JFC Hearings - Agency Briefings 

Next week is the start of agency briefings for the Joint Finance Committee (JFC). Over the course of two days, April 3rd and 4th, department heads and their staff will discuss their portions of the budget. On April 3rd, it's the Department of Public Instruction, Transportation, and Health Services. On April 4th, it's the Department of Workforce Development, Corrections, and Natural Resources.

These departments will discuss the positive and negatives of the proposed budget and face questions from committee members on their budget requests. Each agency will be expected to bring their best act to the table and advocate for policy that puts Wisconsinites first. 

Each of the 6 agency briefings will follow this basic format:

1. The secretary or department head will provide a brief summary of what their agency does and will go over their major budget appropriations.
2. Committee members will ask the secretary and their staff questions on specific programs and funding requests. Each of the committee members is allotted a certain amount of time or number of questions per agency.

Below, I will explain the focus of each agency and what they hope to receive out of the proposed budget. As these agencies will negotiate for hours upon hours, it's unlikely that these departments will receive their full wish list. 

Department of Public Instruction

•  K-12 schools will receive an additional $1.4 billion and $606 million new money for special education
  • $58 million for mental health 
  • $41 million for bilingual education 
• The University of Wisconsin System would receive an extra $140 million in funding over the biennium.
• Rural schools would see an increase of Sparsity Aid which provides additional aid to rural schools.
• Eliminates the Early College Credit Program which would make it more feasible for high school students to earn college credit.

Transportation

• Invest $1.9 billion for the 2019-21 biennium in the state highway rehabilitation program.
• Authorizes the lowest amount of new bonding for highway purposes in the last two decades. 
• Makes investments in local roads by increasing general transportation aids to counties, cities, villages, and towns.
  
  • Allows local leaders the flexibility to make the right choices for their local infrastructure needs. 

Department of Health Services 

• Expansion of Medicaid - would cover 82,000 more people and saves $320 million.
• Expand the dementia care specialist program to all Aging and Disability Resource Centers across Wisconsin
  • Also increases staffing in the Bureau of Assisted Living to effectively manage the number of facilities opening in the state. 
  • Increases funding in the Department of Transportation for specialized transit.
• Investment in lead poisoning prevention and treatment.
• Significant investment in behavioral health, including grant programs to establish regional crisis stabilization facilities for veterans, children, pregnant women, and individuals who suffer from substance abuse. 

Department of Workforce Development 

• Expands Family and Medical Leave: permits leave to care for grandparent/grandchild or sibling with health condition.
• Restores prevailing wage law for state and local public work projects. 
• Local employment regulation repeal; allows local governments to enact ordinances relating to local labor and employment practices.
• Expands Project Search which provides work experience to high school students with special needs.

Department of Corrections 

• Job center expansion - creates four additional job centers at correctional institutions. 
• Improves vocational and soft-skill training programs. 
• Increase funding for health services at correctional institutions across Wisconsin.  
• Implements advanced technology to better track sex offenders. 

Department of Natural Resources 

• Creates the Bureau of Science, focusing on water and source contamination 
• $6.5 million in bonding to address Targeted Runoff Management (TRM) program
• Implements municipal flood control programs    
• Promotes the development and use of clean and renewable energy across the state. 
• Sets a goal within the state that all electricity produced should be 100 percent carbon-free by 2050.