Anticipated $900 Million in cuts to State School Aids.WiscInfo ( via the Retiring Guy), “ Library leaders anticipate budget cuts amid increasing demand.”.Reedsburg Times-Press, “ State budget bill also could affect county“.The Cap Times, “ Public employee layoffs could be coming to the local level”.Wausau Daily Herald, “ Officials: State funding cuts could dwarf possible savings on benefits“.Oshkosh Northwestern, “ Local governments concerned state-shared revenue cuts may exceed cost savings Walker’s bill might offer“. Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools, “ Wisconsin parents can lead the effort to stop billion-dollar cut in school aid“.Appleton Post-Crescent, “ Wisconsin school administrators brace for expected cuts in state aid“.The Wisconsin Association of School Boards (via Bargaining for Benefits), “” Coming Budget Cuts in State Aid and Revenue limit Authority Will Be Deep“.Larry Miller, Milwaukee Board of Education, “ “Walker: By Targeting Public Employees He Intends To Soften The Public For The Bigger Kill (Education and HealthCare for the Poor)“:.Karl Loewenstein, Oshkosh Board of Education, “ Oh Dear!! Cuts from Walker are going to be brutal!“.Wisconsin State Journal, “ School officials: Anticipated education cuts could be ‘devastating”.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “ Walker to gut MPS, break up UW, education leaders say” ( more on UW and the Budget from Maxwell John Love) and “ Bonds warns of ‘devastating’ cut for MPS under state budget“.Video of Scott Walker on UpFront with Mike Gousha (property taxes discussed at about the 7:00 mark).There have been some hints and leaks about what will be in the Budget and it ain’t good. Whether in the Capitol or elsewhere, we all need to be paying attention and we all need to mobilize on this too. So, instead of releasing the Budget on Tuesday February 22 as scheduled, they have moved it to March 1. Scott Walker and the GOP don’t want you to know what is in the budget bill, they especially don’t want this information out there while the people are in control of the Capitol and paying attention. For more, see the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future/ Wisconsin Council on Children and Families Catalog of Tax Reform Options for Wisconsin and of course Penny for Kids. I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that the way to actually help local governmental units and the people of Wisconsin is to provide sufficient revenues. The GOP talking points have been that destroying public worker unions is a way to give local governmental units (counties, municipalities and school districts) the tools to deal with the budget cuts that radical slashes to state aid, shared revenue and unprecedented limits on local control of revenues - all anticipated in the Biennial Budget - will bring. Throughout this, Walker has made it clear that the so-called Budget Repair bill is only a prelude to the Biennial Budget. It is going to be a giant shoe and we need to be ready to catch it and throw that one back too. That is why I want to try to focus attention on what comes next, the other shoe waiting to drop, Governor Walker’s Biennial Budget. I’ve been energized and filled with hope by the the rallies and protests this week, but like Brian I have concerns about the limits of the agenda being put forward. I will point toward the CAST Statement I helped draft, Rep Mark Pocan’s “Scott Walker’s Top Ten Lies” for a good fact check and Alder Brian Solomon’s “Madison, WI: A Prelude for Economic Justice” for some questions and context. There is so much good stuff out there on what has been happening in Madison and around the state this week that I really don’t have too much to add.
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