The Governor and the co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee, Sen. Mark Miller (D-Monona) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison), held a press conference late Thursday to announce additional cuts in the state budget due to a much larger deficit than originally expected. These include additional 5% cuts across the board to all state agencies, and 2.5% cuts in school aids and shared revenues to local governments, totaling $669.7 million. WCCF will be analyzing the impact of these additional cuts on children and families. Safety net programs already have waiting lists and now there will be reduced services available to help people that have lost their jobs. The cuts to schools are also of concern because revenue limits have made schools eliminate services over the years and there is just not much left to cut from school budgets.

The Joint Finance Committee, which has not met since May 5, now plans to meet today at 11 AM and Saturday at 10 AM. Today’s calendar consists of Veterans Affairs Health Facilities, District Attorneys, Public Defender, Employee Trust Funds and the University of Wisconsin System. WCCF has not taken positions on votes for today, but will be watching more closely on Saturday when Joint Finance will vote on the Department of Health Services and the Medical Assistance Programs. Sen. Miller and Rep. Pocan want Joint Finance to be done with their work by the end of May. I expect them to meet multiple times next week starting on Tuesday, May 26. All of the Budget Papers released to date are available online. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) Budget Papers have not been released yet, so they are not on that list. WCCF will be taking positions on votes for DCF items; we’ll keep you posted on those votes.