Protecting Our Families and Neighborhoods Are Budget Priorities on Which We Can All Agree
With the Governor having sent the state legislature his two-year budget for the state’s finances, deliberations on the budget have focused primarily on the Joint Finance Committee and it members.
Evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, the 16 members of the committee are charged with providing the Senate and Assembly with a budget package. Their work began at the end of April.
Senate Democrats are committed to passing a budget which supports our essential priorities while holding the line on spending. Among the important steps taken so far by the budget committee:
• Providing over $26 million in property tax relief through expansion of the Homestead Tax Credit.
• Increasing shared revenue funding by $15 million to help local governments with the cost of public services such as fire and police protection.
• Expanding opportunities for our children by investing additional dollars in the state’s phenomenally successful SAGE smaller-class size initiative which has helped countless students in every corner of Wisconsin.
• Improving access to health care and dental care through added funding for community health centers which serve rural communities and making the FamilyCare program for long-term care for the elderly and disabled available statewide.
• Honoring our commitment to the state’s veterans by passing a comprehensive package to ensure our veterans and their families have access to the benefits and services they have earned.
• Investing in our economy’s future by increasing support for job training for all ages through the Skills Enhancement Program and Youth Apprentice Program.
• Protecting education for our children by stopping an ill-advised move to slash $429 million from our schools; a move which could have resulted in the loss of 5,700 teachers – nearly ten percent of the teaching force.
• Reducing the flow of out-of-state garbage into Wisconsin by doubling the tipping fee.
The budget process will continue on as both legislative bodies fine tune the budget plan which will emerge from the Joint Finance Committee. I will support a budget which reflects the priorities of the people of the 27th Senate District.
I am interested in hearing your thoughts on the budget and I will be holding listening sessions on the budget in the district over the next weeks. I encourage citizens to come and share their ideas.
I am grateful for the opportunity to talk with constituents and neighbors about the budget priorities we all share. I hope everyone will take time to come and discuss our state’s finances and exhange ideas about how to keep Wisconsin great.
Please continue to monitor my website for news and information. As always, feel free to contact me at 608-266-6670 or by e-mail at Sen.Erpenbach@legis.wisconsin.gov on this or any other issue.
