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...
The Wisconsin Budget Project has updated its comparative budget summary to include actions taken by the Joint Finance Committee through last week. The summary includes information about what the Governor has proposed and what action Joint Finance has taken so far, as well as links to other relevant information. Reading this summary is...
One of the more contentious debates about the relationship between crime and incarceration has centered on what the nature of the link is between increased/decreased crime rates and increased/decreased rates of incarceration. Does locking more people up reduce crime? Is there a demonstrable or direct relationship between the two?The...
A paper released yesterday by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families highlights the devastating effect that one of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services’ (DHS) possible “unspecified cuts” could have on families. The paper examines the real impact of raising BadgerCare premiums to 3 or 4% of a family’s income....
Your address helps us identify your legislators and the most relevant messages to send you.