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Budget Breakdown

WI AFL-CIO
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The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO has been analyzing and breaking down Gov. Walker’s proposed 2017-2019 biennial budget. The budget is 989 pages long and make no mistake, there’s many provisions that will hurt working families and rollback workplace rights in Wisconsin.

We’ve put together a budget summary document that outlines some of the most egregious parts of Walker’s budget.

View the full document here.

The budget contains abundant cuts, restructures State departments, programs and agencies, puts in place an undemocratic scheme to eliminate license requirements for professions and occupations, eliminates prevailing wage standards, destroys checks and balances for workers by eliminating the Labor and Industry Review Commission, fails to establish a sustainable revenue source to fund roads and infrastructure, and consolidates more power into the Governor’s office.

Many of the items in the budget are not fiscal items but policy items that traditionally have been debated in legislative committees and should go through the bill process. By putting items relating to education, workers’ compensation, employment rights like workplace discrimination and FMLA, and occupational licenses, among others in the budget, Gov. Walker is dodging the public and our traditional democratic process.

The Joint Finance Committee, which has the first opportunity to make changes to Gov. Walker’s budget before it goes to the full legislature for debate and voting, is holding listening sessions around the state.

Please attend your local listening session and raise your concerns about Gov. Walker’s budget. As men and women of the labor movement it is up to us to be knowledgeable about this budget and to sound the alarm for working families. We have a responsibility to talk with our friends, neighbors and our co-workers regarding the future of Wisconsin and Gov. Walker’s plan with this Budget to dismantle our democracy, our communities and our middle class.

Bring our budget breakdown with you to help you make your voice heard on some of the many dangerous budget policies for working families at the JFC listening sessions.

April 3:    Platteville

                10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

                 UW-Platteville’s Ullsvick Hall

                 30 South Hickory Street

                 Platteville, WI 53818

 

April 5:   Milwaukee area

                10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

               State Fair Park - Exposition Center

                8200 West Greenfield Avenue

                West Allis, WI 53214

 

April 7:   Ripon area

                10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

                Berlin High School Auditorium

                222 Memorial Drive

                Berlin, WI 54923

 

April 18:   Washburn County

               10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

                 Spooner High School Auditorium

                 801 County Highway A

                 Spooner, WI 54801

 

April 19:   Pierce County

                 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

                 Ellsworth High School Gymnasium

                 323 West Hillcrest Street

                 Ellsworth, WI 54011

 

April 21:   Marinette

                 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

                 Marinette High School Auditorium

                 2135 Pierce Avenue

                 Marinette, WI 54143

 

Gov. Walker thinks this budget will fix his dismal approval ratings before the 2018 elections, but when people know the details they will see how harmful it is for working families.