State Budget: Progress Made, Work Remains

By Senator Kathleen Vinehout

The state budget is one step closer to being finished, but work remains for lawmakers.

This past week the Senate passed a budget much different than that of the Assembly. A Conference Committee of members of both parties and both Chambers must now reconcile the differences.

The budget must again pass both houses in the form of a Conference Committee Report.

The Senate version of the budget made significant changes affecting western Wisconsin. Counties have been hit particularly hard in this budget. Cut proposed by the Governor affect their ability to provide vital and essential services.

Counties were forced to not only pay their share, but the state’s share of caring for people who require the services of the state’s mental health institutions. To make matters, the original state budget took money the federal government was sending to the counties for the care of the mentally ill and sent it back to the state. Seemed quite unfair to me!

I was able to change part of the budget so that at least the county was able to keep their share of the federal dollars allocated for serving the mentally ill.

County nursing homes including those in our Senate District were particularly hard hit. I was able to restore money the federal government sent to the county nursing homes. In the original budget, this money was taken and sent to the general Medicaid fund.