Reductions in Youth Aids Come at the Wrong TimeThe Youth Aids funding concept was established in 1980 as a way to both control state spending for juvenile correctional services and incentivize counties to develop alternatives to sending delinquent youth to the state juvenile system. Youth Aids funds are apportioned to counties based on...
The FoodShare program (also known informally as food stamps) provides a valuable source of funding for low income individuals and families to purchase food. In May 2011, more than 800,000 people in Wisconsin received FoodShare. About 0.2 percent of those individuals were lawfully present adult immigrants who have lived in the U.S. less...
The 2011-13 state budget expands the school choice program, which provides state-funded tuition vouchers for students in selected districts to attend private schools. The state will spend $27.4 million to support this expansion over the biennium, and reduce support to public schools by $10.5 million to account for these lost students,...
The state budget includes $93 million in tax cuts, virtually all of which go to corporations and high-income individuals. These tax cuts are part of the same budget that jeopardizes the state’s ability to create jobs because it relies so heavily on cutting vital services that help build a strong economy. Here’s how that $93 million in...
I stumbled across a very interesting blog post Monday on the subject of redistricting in Wisconsin. Written by Peter Wagner of the Prison Policy Initiative (PPI), it examines the consequences of counting prisoners in the communities where they are incarcerated, rather than the communities that they come from. One potential effect that...
One of the surprising changes to the budget bill was an amendment loosening Wisconsin’s child labor laws. Without any hearing or opportunity for public debate on the issue, the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) approved an amendment significantly reducing the constraints on hours that may be worked by children. The JFC amendment, which is...
The 2011-13 biennial budget withdraws more than $45 million in state support for specific programs in Wisconsin school districts programs that help prepare our students to become the leaders of future generations.This budget withdraws all support for a number of programs in school districts, including Advanced Placement courses. The...
YoungStar, Wisconsin's new quality rating and improvement system for licensed child care programs, suffered a major setback in the Governor's budget. Incentives for higher quality providers were either eliminated or reduced significantly. For example, a three- star (out of five) rated child care provider would receive no bonus payment...
In 2009, public transit services in Wisconsin provided more than 65 million rides. Whether by city bus, public taxi service, or commuter rail, public transit serves a vital purpose for Wisconsin’s families, especially the most vulnerable. Those who are unable to afford a car can utilize public transit to get to and from work, the...
The two-year budget recently signed into law by Governor Walker contains significant cuts to higher education in Wisconsin. Over the next two years, core state support for UW universities and colleges is reduced by $250 million, and state support for the technical colleges is reduced by more than $70 million.These cuts follow a trend of...
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