Wisconsin Budget Project > Publications > Federal Budget Issues

Budget Project Publications--Federal Budget Issues

Tables for Annual, Monthly and Hourly Earnings at Various Percentages of the Poverty Level (January 2012).

$4.7 Billion from Two Recovery Measures Directly Benefitted Wisconsin Residents. Two important stimulus efforts -- extended jobless benefits and the payroll tax cut -- will expire at the end of the year unless Congress takes action. This analysis includes a county-by-county estimate of payments received through those two programs. These two benefits are just part of the larger Recovery effort, and a county-by-county estimate of additional benefits related to the stimulus can be found here (November 2011).  

The Recovery Act: Direct Benefits in Wisconsin, Six Provisions Benefit Wisconsin Residents by More Than $3 Billion -- This paper analyzes the county-by-county distribution for Wisconsinites of the funding from direct benefits in the Recovery Act, which is about to celebrate its 18-month anniversary. Six types of direct benefits provided by the Act generated more than $3 billion for Wisconsin residents between February 2009 and May 2010. Wisconsin residents have received an average of $532 in direct benefits per person (August 16, 2010).

TANF Emergency Fund Helps Cushion Effects of the Recession and Creates Options for State Policymakers – This issue paper examines the role of the TANF Emergency Contingency Fund (authorized by the Recovery Act) in helping Wisconsin cope with sharp increases in W-2 caseloads and higher spending for the state earned income tax credit, and in initiating a transitional jobs demonstration program (June 22, 2010).

Recovery Act Benefits in Wisconsin: The First Year (April 2010)

Improvements to BadgerCare Plus May Yield Federal Bonus Funding – This April 5 blog post summarizes recent improvements Wisconsin has made in BadgerCare Plus, which could yield at least a couple million dollars per year in bonus funds from the CHIP Reauthorization Act  (April 5, 2010).

Health Care Reform Bill Amendments Will Boost Wisconsin’s Share of Federal Financing  – Wisconsin will receive additional federal funding from a couple of the House changes to the final version of the new health care reform law  (April 5, 2010).

Major CHIPRA Provisions – Comments, Questions and Tentative Recommendations Relating to Wisconsin Implementation  -- This issue brief summarizes and comments on the more significant provisions of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) and what they mean for Wisconsin. It also identifies some of the remaining questions that need to be answered before advocates and state policy makers decide which additional CHIPRA options should be priorities for implementation in Wisconsin (Updated March 30, 2010).

Comparing the House and Senate Health Care Reform Bills – This document provides a matrix comparing the House and Senate versions of the national health care reform bill and its effects in Wisconsin  (January 29, 2010).

Kids in the Capitol: Promising Developments in Washington for Early Learning – Prospects for a boost to early learning investments are looking good in Washington. Building on a growing understanding of the benefits of investing early in our children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, Congress appears to be poised to pass breakthrough legislation. (November/December. 2009 WisKids Journal article).

The Estate Tax Roller Coaster  – This blog post examines the up and down movement of the federal estate tax and the Congressional impasse on extending the tax, which could potentially lead to the elimination of the tax in 2010, and then the return of a much larger estate tax in 2011 (December 17, 2009) 

$9.9 Million Federal Grant Allows WI To Cover More Childless Adults. A new 5-year grant of almost $10 million per year will allow Wisconsin to expand the numer adults without dependent children in the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan (September 8, 2009 blog post).

Federal Aid as a Tool for Wisconsin’s Economic Growth. (January/February 2009 article in the Wiskids Journal).