This week, the Governor signed the first state bill in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. WI Act 185 is a small first step in the right direction, but it does not go nearly far enough.

The list of needs is long and this law hardly scratches the surface. The final legislation allocates no new state funding. It leaves out public health systems, food banks, health care and other essential workers, and doesn’t direct resources to communities that are being most impacted. Wisconsin is not investing in Wisconsin. We must do better. Policy matters, now more than ever.

Governor Evers proposed a more robust approach, including investing hundreds of millions in new state funds. Kids Forward and Wisconsin Budget Project staff analyzed both proposals and published issue briefs with side-by-side comparisons.

• Click here to read the Wisconsin Budget Project issue brief on proposed and enacted public benefit changes.
• Check out the Kids Forward issue brief comparing health care changes proposed by the governor and the legislature’s COVID-19 response bill here.

We’ve also been hard at work examining the federal legislation responding to COVID-19. The Wisconsin Budget Project highlighted an important concern about the stimulus checks included in the CARES Act. One part of the stimulus effort is a $1,200 payment that goes to many adult tax filers, even those in debt to the government for delinquent taxes or student loan payments. Yet, one group was singled out so that their governmental debt will continue to be withdrawn, resulting in a partial check or even no check at all.

These individuals are parents who owe money to the government for child support. Evidence suggests that much of that debt is actually interest, that these are parents with very low-incomes and that they are disproportionately Black fathers. The Wisconsin Budget Project examines this in an issue brief released this week.

Last but certainly not least, the 2020 Census is happening now, and Kids Forward is working hard to make sure every kid counts. Your kid could win a $100 gift card! Last week, we announced a contest for kids to help make sure every kid and baby is counted. Help your child in 5^th grade and younger create an original piece of art with the theme, “What does Wisconsin look like when EVERY kid is counted?” Entries must be sent to [email protected] by next Thursday April 23