Last night the State Senate voted against passing the special session bill that would have spent down state savings, reduced the amount of income the state uses to pay its bills, and increased the amount set aside for special education funding for this and next year.
“People with disabilities depend on programs and services that get state and federal funding,” said Sydney Badeau, Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities Board Chair. “We know what is working well, what could work better, and what is not working. We can’t solve old problems by doing the same things. We have ideas, and we need change. We also need to be included in the conversation.”
Disability advocates were concerned that the proposal did not solve the problems with the existing state budget and could make the next budget worse.
Additional analysis of the bill shows the amount of money that would have gone to schools and amount of one-time rebates sent to some taxpayers is uncertain.
The bill did not provide funding for Medicaid, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, or other state programs where the amount of money in the current state budget is not enough to cover actual costs or meet the needs of communities.
Disability advocates remain concerned that federal funding cuts made last year will impact state budgets now and in future state budget cycles.
