Gov. Walker has announced several plans for entitlement reforms in his upcoming budget, including requiring worker training for food stamp eligibility, increasing required work searches for unemployment insurance eligibility, and reducing the number of individuals dependent on government-run health care. The Governor’s Medicaid proposal will: reduce the number of uninsured individuals in the state by […]
Medicaid Expansion a Hot Topic
Date Mon, Feb. 11, 2013 - 12:43pm By Hamilton
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) provides incentives for states to expand their Medicaid programs. Gov. Walker has said he will decide whether Wisconsin will expand its program by the time he delivers his budget address on February 20. In states like Wisconsin, that had a relatively expansive Medicaid Program prior to PPACA, […]
Walker Budget to Expand Mental Health Funding
Date Thu, Feb. 7, 2013 - 8:27pm By Hamilton
Giving a glimpse of what will be in his 2013-2015 Biennial State Budget, Gov. Walker announced a near $30 million investment in state taxpayer funds for mental health programs to enhance and expand services provided by state and local governments to individuals living with mental illness. “Earlier this year, I met with mental health professionals, […]
DWD Sec. Newson Talks About Employment Programs and Unemployment Insurance
Date Wed, Feb. 6, 2013 - 10:38am By Hamilton
In an interview with the Wheeler Report, Department of Workforce Development Secretary Reggie Newson talked about his agency and plans for the next year. What have been the major accomplishments of your agency recently?We’re working hard to carry out the Governor’s agenda on job creation and developing the workforce. The Governor has put forward five […]
Employment Law Changes a Necessary Component to Economic Growth
Date Mon, Jan. 28, 2013 - 4:47pm By Hamilton
In 2011, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce prepared a report titled “The Impact of State Employment Policies on Job Growth.” The review covered all 50 states and unfortunately, Wisconsin was ranked in the worst tier with 14 other states. Wisconsin joined California, New York, Illinois and Michigan as a state where employment laws are considered […]
Nate Silver Tackles the Budget
Date Thu, Jan. 17, 2013 - 4:30pm By Hamilton
Nate Silver, the New York Times’ statistics whiz, who shot to stardom (well, stardom for a statistician) for his elections forecasting, has taken a crack at answering the question “What Is Driving Growth in Government Spending?” Silver’s analysis of government spending at the federal, state and local level on entitlement programs, defense, interest on the […]
Audit of “Double Dipping” State Employees Recommends Changes
Date Thu, Dec. 20, 2012 - 7:21pm By Hamilton
The nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) recently released a report on detailing Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) Annuitants rehired by WRS-eligible employers. At the request of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, the LAB conducted the review to respond to concerns raised about WRS annuitants being rehired by WRS-participating employers and being granted both a salary and […]
Agency Budget Request Highlights
Date Wed, Oct. 10, 2012 - 5:28pm By Hamilton
Agency budget requests for the 2013-15 biennial budget bill have been submitted to the Department of Administration (DOA) for review. Requests approved by the Governor will be included in his budget bill, which is expected to be introduced in January 2013. While the bulk of the agency requests submitted to date generally relate to standard […]