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Much to Celebrate in Governor Evers' Budget

2/22/2021

On February 16th, Governor Tony Evers outlined his groundbreaking and forward-thinking 2021-2023 Budget Proposal. He included a wide range of initiatives that get to the heart of making a difference in Wisconsinites' lives.

If you're interested in viewing Governor Evers' entire budget proposal, you can do so here. But to make it easier for you, the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health has analyzed and scrutinized the 717-page document and crafted a summary of the items we're excited about in Governor Evers' budget:

Healthy Women, Healthy Babies Proposal: Wisconsin has the disgraced reputation of being one of the worst states to have a black child and raise a black family. Among the many alarming disparities that plague our state, black babies born in Wisconsin are 3x more likely than white babies to die before they reach the age of 1. Governor Evers' budget dedicates $30 million to address and disrupt racial disparities in maternal and child health. To support healthier pregnancies and births, his priorities include increasing funding for doulas, expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage to one full year post-birth, and providing grants to Black-led organizations working to advance black women's health. We’re especially excited to see Governor Evers include a specific expansion of Medicaid coverage for postpartum women from the current 60 days to a full year following the birth of a child.
BadgerCare Expansion: For the past six years, former Governor Scott Walker and legislative Republicans have rejected billions of dollars in federal funds available to Wisconsin under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Governor Evers' budget will expand BadgerCare to ensure health care coverage for nearly 100,000 Wisconsinites while saving taxpayers an estimated $634 million. Expanding BadgerCare means that low-income, uninsured people - who are predominantly women and children of color - will have access to affordable healthcare coverage and have the ability to receive necessary care, services, and support. Expanding BadgerCare also means that we can invest our saved state dollars in other important initiatives that benefit Wisconsin women - like the Healthy Women, Healthy Babies proposal listed above.
Prohibiting the Shackling of Pregnant & Laboring Women in Prisons: Although widely regarded as an assault on human dignity as well as an unsafe medical practice, incarcerated women are still routinely shackled during pregnancy and childbirth. Shackling pregnant prisoners endangers the health and safety of both the mother and the fetus, and is almost never justified by the need for safety and security for medical staff, the public or correctional officers. Through his budget, Governor’s he recommends limiting the use of restraints on pregnant and postpartum people in correctional facilities.
Improving Wisconsin’s Public Health Infrastructure: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for increased investment in our state’s public health infrastructure, which has been chronically underfunded in the past. The Governor’s budget continues the administration’s pandemic response by bolstering Wisconsin’s health infrastructure with an investment of more than $400 million in hospitals, local health departments, and other public health initiatives. This would be one of the largest public health investments in Wisconsin in at least 20 years and builds on over $2 billion in federal Coronavirus Relief Funds that our administration has dedicated to Wisconsin’s response and recovery from COVID-19.
Improvements in Telehealth Coverage: The flexibility to use telehealth for regular doctor's visits, urgent appointments, and other medical needs has never been more important. In this time of COVID-19 and widespread uncertainty, Wisconsinites have struggled to maintain reliable access to affordable and safe healthcare services. That's why Governor Evers has continued to find new ways to reduce barriers to telehealth. His budget includes proposals that will prohibit insurers from denying telehealth coverage if the service would otherwise be covered in-person, bar insurers from charging patients extra for telehealth visits, and prevent insurers from imposing limits on telehealth services. His budget also includes an investment in statewide broadband to make telehealth a true option for rural communities.
Childcare Investments: Since the onset of the pandemic, one of Wisconsin's most apparent issues has been dramatically magnified: the need for affordable, quality childcare. Across our state, women are being pushed out of the workforce to shoulder the majority of family caregiving responsibilities. Unfortunately, our childcare system has not adapted to the specific needs of COVID-19, nor has it shifted to accommodate both parents working outside the home. To alleviate this ongoing structural problem, Governor Evers' budget will invest $140 million in new funding toward an initiative that will prioritize childcare equity, affordability, and accessibility.
Funding for Caregivers: Caregiving is a critical component of our society and our loved ones' lives. Across the nation and in Wisconsin, caregivers tend to be underpaid and overworked women. Governor Evers has recognized this unsettling reality and included several provisions in his budget to reduce the financial stress on people who serve as caregivers. Some of his proposals entail investing $240 million to raise nursing home rates, allocating $77 million to support personal care services, expanding the Family & Medical Leave Act, and increasing funding for aging and disability resource centers - including those on native land.
Key Democracy Reforms: And finally, recognizing how difficult is has been to advance any positive, proactive policies related to women’s health, safety and economic security in Wisconsin, we are extremely grateful that the Governor’s Budget takes important steps to mitigate the negative impacts of past voter suppression efforts and gerrymandering in our state. By directing the Department of Transportation to implement automatic voter registration, modifying voter ID requirements such as requiring the UW system to issue student IDs that comply with voter ID laws, extending absentee voting time frame, and requiring the legislature to go by the Fair Maps Commission recommendations when redrawing district boundaries, the Governor’s Budget makes necessary recommendations to ensure voters can be heard through the ballot and through the legislative session.

The Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health will continue to advocate for these and other important budget items that are critical in achieving our vision: Every Wisconsin woman - at every age and every stage of life - is able to reach her optimal health, safety and economic security.

Here's what you can do to help ensure these items remain in the budget to be passed by our State Legislature:

Call or e-mail your State Legislators and ask them to keep these items in the budget. Let them know how you feel and why this is important to you. www.supportwomenshealth.org/know-your-legislators.html
Follow our more in-depth budget analysis at https://www.wawhbudgetproject.org
Stay tuned for opportunities to speak out to member of the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee.

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WAWH Joins Over 100 Groups United To Make Sure Budget Hearings are Accessible and Safe

2/18/2021

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The Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health is proud to join with over 100 other organizations in Wisconsin calling on the Joint Finance Committee to hold Budget Hearings virtually for public safety and accessibility

February 18, 2021

To: The Joint Finance Committee
Cc: Governor Evers, Senate Majority Leader LeMahieu, Senate Minority Leader Bewley, Speaker Vos, Assembly Minority Leader Hintz, Members of the Legislature

Dear Co-Chairs Marklein and Born,

The state budget process is one of the most important policy discussions that legislators, the Governor’s staff, and advocacy groups engage in together. At the heart of the state budget is the belief that our state’s values are reflected in the decisions that are made about how we spend our state’s tax dollars. But, it is also true that robust public engagement in making these decisions is a value in and of itself. As advocacy organizations representing various issues, geographic reach, and constituency bases, it is essential that we reach out to you as the Co-Chairs of the Joint Finance Committee to offer our support for making the 2021-2022 State Budget hearings be as productive and inclusive as possible. While we represent far ranging and diverse populations, we are united in wanting to make sure that every person who wants to participate in the JFC hearings, and other legislative hearings this session, can do so safely.

Because of the known risks with large public gatherings due to Covid-19 and the uncertainty about when it will be safe for all members of the public to attend, we as member-based organizations cannot in good conscience encourage our members to risk their health to attend large public hearings. Many of our members are at higher risk of developing life-threatening health issues due to age or underlying health conditions. Some of our members are from communities that have been especially hard hit by the COVID pandemic, such as people of color, who are at higher risk for adverse outcomes from a COVID infection. In addition, there is concern that not adequately following public health guidance for large public gatherings will further strain our health care system, which we all benefit in keeping COVID care from overwhelming.

The below signed advocacy groups are asking you, in your discretion as chairs, to make the following virtual and remote options available for public testimony to the JFC committee and ability to formally register their positions on the state budget:

Establish an e-mail address for the Joint Finance Committee expressly for collecting testimony for inclusion into the public record.
Establish an online version of the hearing slip that can be used anywhere in the state by constituents to register their position on the budget similar to what they could fill out if they attended in person.
Develop clear, consistent language and instructions for the public on how they may register and submit testimony remotely. We suggest these instructions are included as part of every public hearing notice.
Allow use of virtual platforms for remote testimony. Many platforms allow registration in advance and uploading of files which may be useful features for legislative committees. State agencies have used these platforms for gathering public input and comment during the pandemic.
Consider providing a limited (by registration) call-in option for individuals to provide remote testimony if they do not have access to the internet, do not have a computer or have poor broadband.
Ensure there are clear guidelines and notices posted online and in other places to help people understand all testimony options.
Coordinate with state expertise (such as the Department of Health Services media team) to maximize accessibility for constituents with sensory disabilities on virtual platforms.
Partner with Wisconsin Eye to provide captioning and ASL interpreters for hearing impaired individuals for all public hearings using this service.

The below signed groups and our members wish to support a state budget process that welcomes the voices and experience of all people in Wisconsin during this critical time. We believe these suggestions will help you and other members of the committee run a state budget hearing process that we can all be proud of together.

Sincerely,
1000 Friends of Wisconsin
350 Madison
A Better Wisconsin Together
AARP Wisconsin
ACLU of Wisconsin
African American Roundtable, Inc.
AFSCME Council 32
All Voting Is Local
Alliance for the Great Lakes
Autism Society of Greater Wisconsin
Autism Society of South Central Wisconsin
Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin
Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC)
Black Lives Matter to Wisconsin Unitarian Universalists
Blue Sky Waukesha
Central Wisconsin ADAPT
Chippewa Valley Transit Alliance, Inc.
Citizen Action of Wisconsin
Citizen Advocates for Public Education
Clean Wisconsin
Coalition For Justice
Common Cause Wisconsin
Common Cause Wisconsin
Consumer Direct Care Network
Crawford Stewardship Project
Disability Rights Wisconsin
Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa
End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin
Esther
Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO)
Fair Wisconsin
First Baptist Church of Madison
For Our Future Wisconsin
Harambee Village Doulas
Interfaith Earth Network
Kids Forward
League of Women Voters of Wisconsin
LOV Inc, Living Our Visions Inclusively
Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin
Madtown Mommas and Disability Advocates
Main Street Alliance
Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, Inc.
Midwest Environmental Advocates
Milwaukee Branch NAACP
Milwaukee County Human Rights Commission
Milwaukee Inner-city Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH)
Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force
Milwaukee Riverkeeper
Milwaukee Turners
Milwaukee Zen Center
Monona UMC
NAACP Milwaukee Branch
NASW WI
Northern Wisconsin NORML
People First Wisconsin
People of Progression
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin
Progress North
Protect Our Care Wisconsin
RENEW Wisconsin
Rid Racism Milwaukee
River Alliance of Wisconsin
Schools and Communities United
Sierra Club Wisconsin
Souled Out Ministries INC
SOULS
Souls To The Polls
Southeastern Wisconsin ADAPT
Survival Coalition of WI Disability Advocacy Organizations
The Arc Greater Columbia County
The Arc Wisconsin
The Arc-Dane County
UFCW Local 1473
Waupaca County ARC Inc.
WI Association of Family & Children's Agencies
WI Board for People with Developmental Disabilities
WI Conference NAACP
WI Early Childhood Association
Wisconsin Aging Advocacy Network
Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools
Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health
Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Wisconsin Coalition of Independent Living Centers, Inc.
Wisconsin Conservation Voters
Wisconsin Council of Churches
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
Wisconsin Education Association Council
Wisconsin Environment
Wisconsin Environmental Health Network
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice
Wisconsin Family Assistance Center for Education, Training & Support (WI FACETS)
Wisconsin Farmers Union
Wisconsin Green Muslims
Wisconsin Health Professionals for Climate Action
Wisconsin Interfaith Power and Light
Wisconsin Justice Initiative
Wisconsin Lakes
Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association
Wisconsin Long Term Care Workforce Alliance
Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance
Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association
Wisconsin Public Education Network
Wisconsin Wildlife Federation
Wisconsin's Green Fire
WISPIRG
Youth Justice Milwaukee

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Peek @ Policy Blog

Much to Celebrate in Governor Evers' Budget

WAWH Joins Over 100 Groups United To Make Sure Budget Hearings are Accessible and Safe

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