The new federal poverty guidelines, which are adjusted for inflation each January, provide an opportunity to reflect on the challenges faced by low-income families, and they help illustrate why state and federal policymakers ought to help more Americans gain access to health care. These guidelines largely control who is eligible for...
Working families with low incomes could get an economic boost from a tax cut included in the federal COVID-19 package — but in order for them to get the full benefit, state lawmakers need to take action to tweak Wisconsin’s tax code. By not acting, the legislature will deny parents $31 million dollars to protect their families from the...
It has been more than nine months and 5,300 COVID-19 deaths in Wisconsin since state lawmakers have enacted any legislation to help combat the pandemic. In fact, Wisconsin’s legislature has been the least active full-time legislature in the country since the pandemic began. Instead, legislative leaders have sued to block Governor Evers...
The board of Kids Forward, a statewide policy advocacy organization, has named Michele Mackey to be its next CEO effective January 1, 2021. Mackey succeeds Ken Taylor, who served in the position for 11 years, and co-led the organization with Mackey since 2017. The Kids Forward Board is deeply grateful for Ken's eleven years of dedicated...
Wisconsin Assembly Republicans have released a proposal that is theoretically a plan to fight COVID-19 but in reality is a thinly-veiled attempt to strip power from schools, local officials, and the Governor, and transfer that power to legislative leaders. The Wisconsin legislature last passed a bill in April, almost eight months ago,...
“We need real investment in our communities, in our safety and our ability to access jobs and our ability to access good quality education and housing and not to be discriminated against in every aspect of society.” - Opal Tometi, Black Lives Matter Co-Founder The key question facing all who are committed to systemic change rooted in...
For Wisconsin’s economy to work for everyone, we need a tax system that takes an active role in undoing the legacy of racial discrimination that makes it difficult for many families of color to thrive. With targeted reforms, state and local tax policies can expand opportunity and ensure that public resources are invested in a way that...
2020 continues to deliver revelations, challenges, and opportunities for each and every one of us. Revelations we are still processing from last week’s presidential election, the structural inequities exacerbated by health, economic, and racial justice crises, and the opportunities to alleviate the systemic inequities that...
This week marks Latina Equal Pay Day, which signifies how long a Latina woman has to work into 2020 to bring her 2019-20 earnings to the same amount a White man made in 2019. Latina Women’s Equal Pay Day is half a year later than National Equal Pay Day, which falls in April and is the date in 2020 when women overall matched the earnings...
For over six months of 2020, we have all experienced the many ways in which life has shifted. Twin pandemics, COVID-19 and the social uprising, have shocked the nation and the world. While trying to find a semblance of normalcy and buckle down for the Fall, we cannot look away from the large problems that face us – systemic racism and...
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