Democratic state legislative leaders and members of the state’s Joint Finance Committee announced Friday they would hold 10 additional listening sessions on Gov. Scott Walker’s biennial budget at various locations throughout the state.
The Republican-controlled JFC originally scheduled four hearings on the budget as a way to get public input, but Democrats have said the four hearings were too few to gauge the public’s opinion. The 10 new sessions, which Democrats have also invited Republican legislators to attend, would allow for additional access to the budget process.
The main issues legislators and citizens have addressed in discussions of Walker’s budget are the governor’s proposals to expand private school vouchers statewide and to reform the state’s Medicaid program. Other budget proposals address transportation and a potential end to a residency requirement that mandates all public workers must live in the same municipality where they work.
The JFC is scheduled to hold the second of its four originally scheduled sessions on Wednesday.
