The Joint Finance Committee held its final officially scheduled hearing sessions on Gov. Scott Walker’s biennial budget in Baldwin Thursday.
The JFC, which is designed in part to review and make changes to the governor’s budget, holds listening sessions to gather public input before it makes any decisions on the budget.
The people that spoke at Thursday’s hearing expressed support for budget topics, including strengthening the state’s tobacco control laws and maintaining private school tuition tax credits that can help lower income families send their children to private schools to strengthening the state’s tobacco control laws.
Representatives from United Council, a statewide student advocacy organization, specifically focused on the portions of Walker’s budget that pertained to the University of Wisconsin System.
Beth Huang, a UW-Madison student and vice president of United Council, said she hoped the JFC increases the budget’s funding for the UW System more than Walker’s budget currently would in order to provide funding for university research programs. She said the system is a strong part of the state that can make people want to stay in the state.
“My family has worked, studied and lived in Wisconsin because of the UW System,” Huang said.
While the Thursday hearing was the last official budget hearing, members of the JFC and other state legislators have scheduled additional sessions in various locations around the state that will be held in the coming weeks.
