July 19, 2022 — Over the last decade, Wisconsin legislators have frequently restricted the ability of local communities to adopt policies that protect and empower workers, improve the health of their residents, and make sure housing is safe. These restrictions on local self government have been particularly harmful for people of color and other residents of urban areas.
September 21, 2021 — The governor’s budget included a number of significant changes in early education policy and financing that would have improved the well-being of our young children, reduced racial disparities, helped parents participate in the workforce, and boosted Wisconsin’s long-term prosperity. Unfortunately, aside from adding federal money to the child care subsidy program and adopting a state version of the child care tax credit, none of these changes were approved in the final budget for 2021-23.
September 9, 2021 — For Wisconsin’s economy to thrive, the state needs to invest in the building blocks of shared prosperity, including high-quality early education and schools, affordable higher education, healthy workers, and strong communities. The Governor’s budget proposed making significant investments in those areas, including investments that would improve racial equity, but the final budget approved by the Legislature looks far different.
August 4, 2021 — The Wisconsin Legislature passed a state budget that stripped out several provisions introduced by Governor Evers that would expand opportunity for immigrant families and communities. The Governor signed the budget passed by the legislature, and it is now law.
July 30, 2021 — During a time of unprecedented revenue growth, the Legislature approved a higher education budget that does not include any significant new resources, and does not take steps to undo the steep budget cuts of past years or expand access to higher education. The legislature eliminated nearly all the additional higher education funding that the Governor recommended and had a plan to pay for.
July 2021 — On many different indicators, Wisconsin is at or very near the top in terms of the severity of racial inequities, and those gaps are holding back our state. Governor Evers’ budget contained a broad range of measures aimed at reducing the disparities in Wisconsin. However, the Republican-controlled legislature scrapped his budget and started fresh, and their budget removed almost all of the Governor’s initiatives to create a more level playing field for people of color in our state.
June 30, 2021 — Wisconsin students across the state deserve access to an excellent public education, and Wisconsin residents should be able to enjoy the economic benefits generated by a first-class public school system. To ensure that the doors of opportunity are open to everyone, Wisconsin needs to invest in our students and our schools.
The K-12 education budget passed by the Wisconsin legislature fails to make those investments. The legislature made deep cuts to the governor’s budget proposal in special education aid, school mental health services, and English language learner services. This budget makes it less likely that schools will have adequate resources to combat the racial disparities in education that harm our students and hold back our state.
June 29, 2021 — The legislature’s Joint Finance Committee put forward a budget that in many ways continues the status quo while providing substantial increases for personal care services and boosting funding for certain Medicaid providers, such as dentists and emergency physicians. It also increases funding for hospitals, nursing homes, and behavioral health. However, the budget misses many opportunities to expand access to health care by rejecting BadgerCare expansion and does very little to address health disparities or maternal and child health. It further fails to pass health insurance consumer protections, allow reimbursement for community health workers and doula services, invest in public health, and expand treatment for children with high blood-lead levels.
June 4, 2021 — The American Rescue Plan is a historic opportunity for Wisconsin to invest in an equitable economic recovery that leaves all communities better off. State and local lawmakers can use federal aid to help communities hit hardest by the pandemic and address the long-term inequities that have kept too many people of color, women, and those paid the lowest wages from reaching their potential. This factsheet includes categories of federal aid directed by the American Rescue Plan to Wisconsin state and local governments for which estimated dollar amounts are available, and selected categories of aid for which Wisconsin-specific amounts are not available.
April 29, 2021 — The governor’s budget includes a number of significant changes in early education policy and financing. If approved, these changes would improve the well-being of our young children, reduce racial disparities, help parents participate in the workforce, and boost Wisconsin’s long-term prosperity. Every low-income family with an infant or toddler deserves equitable access to high quality, culturally, and linguistically responsive early care and education.