Wisconsin's Legislature and Governor Show Their Priorities
Today, the actions of both the Wisconsin Legislature and Governor Evers showed their priorities.
The Legislature met today as part of an ongoing effort to limit support for workers who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Conservative lawmakers want to turn down federal resources for Wisconsin that help jobless workers make ends meet and put food on the table.
Lawmakers met in an effort to overturn Governor Evers' veto of a bill that would have prematurely ended the $300 weekly unemployment benefits supplement that is scheduled to end in September. Fortunately, that veto effort failed in the Assembly, with all Democrats voting against the veto override. Ending the unemployment benefits supplement would have resulted in unnecessary hardship for Wisconsinites who are trying to meet their families' basic needs.
At the same time that that the Legislature was trying to reduce economic security for jobless workers, Governor Evers asked the Legislature to make investments in the education of Wisconsin residents that will pay returns for years to come. During a time of unprecedented revenue growth, the Legislature passed a 2021-23 two-year budget that does not include any significant new resources for either our K-12 education system or our higher education system. Instead, the Legislature used both school districts and tech college districts as a mechanism for delivering a property tax cut, instead of investing in students.
Governor Evers asked the Legislature to meet and fix the mistakes of the 2021-23 budget by investing $440 million in new resources for K-12 education and $110 million for higher education. Legislative leaders refused.
Strictly speaking, nothing changed today. The Legislature couldn't override the Governor's veto, leaving the expanded unemployment benefits intact until September. And the Legislature refused to invest in education. But their actions certainly demonstrated their differences in priorities. ?
The Wisconsin Budget Project will continue to bring you the latest
in policy analysis and research.
Because policy matters now, more than ever.
Click here to donate.
