March 27, 2002

Good Shepherd Voices For Justice

Action Alert - State Budget Repair Bill

Background: Wisconsin is facing serious fiscal woes due to the downturn in the economy as well as other factors. Gov. McCallum proposed to stop all shared revenue from the state to the municipalities as a means for balancing the budget. At the same time, he also proposed a freeze on all current property taxes, so local governments would not be able to use this means to generate monies to offset the loss of shared revenue. Local units of government depend upon shared revenue from the state to provide basic services to there people: fire protection, police protection, garbage collection, library services, to name a few. In addition, counties also depend upon shared revenue to meet human service needs at the county level.

Recently the Assembly passed its version of the budget repair bill and the Senate must now take-up that bill. Once the Senate passes its bill, it must go back to conference committee to negotiate out the differences between the two bills before it can go to the Governor for signing. The Governor can also use his pen to line item veto provisions before signing. There is time now to act. The bill is not expected to go to conference committee until May.

Under the Assembly bill, counties and municipalities in the ten county area of the Archdiocese will lose a total of $127,351,842.00 in shared revenue during the first

year of proposed cuts, eventually eliminating all shared revenue to all municipalities.

The Assembly bill also freezes the total property tax levels at its current dollar amount, not at its rate per thousand on assessed property values.

Even the normal increase in revenues from property value increases will not be there to offset the loss of shared revenue. Areas most drastically cut appear to be areas with the greatest concentration of low to middle income families. With the loss of shared revenue and an inability to generate more taxes locally, these local governments cannot provide basic services at the current level. This cannot help but lead to the decline of the low-middle income citizens of these communities.

At a recent budget hearing, the Village President of Menomonee Falls pointed out that the bond rating of surrounding suburbs is directly tied into the fiscal health of cities. His village bond rating says that it is directly dependent on the economic well-being of Milwaukee, because the income base of village residents is directly related to their jobs in Milwaukee. That relationship is true for cities and suburbs across the state.

It will take political will, time, study and thoughtful negotiations to accomplish collaboration of services across regions. It will not happen overnight and probably not within a year’s span. Meanwhile the state has a responsibility to protect the health and well-being of all citizens, not just those with a property-rich tax base. In the midst of the budget struggles, we believe the driving force must be to seek solutions that protect the least among us and promote the common good.

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Voices for Justice is an Archdiocesan Legislative Network coordinated by the Social Concerns Office,

3501 S. Lake Drive – P.O. Box 070912, Milwaukee, WI 53207 – 0912, 414-769-3402

Reducing State Prison Costs Through Treatment Instead of Prison (TIP)

Prisons account for some of the biggest growth in state spending in recent years. According to the Department of Corrections, the state has tripled the number of people incarcerated over the last ten years. Many of these are non-violent drug offenders. Addiction, recognized by the American Medical Society as an illness, cuts across all socio-economic backgrounds and affects most families either directly or indirectly.

Senator Gary George (D-Milw.) will be introducing an amendment into the Senate budget bill which would mandate that non-violent, drug-related offenders be sent to drug treatment rather than prison or jail. Arizona saved about $6.7 million dollars the first year it implemented this law, a net savings after costs for treatment and additional probation officers.

People in recovery can work, support families and pay taxes, something not done through prison walls. Lazarus Ministry supports this approach. Lazarus Ministry is a newly developing collaborative effort of men’s religious orders and the Archdiocese to minister to low-income male addicts and their families.

“The Church, from its Gospel stance of compassion for hurting individuals,

views those who suffer from alcohol or other drug abuse as especially in

need of our care and service. It commits itself to advocacy efforts to enact

public policy and legislation geared to ensure access to adequate and

appropriate service programs for all such persons in need.”

From Chemical Dependency: A Challenge for the Church, Bishops of New York, 1989

Action Needed:

Contact your legislators and the governor:

Ø express your concern over reductions in shared revenue and the impact on the health and well-being of communities; low and middle income communities should not have to bear the brunt of shared revenue reductions;

Ø urge them to support Treatment Instead of Prisons (TIP); it makes sense to treat people rather than imprison them, and is much more cost-effective to the state.

How to Contact:

Wisconsin State Legislature Website: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/waml

Legislative Hotline: 1-800-362-9472

Governor Scott McCallum:115 East State Capitol, Madison 53702; 608-266-1212;

fax: 608-267-8983; email: WisGov@gov.state.wi.us

State Senators: P.O. Box 7882, Madison, 53707-7882

Representatives: Last names A-L – P.O. Box 8952, Madison, 53708 – 8952

Last names M-Z – P.O. Box 8953, Madison, 53708 – 8953

For More Information: Marjorie Morgan, Social Concerns Office, 414-769-4402

1-800-769-9373, ex.402, email:morganm@archmil.org