Joint Finance Committee Approves Budget Motions

Today, State Representative Joy Goeben (R-Hobart) proudly announces that two budget motions she submitted to the Joint Finance Committee passed yesterday afternoon. The first motion provides grant funding to the Oneida Nation to support the “Healing to Wellness Court” program. The other, which Goeben co-sponsored with Representative Macco (Green Bay), provides grant funding to the Oneida Nation to support the National Estuarine Research Reserve System.

 “I am very pleased that these budget requests were passed. I worked with the Oneida Nation and with the members on the JFC to get funding for these two projects,” said Goeben. “I have high hopes that the Healing to Wellness Court will make a significant difference in reducing crime, and more importantly, I hope this program will be a benefit to people who need help with various problems in their life, like drug and alcohol addiction.”

The Oneida Healing to Wellness Court is a voluntary post-conviction program that provides culturally responsive and community-based support. The program represents a collaborative effort of criminal justice stakeholders in the Oneida Nation living in Brown and Outagamie Counties, working together to break the cycle of substance abuse.

The National Estuarine Research Reserve program is funded through a 70:30 Federal-State match, and is a collaboration with Oneida Nation, UW Green Bay, the Great Lakes Tribal Nations, and the federal government. NERR seeks to strengthen NE Wisconsin’s water resources through enhanced training, stewardship, and granting opportunities, and better connect Tribal K-12 educational opportunities with water resources.

“I am also pleased that the NERR project received the funding it needs,” she continued. “North East Wisconsin has, and will always be connected to the waters and rivers of this area. The  NERR project will ensure that this resource is available to future generations. These two items are now part of the budget package. I am reasonably certain it will pass the Assembly and the Senate, and will be signed by the governor.”

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The 5th Assembly District encompasses portions of Outagamie and Brown Counties, including the communities of Hobart, Kaukauna, Freedom, Ashwaubenon, and Little Chute.