Monday May 21, Executive Director Amy Ambrose and I had coffee and sweet rolls with some 300 “ordinary people” from Milwaukee County plus a dozen or so of their Wisconsin state legislators.
We were talking about doing good work with limited resources, and the woman sitting next to me said, “the non-profits are doing a great job of holding things together with duct tape and paper clips. But we can’t afford the paper clips anymore.”
The legislative breakfast at State Fair Park Expo Center was sponsored by two “groups of groups.” The People Can’t Wait Coalition includes agencies devoted to “Improving the quality of life for people with disabilities,” while the Make It Work Milwaukee! (MIWM) Coalition works at “Strengthening Milwaukee County through better health and human services.” MIWM includes the disability community as well as groups for the aging, mental health, and children and families.
Constituents and professionals took half a day to come out for the chance to tell their stories about important issues to the people who will vote for the final state budget.
Areas that are being discussed in state budget that affect these populations, and all of us, include:
• Community Aids to fund safety net programs for people with disabilities
• Income Maintenance to eliminate backlogs
• Support for WisconsinCare, BadgerCare Plus, and Family Care expansion
• Transportation, transportation, transportation
• Mental health parity, matching funds for community mental health services
• State funding for Wisconsin Supports Everyone, Recovery Choice
• Emergency assistance and transitional jobs pilot to reform W2
• Wage increase for providers of community-based longterm care
• Affordable housing (support for Housing Trust Fund)
• Increased reimbursement to increase access to dental care
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