The state budget and the taxes that help finance it have a huge impact on children and families. The budget provides most of the funding for vital government services, such as education, health care, transportation, child welfare and other safety net programs.
For more detailed analysis, visit the Wisconsin Budget Project website.
Today the Democratic Senate and Assembly leaders and members of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee (JFC) announced 10 additional budget hearings in order to allow for more public input on the proposed biennial budget. The Democratic leaders are also inviting Republican legislators to attend these hearings. A number of Democrats...
There are many ways to potentially keep kids safe in school. Thank goodness this topic is finally being discussed at great length! In fact, President Obama has called for an increase of school resource officers (SROs), providing funds to hire up to 1,000 SROs across the nation. But we, along with others, have some concerns that this may...
“Righting the Rules” Could Start with a Legislative Rule if Lawmakers Approve SJR 5 For 12 years, the Wisconsin Legislature has been operating under a rule that ignores a statutory change enacted in 2001. The law requiring bills to have fiscal estimates was changed at that time to eliminate the exemption for bills relating to criminal...
Following a biennium in which the Youth Aids Allocation was reduced by about 17%(about 10% of which was a permanent reduction that becomes the “base” for 2013-15 and about $7 million that was “lapsed” back to the general fund) two of the three juvenile correctional institutions (JCI) were closed, and the daily rates charged to counties were increased, the 2013-15 proposal regrettably does not restore all of the reductions while still increasing the daily charges to counties for services.
Governor Walker has proposed a two-year budget that significantly expands resources for voucher and charter schools, and provides a large increase in spending for assessment of pupils and schools. At first glance, it appears to also give Wisconsin’s public schools a raise in general funding, but a closer look reveals that this is largely an illusion.
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