On Thursday, the co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Finance released the following statement after the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau confirmed more than $3 million in homelessness funding is available to Governor Evers.
“If the main concern is helping the homeless this winter, why is DOA not allocating over $3.3 million that is at their disposal in appropriations to address homelessness as of today?  According to DOA’s website, one of the grants the governor is requesting a supplement for will not solicit grant applications until ‘late summer.’
As we stated in our letter to Governor Evers on Monday, the Joint Committee on Finance will not meet later today. Governor Evers did not make any effort to reach out to any Republican members of the Committee or even ask if a quorum was available for a Committee meeting. It’s clear the governor is not serious about this issue.

According to the non-partisan Legislative Reference Bureau, the governor may not require the Joint Committee on Finance to convene any meeting, require the Joint Committee on Finance to consider any matter, or compel any member to attend that meeting. The governor’s use of the legislative letterhead of the Co-chairs to post a meeting without the consent of the Co-chairs goes against longstanding practice by administrations of both parties.

Today demonstrates that Governor Evers is again playing politics with a very serious problem while his own administration is sitting on funds that could have helped people yesterday. We should be working together on this issue and not trying to score political points.”
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