Wisconsinites called for investments to support special education, district attorneys, libraries and the arts, while urging against cuts to Medicaid at a Joint Finance Committee hearing April 2 in Kaukauna.
State Superintendent Jill Underly also traveled to Kaukauna, fresh off her reelection, to testify before lawmakers, urging them to invest more in public education.
“The people spoke last night – they are sick of underfunded schools,” Underly wrote on X.
Her appearance comes after Republicans didn’t invite her as one of the agency heads to testify before the committee.
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The meeting at Kaukauna High School was the first in a series of field hearings lawmakers will hold across the state to gather constituents’ input as they build the next state budget. The committee is also set to congregate in West Allis, Hayward and Wausau. The fiscal year ends June 30, the usual deadline for the Legislature to send the budget back to the governor.
Green Bay Superintendent Vicki Bayer told lawmakers her district has been fiscally responsible, but has been punished for it with low revenue limits, leading to building closures and staff reductions.
“We can’t cut anymore without negatively impacting our students, and one of the primary reasons is because every year we have to take $35 million from our regular funds and shift it over to support special education funding,” Bayer said. “Those needs are increasing. It’s the right thing to support those kids, but it’s expensive, and we need support. Twenty-nine percent, 30% reimbursement isn’t cutting it anymore.”
Bayer said the district supports Gov. Tony Evers’ recommendation for public school funding. Evers has asked to increase K-12 funding by $3.15 billion, including raising the special education reimbursement to 60%.
Hortonville School District Administrator Todd Timm also said the current special education reimbursement rate isn’t enough.
“The current 29% reimbursement rate simply is not enough to meet the needs of our students,” Timm said.
He said more and more students need special education services, and the district is facing costs of over $100,000 per student. If the reimbursement rate isn’t increased, Timm called for an above-inflationary increase in per-pupil aid.
Jaclyn Bender, an occupational therapist at the Waisman Center in Madison, asked lawmakers not to cut Medicaid funding, a state-federal responsibility. She said almost all the children with disabilities that she works with rely on Medicaid for equipment, materials and programs.
“I learn constantly from these families that are part of our community and a part of our state, ” Bender said. “What they have is currently not enough, and if funding dwindles and they receive less, their lives will be significantly and negatively impacted.”
Several people also testified in support of budget provisions backed by Create Wisconsin, including funding for the Wisconsin Arts Board and to establish a Rural Wisconsin Creative Economy grant program and an Office of Film and Creative Industries.
Create Wisconsin Executive Director Anne Katz said investing in the state’s creative resources “helps grow and stabilize Wisconsin’s economy, workforce and communities.”
