The following is a response by Ken Taylor, Kids Forward’s Executive Director, to the budget bill unveiled yesterday by Governor Evers:

We applaud the Governor for proposing a budget that invests in the building blocks for Wisconsin’s growth and future prosperity – our children, schools, health, and equitable communities. We commend him for prioritizing budget changes that enjoy broad public support, and which should garner bipartisan support in the legislature.

The Governor’s budget makes important investments in healthy communities, working families, and public infrastructure, which will help enable Wisconsin and all of its residents to thrive. We are especially pleased that the budget takes significant steps toward reducing income inequality in Wisconsin and toward addressing the persistent racial disparities that plague our state.

We applaud the Governor for proposing to close a number of significant tax loopholes in order to create a more level playing field for Wisconsin families and businesses, and to generate revenue to make needed investments in education, health care, and infrastructure.

In the coming weeks, we will comment on a number of specific portions of the budget – including the juvenile justice package, Homestead tax credit, early education, and public health – but for now we want to particularly commend the Governor for including these items in the budget:

• Expanding BadgerCare to improve access to health care for low-wage workers;
• Reversing recent tax increases for low-income households (resulting from cuts to the Earned Income Tax Credit and Homestead Credit);
• Removing barriers to work and community involvement by allowing all people, regardless of their immigration status, to obtain driver licenses;
• Investments to address significant racial disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes; and
• Returning 17-year-olds to the juvenile justice system.