The next two-year state budget, AB-75, has passed the Senate.  It has now passed the Joint Finance Committee, the Assembly, and the Senate. But there are differences in each of the versions passed. 

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That means that a Conference Committee will need to be selected to work out the differences between the two houses of the legislature.  Once that is done, the final version will be sent back to each house for their vote.  After that, the budget will be sent to Gov. Doyle for his action.  He will have the option to accept the entire final version, reject the entire final version or reject parts of the final version.

All of this should be done by the end of June.

Given the condition of the state’s economy, this budget is rather friendly for people with disabilities.  It includes:

• Insurance coverage for children with autism;
• Provides funding for 1,000 children on the waiting list for long-term supports;
• Provides funding for people with mental illness to live in the community;
• Provides funding to expand Family Care and addresses the waiting list in Milwaukee County;
• Maintains the Family Care Ombudsman ratio of 1:2500 and includes participants of the IRIS waiver program; and
• Restructures Southern Wisconsin Center so that about 70 residents can move into the community.

There are several issues that are of concern to disability advocates and they include:

• The reduction of community aids to counties;
• No inclusion of a property tax exemption for housing providers to low-income people;
• Cuts to vocational rehabilitation services (DVR) that will cost the state federal matching funds;
• To be announced cuts to Medicaid that will total about $545 million;
• Cuts to special education that are replaced by federal funding now but that will probably go away in the next budget; and
•  Minimal funding for elderly and disabled transportation.