Milwaukee DSA Supports County Finance Committee’s Right To Counsel Funding Amendment

The Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) support the unanimous decision by the Finance Committee of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors to amend the 2025 Milwaukee County Budget to include $250,000 to continue the Right to Counsel program, and we urge the County Board of Supervisors as a whole to vote to approve this amendment during their November 7 session.

We also call upon Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley to reverse his callous decision to cut this equitable and fiscally sound program.

Right to Counsel, a program providing legal counsel and representation for residents of Milwaukee County facing eviction or foreclosure, was created in 2021 as a pilot program using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to make the relationship between tenants and their landlords more equitable.

It has been a resounding success, increasing representation rates from 3% to as high as 16%. This resource drastically reduces the number of eviction cases wherein residents are forced from their homes, and it allows more residents to expunge evictions from their records.

“Right to Counsel is not only ideologically right as a means of addressing the inequities faced by Milwaukee residents, but it also provides downstream savings to Milwaukee County” said Mike Clouthier, Velly Maress and Blue Pelikan, Co-Chairs of the Milwaukee DSA Right to Counsel Campaign. “When fewer people are removed from their homes, it lessens the burden on county social and health services.”

In its pilot phase, Right to Counsel more than paid for itself by lowering the financial burden on other parts of our social safety net, such as foster care, homeless sheltering, public schooling, and Medicaid spending, saving these systems collectively three dollars for every dollar put in while also keeping residents of Milwaukee County from leaving to live elsewhere or settling to live in subpar conditions under Milwaukee’s notorious slumlords.

With matching funds from the Milwaukee Common Council and private grants, those savings increase to nine dollars for every dollar put in.

“County Executive Crowley’s argument that the funds are no longer available for this program is false as Right to Counsel has already paid for itself and will continue to do so,” said the Campaign Co-Chairs. “While we do indeed support the Finance Committee’s decision and are relieved that Right To Counsel will likely be included in the 2025 budget, Milwaukee DSA stresses that the fight does not end here and that the county’s investment is meager and is doing neither this program nor the people of Milwaukee County justice. We must continue advocating for this program and increasing its scope.”

Milwaukee DSA members testified at the 10/28 County Board Budget Town Hall in favor of Right to Counsel and have been encouraged by the County Supervisors’ positive response during conversations with many of them.

However, we do not have any commitment from County Executive Crowley that he will sign this amendment into law. Therefore, we have shifted our letter-writing campaign to target the County Executive’s office and urge all concerned community members, including those who signed the previous letter to the County Board, to sign the new letter here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.