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...
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...
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...
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 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,...
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...
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...
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...
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