Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
For all of Scott Walker’s grandiose talk about how the state’s economy has turned the corner and is heading in the right direction, the reality simply doesn’t match the rhetoric.
Just last week, Walker unveiled his 2015-2017 budget proposal, and to say that his budget message lacked any real substantive discussion would not be understatement.
After starting my preliminary review of this voluminous budget document, I quickly became flummoxed by the scope and degree of the cuts being proposed. Here are but a few of these horrendous cuts that stand out:
• $300 million cut to the UW System (13% funding cut to its base). This is the largest budget cut to the system in its history.
• Defund SeniorCare by $15 million, a cut of more than 40% over the two year budget cycle. Senior would be forced to enroll in Medicare Part D, a federal program that costs participants hundreds of dollars more for prescription drugs each year than SeniorCare.
• Reduce lifetime W2 limit from 60 months to 48 months.
• To test able-bodied adults without dependents on FoodShare and Medicaid for illegal drugs (needs federal waiver).
• Impose a 48 month Medical Assistance enrollment limit on childless adults.
• Elimination of the Iris program that provides long term care to seniors and people with disabilities.
• Impose a monthly premium for risky behaviors for childless adults enrolled in Medicaid, and requires a health risk assessment and drug screening in order to receive benefits (needs federal waiver).
• Eliminate recruiting programs for minority and disadvantaged students at the UW System.
• Eliminate requirement that UW students be provided information about sexual assault at campus orientations.
There still much that needs to be uncovered in this budget document. But, one thing is already clear: This budget is a pig in blanket and, if enacted as proposed, will have a deleterious impact on an incalculable number of residents in our state.