the Joint Finance Committee begins its last week of deliberations on Tuesday, it will take up a broad range of issues that are important for low-income families. Some of the topics that will be considered include the Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy program, the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a number of papers relating to...
On Tuesday, May 31st, the Joint Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on the $41 million cut proposed by the Governor to the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). WCCF has submitted a memo to the Joint Finance Committee with recommendations for the credit.The Wisconsin Budget Project has a blog post elaborating on why the EITC is...
The Joint Finance Committee may vote on Tuesday, May 31st on a proposal to change the tax on moist snuff tobacco products to a weight-based tax. Currently, all non-cigarette tobacco products are taxed using a percentage-of-price tax which applies the same tax rate to every tobacco product and brand of product, maintains a level playing...
This week’s Isthmus newspaper contains a great cover story by Joe Tarr, “So Long, Safety Net?”. He shares stories from families and advocates about the threats to government assistance, and uncertainty about what this will actually mean for families. As WCCF’s Jon Peacock said in the article, families who depend on these programs are...
The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) took up the Medicaid-related programs Tuesday evening and approved most of the Governor’s proposals. In doing so, the committee cleared the way for deep cuts in Medicaid and BadgerCare and a sharp increase in the number of uninsured state residents. As the Governor recommended, the bill will require the...
Over many years of working in juvenile justice, I found that people outside the system (and some inside as well who would express dire predictions like “..watch out, this summer will be really bad") assumed that summer would be a high time for juvenile arrests and detentions. Yet our own internal data as well as anecdotal information...
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