Survival Coalition Call-in Days: what to keep, change, and add to the state budget for people with disabilities

The Joint Finance Committee has finished its work; the state budget must now be approved or amended further by the full State Senate and State Assembly. This is an important time to be in touch with your State Senator and Assembly Representative about your priorities for the state budget.

Survival Coalition is hosting call-in days this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for people with disabilities, family members and disability allies to call their state Senator and State Representative. The Legislature is scheduled to vote on the budget the week of June 24.

You can use the Legislative Hotline (1-800-362-9472) to connect directly with your state Senator and State Representative. Here is a full directory of state legislators from Wisconsin BPDD.

Let them know the good things that should be kept in the budget, what needs more funding, and what should be added to the budget:

Tuesday, June 18th	Wednesday, June 19th	Thursday, June 20th
Keep it in	More funding needed	Add what’s missing
Wage increases for Family Care Direct Care workers Personal Care rate increase Increased funding for Children’s Long-Term Care support program Specialized Transportation increase Child Psychiatry Consultation Suicide Prevention Grant	Special Education Reimbursement, increase to 60% reimbursement, not 30% School Based Mental Health Services, increase by $63 M, not $12.5M Physician and Behavioral Health Services reimbursement, increase by $70M, not $25M Public Transit funding, increase by 10%, not 2% Dentists serving Medicaid patients with disabilities, increase by $5 M, not $2.5 M Lead poisoning and prevention funding, increase by $52 M, not $16.25 M.	Full BadgerCare expansion IRIS Direct Care worker funding Statutory language guaranteeing no child will have to wait for CLTS services Family Support and Disability Resource Centers Dental Reimbursement rate increases Transition services for students with disabilities Regional Crisis Stabilization Centers

 

For more information about the issues in the State Budget, check out these fact sheets from the Survival Coalition:

 

Special Education

Transportation

Dental

Children’s Disability Programs

Mental Health

Caregiving