April 13, 2011
Walker Budget Proposes Cuts for Public School Aid
Governor Walker’s budget proposes cuts to both general and categorical aid to Wisconsin public school districts. These cuts will negatively impact students in all districts, particularly those in low-income areas. Without access to a quality education, Wisconsin’s young citizens will have fewer job or higher education opportunities, which negatively impacts the economic health of our state.
General Aid
Walker proposes decreasing funding for general school aids by roughly $7.5 million, or 8.1 percent, over the biennium. In addition to cutting aid, his budget would make several changes to revenue limits making it more difficult schools to offset the effect of cuts to aid. Revenue limits impose a restriction on the amount of revenue a school district can raise from general school aid and computer aids, as well as property taxes, in a given year. Proposed changes include:
- Repealing the guarantee that total school district base revenues in the current fiscal year must be maintained at the prior year level.
- Reducing the low revenue spending ceiling from $9,000 to $8,900 per pupil in both years of the biennium. Under current law, this ceiling will be set to $9,800 per pupil in 2011-12 and each year after.
- Eliminating revenue limit exemptions related to school nursing costs, pupil transportation costs, school safety equipment and security officers scheduled to go into effect during the 2011-12 school year.
- Reducing the revenue cap by 5.5% so districts can not raise property taxes to make up for lost aid.
The reduction in the revenue cap, along with cuts in the general aid, will lead to a $1.7 billion cut in revenue for school districts (DAWN Biennial Budget Explanation).
Walker’s bill further proposes a 10 percent cut in high poverty aid, equal to a $3.74 million deduction over the biennium from the current $18.7 million base amount. This aid is given to districts with at least 50 percent of its students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, and is used to reduce the districts’ property tax levy. This reduces the tax burden on low-income district residents. Decreased funding for high poverty aid means that school financing will increasingly fall to local districts and their residents.
Categorical Aid
- Freeze special education aid to school districts, resulting in a 3.4 percent drop in the percentage of costs reimbursed by the state by the end of the biennium.
- Eliminate grants for preschool to grade 5 programs designed to improve the education of students enrolled in districts with high concentrations of low-income and low-achieving students.
- Ten percent reduction to sparsity aids that help pay the cost of educating students in rural, lower-income areas of Wisconsin.
April 12, 2011
Walker Budget Repeals 2009 Change Indexing Homestead Tax Credit to Inflation
The Governor’s budget bill would repeal the 2009 change that indexed the Homestead Tax Credit to inflation.
This tax credit provides targeted tax relief to about 250,000 low-income households in Wisconsin. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau explains:
“The program is often referred to as a “circuit breaker” since it is intended to provide relief once property taxes exceed a taxpayer’s ability to pay them. Relief is provided as a credit reducing individual income tax liability or as a cash refund if the credit exceeds income tax due; the homestead credit is referred to as a refundable credit due to this characteristic.”
The 2009 change allows the maximum credit to increase each year as inflation increases. By repealing the annual adjustments, the credits will be cut by $2 million in 2011 and $6 million in 2012, costing low-income Wisconsin families $8 million over two years. Each year, the cost to each recipient will grow higher, from $8 per recipient in 2011, to $24 in 2012, and rising each year thereafter.
Corrections Funding in Governor Walker’s Budget
Governor Walker’s budget makes a number of changes to funding for the Department of Corrections (DOC). Two notable changes include funding for mental health initiatives and a repeal of 2009 early release provisions.
Mental Health Initiatives
The proposed budget provides DOC with $381,800 to fully fund women’s mental health services at the Taycheedah Correctional Institution and to provide security staffing for a new women’s unit at the Wisconsin Resource Center.
This continues funding for the programs, which were first funded in the 2009-2011 budget. These are important initiatives that will address the mental health and safety needs of the approximately 1,100 women housed in the correctional system or Wisconsin Resource Center each day.
DOC also receives $412,500 to fully fund a women’s mental health conditional release program under the Becky Young community corrections appropriation. This appropriation aims to increase public safety and reduce recidivism. The program is expected to serve an average daily population of 36 women.
Repeal of 2009 Act 28 Sentencing Modifications
The budget bill would repeal several provisions from 2009 regarding early release for inmates. It would:
- Delete positive adjustment time, which allows certain inmates to earn earlier release from prison by following regulations and performing required duties.
- Reduce a rehabilitation program that allows inmates with one or more treatment needs related to her criminal behavior back to a solely substance abuse program.
- Repeal provisions allowing DOC to discharge a person early from the remainder of their extended supervision or probation term after a certain time period.
- Repeal early release changes in sentencing for inmates with disabilities and mental illness.[i]
[i] DAWN Biennial Budget Explanation Part 3
March 9, 2011
WI Senate Passes Non-Fiscal Budget Repair Bill Items on Collective Bargaining; Some Changes Made to Medical Assistance Provisions
In a surprising move tonight, Republican Senators have passed the budget repair bill items related to collective bargaining. According to Channel 3000 news:
Republicans on Wednesday split from the legislation the proposal to curtail union rights, and a special conference committee of state lawmakers approved that bill a short time later.
The move set up a vote in the Senate, which voted mere moments later.
Protesters gathered at the Capitol as the committee convened, yelling “shame” at lawmakers.
The Assembly will be in special session at 11 a.m. on Thursday to take up the conference committee bill, which includes taking away most collective bargaining rights from most state employees. Republicans on Wednesday split from the legislation the proposal to curtail union rights, and a special conference committee of state lawmakers approved that bill a short time later.
The move set up a vote in the Senate, which voted mere moments later.
Protesters gathered at the Capitol as the committee convened, yelling “shame” at lawmakers.
The Assembly will be in special session at 11 a.m. on Thursday to take up the conference committee bill, which includes taking away most collective bargaining rights from most state employees.
There has been some significant changes to the repair bill provisions on medical assistance. First, DHS no longer has any new rulemaking authority. It would still be able to change current Medicaid provisions through regular rule changes, and perhaps the current emergency rule making process. Furthermore, instead of new rules being referred to the Joint Finance Committee for approval, they would have to go through the regular legislative process of rule review.
Second, the bill provides that the medical assistance changes will sunset, or end, on 2015. This would include any rules made by DHS, any amendments to the state medical assistance plan, and any waiver agreements that DHS might enter into as a result of the bill’s provisions. Also, if medical assistance eligibilty for non-disabled, non-pregnant adults is reduced to only those individuals who have a family income of less than 133 percent of the state poverty level, this restriction would be lifted in 2015 as well (unless further changes to statutes are made).
A summary of the bill done by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau can be found here.
Not Approved: School Breakfast
Reading over the cost of many budget items in Governor Walker’s proposal can make you jaded. A seven million dollars for this program, fifteen million for that one. So when the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) asks for a $935,900 increase in funding for school breakfast reimbursements, it seems like a small thing. However, this seemingly negligble amount, which was not approved for funding in Governor Walker’s budget, could have a huge impact in the daily lives of Wisconsin’s school children.
There are several ways in which a student can be eligible for the school breakfast program. Some children are automatically eligible, such as those whose family receives assistance from the Temporary Aid to Needy Families program or those enrolled in Head Start because they met the program’s low-income requirement. Students living in a family with an income at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level can receive a free meal, and those with a family income between 130 and 185 percent of the federal poverty level can receive a reduced-cost meal.
The following graph shows the trend in the percent of Wisconsin school children who were eligible for free or reduced meals from 2003-2009. It shows the recent uptake in need following the beginning of the recession in 2008.
Graph produced by WI DPI
The Wisconsin DPI requested an increase in its free breakfast reimbursement program in order to maintain the same level of reimbursement per meal to Wisconsin public and private schools ($.116 per breakfast), and to extend school breakfast payments to independent charter schools in Milwaukee and Racine and state residential schools for the blind and the deaf. Without the increase in funding, schools may not be able to maintain the same quality of meals, or may have to decrease funding to other programs in order to sustain quality. Certain charter and state residential schools will continue to bear the burdern of financing school breakfasts. This is important because Wisconsin schools cited cost as the number one reason for not starting school breakfast programs.
Ensuring that students can have a good breakfast has important health consequences. According to DPI:
The nutritional intake of students greatly influences the educational process. Hunger leads to nervousness, irritability, lack of interest in learning, and inability to concentrate. The School Breakfast Program has proven effective in helping children maximize their academic opportunities by improving their nutritional intake and dietary practices. School breakfast also contributes to lifelong health as it helps students develop nutritious eating practices that contribute to physical and mental development.
Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Agriculture lists a number of benefits that come from eating breakfast, all proven in various academic studies. These include:
- Improving math, reading, and standardized test scores
- Decreased absences and tardiness
- Healthy breakfasts (high in fiber and low in sugar) help sustain the cognitive effects of breakfast
Maintaining quality school breakfast programs and expanding access to more students should be a priority for government. Increasing student performance will lead to better Wisconsin workers in the future, and improve the quality of our state.
State DHS Secretary Wants to Move More Medicaid Patients to Managed Care
Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith announced yesterday that he wants to keep Medicaid services like prescription coverage, but move the most expensive Medicaid patients into managed care.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal:
Smith said he wants to save money by making the most costly patients — such as those with complex disabilities and mental illnesses — enroll in managed care plans, which help decide what care is needed.
About two-thirds of Medicaid patients are now in managed care. The other third have “fee-for-service” arrangements, where the state pays patients’ bills directly to providers. “No one is coordinating their care,” which can mean higher expenses, Smith said.
Secretary Smith’s decision to move more Medicaid patients into managed care is similar to a decision made by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to move half of Illinois’ Medicaid patients into managed care by 2015. Currently only 8 percent of Illinois Medicaid patients are on managed care, as opposed to around 66 percent in Wisconsin. According to the Pew Center on States, most states have around 46 percent of their patients on managed care. In these tough budgetary times, states are looking to expand the number of people in managed care, the Pew Center writes.
States have been using managed care to cut Medicaid costs for two decades. Up to now, however, the vast majority of plans covered only children and pregnant women — a large, but relatively healthy and inexpensive segment of the more than 60 million people covered by Medicaid.
At the federal level, the Pew Center on the States reports, recent health reform legislation encourages one type of managed care.
The federal health care reform law does not necessarily push states to use what is known as comprehensive or capitated managed care, in which insurance companies share risk with Medicaid programs by agreeing to serve enrollees health care needs for a set price. But it does offer hefty financial incentives for states that offer a type of managed care called “primary care case management,” where doctors receive a monthly stipend for coordinating care for Medicaid patients, including preventive care, acute care and hospitalization. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government will pay 90 percent of the costs for so-called “health homes,” a type of primary care coordination designed to help reduce the costs of caring for people with chronic conditions.
Given that only one percent of Medicaid patients take up 25 percent of the program’s expenditures, movement towards managed care will likely be a dominant and cost-saving trend in the near future.
March 7, 2011
Changes to Administration of Aid Programs Could Hurt Poor Families
Among the changes to the medical assistance and the food stamp programs included in Governor Walker’s budget is a proposal to move the responsibility for determining eligibility for these aid programs from county offices to the state.
“Today, someone who is struggling to get by can walk into the Dane County Job Center on Aberg Avenue in Madison, talk with a county employee about available assistance programs, and get help completing the online application for food stamps and medical assistance…Under the model proposed in Walker’s budget, people from all over the state who need assistance would apply by computer, phone or mail to centralized centers, say county officials.”
This would make it more difficult for people to get help in applying for these forms, as there would no longer be county employees available to help with them. Exacerbating that issue is another Walker proposal–to move administration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP; the food stamps program) into the Department of Children and Families. The program is currently administered by the Department of Health Services, along with medical assistance programs. Citizens can currently apply for the two programs on a single form, increasing the odds that they will receive all the public aid that they are eligible for. By moving SNAP to a different department, applying for these programs may require two different application processes. This could lead to decreased enrollment and increase the number of eligible people who are not receiving the assistance they need.
Funding for Some Student Financial Aid Programs Decreased or Eliminated In Walker’s Budget
Programs directly related to women’s health are not the only ones that affect women’s health and well-being. Expenditure changes in the Governor’s proposed budget related to education and the availability of financial aid will also affect Wisconsin women.
The Higher Educational Aids Board is made up of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and ten members appointed by the Governor from various higher educational institutions around the state. It administers state financial aid programs, as well as the Minnesota-Wisconsin tuition reciprocity agreement. Some of the scholarships and grants they administer include the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant Program, the Minority Teacher Loan Program, the Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant, and the Indian Student Assistance Grant.
In the section on the Higher Educational Aids Board, Governor Walker’s budget makes several proposals that would make it harder for Wisconsin students, particularly low-income students, to access higher education. For example:
- He proposes suspending funding for the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant Program for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, in order to help balance the budget. This program “provides grant assistance to undergraduate, Wisconsin residents enrolled at least half-time in degree or certificate programs at University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Technical College, and Tribal institutions. Awards are based on financial need.” It provides grants of between $250 and $3,000 annually.
- He proposes eliminating the Wisconsin Covenant Scholars Program after September 30,2011. This program “was created to inspire young people to plan early for a successful high-school career that will lead to higher education.” In return for meeting certain requirements, like maintaining a B average throughout high school, Wisconsin eighth graders that sign the pledge “will be recognized as a Wisconsin Covenant Scholar, earn a place within our partnered systems of higher education, and receive a financial aid package, based on their family’s financial need, to help make college affordable.” For students who are now entering college, having signed the pledge when they were in eighth grade, the budget includes approximately $19 million dollars in funding for grants in fiscal year 2013–financial aid to which future generations of students will not have access.
Without these funds available, it will be increasingly difficult for students in Wisconsin to access higher education, and may prevent some from going to college at all. This is important because, not only does a college degree lead to higher lifetime earnings, attending college has health and other non-financial benefits as well. Just a few examples include:
- “At every age and income level, the report shows that there’s some correlation between more education and better health. Those with a bachelor’s degree or higher most often reported being in “excellent” or “very good health,” according to a 2005 survey from the National Center for Health Statistics.”
- “Graduates of a four-year college are also less likely to smoke than their peers.”
- “Those who finished college also reported being more active. In 2005, for instance, more than 60 percent who were in the 25-34 age range said they exercised “vigorously” at least once a week. That’s compared with 31 percent of high school graduates who said the same.”
Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/13/collegeboard
February 23, 2011
State Assembly Works Through the Night on Budget Repair Bill Amendments
The state Assembly has been working through the night, going through over 100 amendments to the budget repair bill proposed by Assembly Democrats.
Democratic representatives have introduced amendments dealing with the proposed changes to collective bargaining, medical assistance programs, and more. For example, amendment 10, offered by Representatives Pasch and Richards, would “ delete “Authorization for modifications to programs; study.” and substitute “Study of potential changes to Medical Assistance program.” Instead of allowing the Department of Health Services authority to change Medical Assistance programs, this amendment would only allow for the study of potential changes to these programs. The second part of this amendment would, if adopted, remove the lines of the bill that give DHS power to require greater cost-sharing, modify existing benefit packages, and more.
However, this is largely a delay technique as the Democrats attempt to filibuster the bill. While it is encouraging to see greater attention paid to the medical assistance provisions in the budget repair bill, these amendments will likely all be voted down, given that Republicans are the majority party in the Assembly.
February 20, 2011
Health and Reproductive Rights in President Obama’s Budget
While local events related to Governor Walker’s budget repair bill have dominated the public’s attention in Wisconsin and beyond for the past week, the federal budget for FY 2012 is currently being debated in Washington. Many of the decisions made in Washington will have repercussions for funding and options available to state policymakers.
Our nation’s chief executive largely acted to protect program’s for women and girls in his budget. However, it will face strong opposition in Congress. There has been heated debate over H.R. 1 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, the House Republican’s counter to President Obama’s proposed budget. According to the National Women’s Law Center, H.R. 1 would cut or reduce funding for programs including:
–Title X family planning program that provides comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services to low-income women: Eliminated
–Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program: Eliminated
–Community health centers: Funding cut by almost 60 percent.
–Maternal and Child Health block grant: Funding cut by 7.6 percent
This bill has been called “the most politically driven assault on women’s health in American history” by Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Cecile Richards.
In contrast, President Obama’s budget would increase funding for Title X, teen pregnancy prevention, and community health centers. It proposes a small (1.2 percent) cut in maternal and child health block grants.
Many painful cuts will have to be made in this year’s federal budget, and, ultimately, no one will be left fully content with the results. However, we believe that women’s health programs such as Title X funding and funding for community health centers produce benefits outweighing their costs, both now and in the long-term.
