Governor Evers Signs Budget Bill into Law

 The following items of interest to WEMTA are included in the budget bill:

Governor Evers signed the 2021-23 state budget bill into law on Thursday, July 8, 2021. He made 50 partial vetoes to the bill as passed by the Legislature before signing it. Most significantly, Governor Evers vetoed a proposed $550 million lapse from the general fund to the budget stabilization fund and called on the Legislature to work with him to instead use these funds to address immediate needs of Wisconsinites. He also announced that he will be investing more than $100 million in federal stimulus into K-12 schools. 

You can see the Governor's full veto message here. 

The following items of interest to WEMTA are included in the budget as signed into law. 

WISELearn: Reduce funding for WISELearn by $150,000 in 2021-22 and by $200,000 in 2022-23. 

Library Service Contracts: Increase funding for the library service contracts by $12,900 in 2021-22 and by $25,300 in 2022-23 to fully fund the costs of the contracts. The following organizations receive library service contracts: the Milwaukee Public Library; the University of Wisconsin-Madison; the Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library; and the Cooperative Children's Book Center.

Public Library System Aid: Increase public library system aid by $2.5 million in 2021-22 and by $4 million in 2022-23. 

Wisconsin Reading Corps:  Increase funding for Wisconsin Reading Corps by $300,000 in 2021-22 and by an additional $1.3 million in 2022-23.