>> For the following program is a PBS Wisconsin Original
production. >> Democrats dig in
criticizing federal and state Republicans on budget
and policy resolutions. [MUSIC]
I'm Frederica Freyberg tonight on "Here& Now".
Congresswoman Gwen on a marathon meeting debating
Trump tax cuts. [MUSIC]
Then state Senator Kelda Roys on the minority party's
approach to crafting the budget. And as schools vie
for more funding, special education advocates push for
a larger share. It's "Here& Now" for May 16th.
>> Funding for "Here& Now" is provided by the Focus
Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.
>> In Washington, congressional lawmakers are
wrangling over passing important parts of President
Donald Trump's so-called big beautiful bill, with three
committees passing legislation to cut taxes,
Medicaid and food aid in Wisconsin. More than 1
million people are covered by Medicaid, the health care
program for lower income families and individuals,
the Republican provisions would also cut food aid,
known here as food share. These spending cuts combine
with legislation extending Donald Trump's 2017 tax
cuts. A Wisconsin member of the powerful House Ways and
Means Committee had her sleeves rolled up this week
trying to bat back these provisions. Milwaukee
Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Moore joins us from
Washington. And, Congresswoman, thank you
>> Always good to be with you, Frederica.
>> So you called this a quote, big bonanza for
billionaires. How so? >> I'll just cut to the
quick. This is this is a program that supposedly is
one of the most expensive provisions in the bill.
Costing maybe 800 upwards of $800 billion, US. And it's
supposed to help, quote unquote, small businesses.
But you take Dick, Dick Elon, for example. He uses
this pass through. Method to claim $115 million in
benefits and 84% of these so-called small businesses
that receive this benefit have absolutely no
employees. Most of the benefit goes to the 1%. And
that's why I called it a big bonanza for billionaires.
Just stunned that they called it a big, beautiful
bill. Considering how many people are harmed and left
behind by the provisions of the bill and the three
committees. also benefit, though, from
extending the 2017 cuts. >> Oh, that's one of their
huge talking points, Fredricka, is that, you
know, if we don't pass this big, beautiful bill, you
know, everybody, including including lower income
taxpayers are going to suffer big gimmick that they
temporarily raise some of the benefits for people in
the lower quintiles. And of course, just just to get
them through the 2026 election cycle. And then
they go away, whereas they make the rest of the
corporate benefits permanent. I mean, it is so
nefarious. And it's really not funny.
>> On the Medicaid provisions, we know it would
require able bodied adults to work, volunteer or be in
school for 80 hours a month. Why is that onerous and how
could it reduce the number of people covered by
Medicaid? >> What is able bodied?
Frederica, you know, I just lost my nephew last October,
33 years old, had had a heart transplant, wasn't on
Social Security or SSI. And yet he was very, very
disabled. But he was working to try to maintain Medicaid
because of the expense of his anti-rejection
medication. He died October 20th. But to look at him, he
looked like something snatched off the cover of
Sports Illustrated. There are so many people who are
disabled or have medical problems that are not, that
are not designated as disabled by the Social
Security Administration is very, very hard to get on
SSI or SSDI disability. People apply and reapply and
are rejected. But you know, in the case of, you know,
Medicaid, this they have actually scored throwing
people off and you know, say if you're a 54 year old man
who's done roofing all your life, it's very likely that
by the time your age, 53, that you may not be really
that able to climb up on that those ladders and fix
roofs anymore, or you might find yourself some woman
who's 50 years old, 52, starting to have diabetes or
arthritis, and you haven't been designated as disabled.
But you know, you're not able to stand up in a
restaurant for, you know, an eight hour a day and wait on
tables or Cooke and, you know, but you will be called
abled body simply because you're, you're not, you
know, designated by the Social Security Act. The
other thing is that most people work when they can.
Everybody likes to have money. They like the self
esteem, they like it. And when people can't work, it's
for very good reasons. >> So some Republicans don't
like that the work requirement doesn't go into
effect until 2029 and want steeper cuts. What else do
the Medicaid provisions in this legislation do,
including to the Affordable Care Act?
>> They you know, they are undermining the Affordable
Care Act. And so those people who are working,
those people who are getting credits through the
Affordable Care Act, they're not poor enough to qualify
for Medicaid at 100% of the poverty level, but they
don't have employer sponsored insurance. These
are people who are going to lose coverage because they
will not be able to afford the expensive health care.
As rates go way up without the premiums, and they'll
find themselves out of luck. Medicaid is part of a larger
health care system. You know, hospitals, about a
quarter of their income relies on Medicaid
reimbursements. Nursing homes, probably 75, 77% of
the cost of nursing homes comes from Medicaid. And of
course, this will hurt not just individuals, but we
find rural hospitals that might find themselves just
being shut down. Urban hospitals that will close
their maternity wards, the Energy and Commerce
Committee were given instructions to cut
Medicaid, and they cut it for over $700 billion. And
don't believe for a second that it won't hurt you.
>> Another big item are cuts to food assistance. How will
that affect people in Wisconsin?
probably 18,000 veterans that are going to be harmed
by cuts and snap with these changes that they did in the
Energy and Commerce Committee. They have put in
a zero tolerance for errors, zero tolerance, so that if
people get even $1, $1 in extra snap benefits, food
stamp benefits, the state will be dinged. And if they
find that they have over a 6% error rate, they will be
responsible for up to 15% of the cost of Snap. You know,
in Wisconsin, in our governor has calculated that
that that the state would find itself having to come
up with $200 million just in Wisconsin to fill the gap.
The other thing that's so onerous about Snap is that
they have 53 year old folks, 54 year old folks, again,
who will only be eligible for Snap for three months
every three years, three months out of every three
years that they'll be eligible for Snap. And this
is this is a way that they will, quote unquote, cut the
benefits. So this budget really relies on budget
gimmicks. People not being able to meet work
requirements, people not being able to keep up with
the paperwork. And this is this is how they've
calculated their loss and benefits. It's really,
really a very nefarious plan.
>> And yet it's very likely to pass.
>> We have people in wheelchairs outside of the
Energy and Commerce Committee in wheelchairs.
Being arrested, putting, as John Lewis would say, the
late great putting their bodies on the line to stop
these cuts because they're in such dire need of them.
And yet we have an administration who's been
able to intimidate them. But it's not over yet. It's not
over yet because people are still out there raising
their voices, encouraging them to continue to do it.
Don't forget the John McCain thumbs down. We can always
have someone who shows some spines, guts between the
House and the Senate to bring us back, pull us back
from the brink. >> Congresswoman Gwen Moore,
thanks very much. >> And thank you.
>> We've invited Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senator Ron
Johnson to join us next week on this program. Milwaukee
County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan pleaded not
guilty this week to federal charges of trying to assist
an undocumented immigrant evade arrest during a
hearing in her courtroom last month.
>> Our court systems must not become a tool of
immigration enforcement. >> Rallies in Madison and
Milwaukee this week voiced support for Judge Duggan.
Duggan was charged by a federal grand jury for
knowingly concealing a person for whose arrest, a
warrant and process had been issued, and for corruptly
endeavoring to influence, obstruct, and impede the due
and proper administration of the law. In a motion to
dismiss her defense states this is no ordinary criminal
case, and Duggan is no ordinary criminal defendant.
It goes on to argue Duggan has judicial immunity. In
addition to challenging the veracity of the charges
altogether. Last week, we heard from a Republican
Assembly leader on the Joint Finance Committee. This
week, Democratic Senator Kelda Roys, a member of JFC,
details how her party is positioning themselves as
lawmakers craft the biennial state budget. Senator,
thanks very much for joining us.
>> So we know that Congress is poised to cut Medicaid
and food share. Is it your expectation that the state
will have to backfill any of those cuts?
>> I think we need to absolutely be prepared to do
whatever we can to make sure that families can survive
the economic chaos and devastating cuts that are
>> Your GOP counterparts say a keen priority of theirs is
what they call tax reform, and they mention the middle
class and the elderly. Do you expect compromise around
tax cuts in the state budget?
>> You know, we've had a mantra for decades of
cutting taxes. And I think my Republican colleagues
talk a good game about the middle class. But when they
actually show us their work, their tax proposals are
always skewed toward the very, very wealthiest among
us in big business. And at a time when people are really
going to be struggling, struggling with higher costs
of things like groceries, housing, child care,
prescription drugs. We cannot be considering more
tax cuts for the wealthy that has gotten us nowhere.
And so, you know, Democrats have proposed reasonable tax
relief that is targeted towards the middle class,
the working class, those that are striving to get
there. And Republicans have kind of thrown that back in
our face and said, no, we want yet more giveaways for
the folks that are already doing fine.
members priorities? >> Well, I would say we want
to make sure that we are addressing the high costs of
living for everyday Wisconsin families. So
things like childcare, making sure kids have great
funded public education and healthy school meals at
schools that we're funding opportunities for
advancement so that everyone can thrive. Our
universities, our technical colleges, these are the
things that make Wisconsin a good place to live, and we
have to be prepared to fund those things. That's also
what we heard as we traveled around the state and
listened to people's public input. The number one and
two issues that people cared about were K-12, public
school funding and childcare. And we haven't had budgets
that have met the moment. And now it is past time for
our kids to get what they need.
>> We know that the governor's budget included
$450 million to continue the "Child Care Counts" child
program, but that was one of the some 600 provisions
pulled out by Republican members of the Budget
writing committee. What happens in June, when the
federal subsidy for that goes away? If the Republican
majority budget writers don't do something around
that? childcare crisis for a long
time in this country, even before Covid. But "Child
Care Counts" stopped the losses. It stopped the
closures because it put more money in classrooms and
teachers. This is really a supply problem. There aren't
enough childcare slots to go around in many places. There
are two, three, four even more kids that need a slot
for every one that's available. Because teachers
can't afford to stay in early childhood, they can
make more at a fast food restaurant or at a gas
station. Starting wage than they can with a bachelor's
degree in early childhood. And it's because parents
can't afford to pay more. So this is where we do need the
state to step in, as we did with "Child Care Counts",
and help close that gap so that the most talented and
dedicated early childhood educators can practice the
profession that they love, and that our kids get what
they need at a price that parents can afford.
>> Because what happens if we don't contribute toward
that? >> We're going to see
massive closures of childcare centers. We're
going to see, you know, parents completely unable to
get a slot. And the few that do are going to be paying
even more than they do now. And a lot of people, if they
have a kid, they're paying more for their childcare
than they do for their housing. My husband and I
one year had two kids in college at the University of
Minnesota, and we spent less on those two kids than we
did for our baby and daycare.
>> Now we know that budget riders and the state of
Wisconsin is working with about a $4 billion surplus,
which we also know can, for a variety of reasons, be
whittled down. But do Democrats have any kind of
one time priorities? >> There are things that we
can do with one time money that will help create future
revenue sources and will help the state's bottom line
moving into the future. Funding for child care is a
great example of that, because the return on
investment when 90% of brain development happens, that
birth to five period is enormous, right? I mean, we
would we could stop building prisons if we were investing
in early childhood education. But think about
the workforce impact, too. You know, every child that
can't get into child care, that means a parent is out
of the workforce. And our tax collections are going
down. Our entire economy is slowing down. So we should
be prioritizing things that help the state's bottom
line, not just now, but into the future.
>> Is it your sense that the Republican majority is kind
of emboldened by what's happening in Washington with
DOGE cuts and others from the administration?
>> You know, I think that they're they have a lot of
different perspectives. I think there's a lot of
infighting right now amongst the Republican caucus here
in Wisconsin. Certainly, I think many of them are
really enthusiastic about the devastating cuts that
are being contemplated and the illegal funding freezes
that we've already seen. And then there are others that
are kind of laying low and waiting to see what's going
to happen. But I can tell you that not one of them has
focused on how can we help mitigate the harm that is
happening to Wisconsin workers, to families, to
kids. Right. And it's our job to step up and make sure
that we're responding to the needs of Wisconsinites who
are being harmed. >> On the issue of K-12
school funding in the state budget, a push to increase
funding for special education. Proponents want
more state money for students with learning
challenges to release the pressure that special
education costs put on local property taxes "Here& Now".
Reporter Steven Potter has more.
>> Education is a right that we all have. They have a
right to every bit of as good of an education as
anyone else. >> Students with
disabilities make up nearly 16% of all children in the
Wisconsin school system. There are more than 120,000
students with disabilities in the state. These students
can have cognitive or emotional behavior issues,
speech, health, or physical impairments, learning
disabilities, or a range of other conditions that
help at school. >> Torment.
>> Tiffany Ciano's son is one of those students.
>> My son Jack is seven years old. He is a lot of
fun. He's a brilliant little boy and he's also autistic.
We've struggled finding him. The right supports that. He
needs to be successful in the community and in school.
>> The. >> Jack cannot write, so he
is able to use assistive technology like speech to
text. And he also has a 1 to 1 aide. So someone who's
with him all the time to help him navigate school.
>> Right now, Ciano's son is enrolled in a public school
in Sheboygan. >> I think that they try
their best. >> But she's worried about
Jack's educational future, primarily because there
aren't enough school staff trained to do the work he
needs. education educator shortage.
We have a shortage of paraprofessionals. Who are
those adults who work one on one with our kids? There are
shortages of school psychologists. We don't have
enough speech therapists, occupational therapists.
We're expecting general education teachers now to
also kind of step into that special education role. And
I don't think that we set them up for success with
that. >> Shawano says that the
money public schools in Wisconsin get for special
education just isn't enough. >> The funding isn't there
for every dollar that a school spends on special
education. They're reimbursed about $0.30 from
the state. We believe that that number should be a lot
higher. >> During my first term, I
fought to secure the first special education aid
increase in over a decade. >> Democratic Governor Tony
Evers agrees. As part of his state budget proposal for
the 20 2527 biennium. Evers would like to double the
amount the state spends on special education.
>> And we're going to guarantee the state
reimburses special education costs at 60% to ensure every
kid gets a public education. They deserve.
>> But that still needs to pass. The Republican
controlled state legislature. Stakes are high
for parents and their kids. >> My older son is eight and
my younger son is five. My older son has is
neurodivergent. He's got ADHD. He also has some other
complex health needs. And then my younger son is five
and he has autism and ADHD, and he also has a speech
language disorder. Say hi Corbin.
>> I'm Melissa Kuster says that because of the special
education staffing challenges at her elder
son's Grafton School district, she removed him
from the local school and now teaches him at home.
Kuster and Shawano created the Learn in My Shoes
outreach campaign earlier this year. Together, they've
been speaking up with other parents about the need for
more special education funding.
>> Parents are tired of competing for limited
resources. We are tired of excuses, of being dismissed
and of your heads nodding like you understand when you
really don't. It's time for special education to be
reimbursed at at least 60%, some sufficient, and we
aren't going anywhere until we have it.
>> In addition to testifying before the state Budget
Committee, parents with learning my shoes are also
taking their demands directly to lawmakers in the
Capitol. Dropping off stories about their special
education struggles tucked into their kids shoes.
Milwaukee Democratic state Senator Chris Larson is a
longtime advocate for increased special education
funding. He says that not increasing funding at the
state level will continue to cause problems at the local
school level. >> We need to get to that
60% or bust, because otherwise those kids are
costing those schools, right? And we shouldn't
penalize schools for taking in every child that enters
their classrooms. >> What will happen if
funding for special education remains at the
current level of 30 or less than 30%?
>> If it goes lower, or if it stays what it is it's
going to go. It's going to result in property tax
increases, which is what we've had, right? But beyond
that, they are cut to the bone. People are kind of
sick and tired of having to make up for the difference,
and people are starting to see that this is the state's
problem, not their local school board, that they've
been been blaming. >> Potentially blaming
school districts for going to referendum, seeking more
funding from taxpayers. If Governor Evers proposal of
doubling reimbursements from 30 to 60% passes, the state
legislature, that would be an extra $1.1 billion spent
on special education over the next two years.
Republican State Representative Jesse
Rodriguez of Oak Creek says that that amount is a very
big financial request. >> It's very difficult to
say that that's something we could possibly do when it
costs $1 billion. >> Rodriguez, who sits on
the Joint Finance Committee, says she and her Republican
colleagues are listening. >> Special education is
something that's supported by pretty much everyone.
>> Last week, however, Republicans on JFC removed
hundreds of Governor Evers funding proposals, including
more money for special education. But Rodriguez
says that special education funding increases are still
on the table for the budget that the legislature will
write. >> I think the desire is to
do more. But it's going to be a lot, a lot of
discussions to see what that number is going to be.
>> Well, the state does billion budget surplus.
Rodriguez isn't in favor of using that money to fund
special education increases, because it's not a long term
solution. time surplus. There is an
expectation in that if we're going to put more funding
into special education, that we need to continue to
provide that funding moving forward.
you. >> Parents like Shawano and
Custer, however, have grown tired of their children's
education needs not being met. They say it's past time
to increase and properly fund special education.
>> There's just not enough to go around right now.
>> I don't believe that it's fair that these barriers
that don't need to be there keep people from accessing
their right to an education, and that affects their
entire life. >> Reporting from Grafton.
I'm Steven Potter for "Here& Now".
>> For more on this and other issues facing
Wisconsin, visit our website at PBS Wisconsin. Org and
then click on the news tab. That's our program for
tonight. I'm Frederica Freyberg. Have a good
weekend. [MUSIC]
>> Funding for here and Now is provided by the Focus
Fund for Journalism and
Friends of PBS Wisconsin. Friends of PBS Wisconsin.