Gov. Evers Urges Bipartisan Opposition to Trump Budget

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today, in a letter to every member of Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation, urged bipartisan opposition to President Donald Trump’s proposed federal budget due to the devastating impacts it will have on Wisconsin’s kids, families, and seniors. The governor’s letter comes as congressional committees in Washington were expected to continue their work marking up the federal budget today.

“Republicans are adding insult to injury for Wisconsin with this budget. Just weeks ago, they voted to cut Medicaid and kick 270,000 Wisconsinites off of their healthcare while making it even harder for hungry kids and families to get food. Now, Republicans are working to pass a budget that cuts preventative healthcare for Wisconsin women, eliminates programs that help Wisconsinites, including more than 13,000 veterans, heat their homes in the winter, and slashes investments that are designed to get more Wisconsinites into our workforce,” said Gov. Evers. “I recognize Republicans and Democrats don’t always agree on everything, but there’s no two ways about this budget—it’s bad for our state. I’m urging bipartisan opposition against it by Wisconsin’s members of Congress because it will have devastating consequences for kids, families, seniors, veterans, and our state’s workforce.”

Gov. Evers today released a new list of programmatic and fiscal impacts the new Trump Administration proposed budget will have on Wisconsin. The list released by Gov. Evers today is comprised of programs at the Wisconsin Departments of Health, Children and Families, Workforce Development, and Administration. The Evers Administration is continuing to analyze the impacts of the federal legislation on other state agencies and programs that Wisconsinites depend on every day and anticipates releasing further analyses as they become available.

A copy of Gov. Evers’ letter to members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation is available here. A transcription of the letter is also available below.

Dear Duly Elected Members of Congress:

In light of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations’ markup of FY2026 Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Acts, I am writing to you today to ensure you are aware of my administration’s concerns with the president’s proposed budget and the impacts it will have on Wisconsinites. The programs below which are at risk under the Trump administration’s proposed budget provide critical support in communities across Wisconsin, and I strongly encourage you to provide sufficient resources to continue the work of the critical programs highlighted in this letter.

The president’s budget targets programs that bring funding to local communities, help hospitals and health care systems prepare for emergencies, and address basic health needs like food access as well as the causes of chronic conditions like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Ultimately, the president’s proposed budget cuts funding to Wisconsin’s state agencies, including at least $33.3 million to our Department of Health Services, at least $21.4 million to Department of Workforce Development, and at least $9.38 million to Department of Children and Families.

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Prior to the president’s budget, the federal government has made a commitment to helping states detect and prevent cancer through the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP). There are over 34,000 new cancer diagnoses in Wisconsin every year. The president’s proposed budget eliminates this Center and all associated funding, which would result in Wisconsin losing $3.6 million annually for cancer control, including funds that support local activities across the state.

The cuts to the NCCDPHP would reduce the services and reach of the Wisconsin Well Woman program, which provides mammograms, cervical exams, and other cancer screenings for women who have little or no health insurance. The program has served 83,785 women in Wisconsin and provided 605,865 screening and diagnostic services. Every year, breast cancer kills 690 women in Wisconsin. Early detection is essential to saving the lives of these mothers, grandmothers, and neighbors.

The president’s budget eliminates $4.1 million annually to improve nutrition and physical activity and for prevention of diabetes and heart disease. Chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are costly, long-term health conditions. If you have diabetes, you are about twice as likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke. One in 11 Wisconsinites has diabetes, and the cost of annual health care for people with diabetes is 2.6 times greater than those without. Every year, over 13,000 people in Wisconsin die due to heart disease, and one out of three Wisconsinites have high blood pressure. The federal government has long partnered with states to help prevent and manage chronic diseases, including activities to increase the use of electronic health records making sure people get the right treatment, increase self-measurement of blood pressure, and helping people be physically active and eat nutritious foods.

For the past 25 years, the federal government has funded the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program to help states improve care for stroke patients. The program provides direct funding and assistance to 69 hospital partners, 31 EMS providers, and 19 other community organizations in Wisconsin. The budget eliminates the Coverdell Program, taking away $600,000 annually that helps ensure quality care for stroke patients in rural Wisconsin and across our state. Each year in Wisconsin, over 2,500 people die and over 11,000 people are hospitalized due to strokes. For each of these people and their families, every minute matters between when the stroke occurs and when they can get care. However, much of Northern and Central Wisconsin are over an hour drive from a certified stroke center.

The president’s proposed budget permanently eliminates the funding that has supported comprehensive tobacco control efforts and quit lines. The Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line is a free service that has helped more than 200,000 people. Through the president’s budget, Wisconsin would lose $1.6 million annually to prevent tobacco-related deaths and help people quit smoking. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the U.S., with more than one in 7 deaths in Wisconsin directly related to smoking. There are also huge costs to our economy, with estimated direct health care costs of $3 billion and lost productivity of $5.6 billion each year in Wisconsin due to tobacco use. This amounts to $944 in state and federal tax burdens per household from smoking-caused government expenditures. Helping people quit smoking, or never start smoking, saves everyone money and the lives of up to 7,900 Wisconsinites per year.

Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant
The president’s budget eliminates the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant, with Wisconsin losing $3.5 million annually that helps local and Tribal health departments invest in locally identified priorities that support their accountability, effectiveness, and community health improvement infrastructure. Much funding for public health is linked to specific conditions or diseases. While having these focused programs is extremely important for improving our health, it’s just as important to ensure local communities have the capacity to identify the needs of their residents.

Hospital Preparedness Program
The president’s budget eliminates the Hospital Preparedness Program, as well as supplemental funding to prepare for an avian flu outbreak, taking $4.8 million annually from Wisconsin and leaving our health care system less prepared to respond to crises. Our health care system needs to be constantly ready to address any emerging pandemic, disaster, or other event that might push our health care delivery to the breaking point. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services collaborates across hospitals, health care, and public health partners to make sure that we’re prepared to address any emerging threat to our health.

Title X Family Planning Program
The president’s budget would eliminate the Title X Family Planning program and other funding that goes directly to local organizations, with Wisconsin losing $4.2 million annually that helps all people access these essential health care services. Reproductive health services like cancer screening and STI testing are essential to make sure Wisconsinites can make the best decisions around their health. For the last half century, these federal funds ensured Wisconsinites across the state can access essential care for their health, including basic wellness exams, screenings, treatment, and more.

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
The president’s budget would eliminate the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides heating and utility payment assistance to the most vulnerable in Wisconsin. During federal fiscal year 2024, LIHEAP assisted approximately 183,000 Wisconsin households, consisting of over 400,000 individuals. Crisis assistance funded by the program helped prevent loss of or restored heat and/or electricity to 87,000 households. LIHEAP also assisted 3,051 households who needed repair or replacement of their HVAC system. The average annual income of a Wisconsin LIHEAP recipient in federal fiscal year 2024 was $22,052.29, or 106 percent of the federal poverty level. The program provided energy assistance to households that included 13,945 Wisconsin veterans and 83,006 disabled individuals. Over 16 percent of individuals assisted were over age 65, and 37 percent were children.

Without the LIHEAP program, these veterans, individuals with disabilities, elders, and children would be left without access to heating, cooling, and/or electricity, leaving them in unsafe living conditions and without functional access to critical items, such as medical devices.

AmeriCorps
The president’s budget would eliminate the AmeriCorps program entirely, ending critical support for many Wisconsin organizations and leaving AmeriCorps members without this unique opportunity to gain experience and job skills. For over 31 years, over 16,000 AmeriCorps members have served more than 20 million hours in Wisconsin, providing essential “people power” to local nonprofits, schools, faith-based groups, and community organizations, and it would be a shame to see this longstanding partnership abruptly ended by the Trump administration.

Community Services Block Grant
Wisconsin also relies on continuation of steady funding for the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) to address drivers of poverty in communities across the state, which the president’s budget proposes eliminating. Wisconsin receives $9.38 million annually in CSBG funding which is used for initiatives such as job training and workforce development, housing stability, energy assistance, health and food assistance, early care and education, and more, which are delivered through funding granted to Wisconsin tribal organizations and to Wisconsin’s 16 Community Action Agencies (CAAs) and 2 limited purpose CAAs. For decades, CAAs have coordinated programming across these sectors to provide holistic support to families in need, with CSBG serving as the flexible and strategic funding source that ties these services and supports together.

In 2023 alone, Wisconsin’s CAAs served nearly 220,000 individuals experiencing poverty, including over 42,000 children, 20,000 individuals with disabilities, 20,000 seniors, and over 3,000 veterans or activity military members. In 2023, for every $1 in CSBG funds, CAAs leveraged an additional $25 in other state, local, or federal resources, amplifying the impact that the CSBG investment has on Wisconsin families in need. Eliminating these funds would have a direct and immediate impact on some of Wisconsin’s most vulnerable children and families and would erase decades of investment in Wisconsin communities and populations most in need. Further, elimination of CSBG would not eliminate the need that exists and would serve to increase pressure on other areas of our state’s social safety net, such as county human services programs, hospitals, and other direct service providers already under financial strain.

Workforce Programs Subsumed by Make America Skilled Again (MASA)
The president’s budget makes significant changes to the way the federal workforce development funding would be provided to the states that will negatively impact resources available to bolster our workforce. It eliminates discrete funding sources for long-standing training and employment services, including Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and Apprenticeship programs, and lumps them into one block grant called Make America Skilled Again (MASA). Not only does the proposed budget roll programs in to one block grant, it also significantly reduces funding. The MASA block grant would reduce funding for these workforce development programs by 35%.

The proposed block grant mechanism for allocating money creates confusion on how grants will be administered to states. Current funding, under WIOA, has specific formulas to ensure monies are equitability administered to states. Through WIOA, Wisconsin funds eleven workforce development boards that provide essential funding for initiatives for Wisconsin’s employers, workers, and job seekers. The president’s budget seemingly dismantles the infrastructure created by WIOA by providing a block grant for MASA programs rather than discrete funding for WIOA programs.

The proposed budget also requires 10% of MASA block funding be allocated to apprenticeship programs. As Wisconsin pioneered Apprenticeship and experiences record-breaking participation, DWD is dedicated to continuing a strong and well-funded Apprenticeship program. However, the proposed budget does not support Apprenticeship with new discrete funds, rather it skims off the top of the other federally funded workforce programs that have been combined in the MASA block grant.

Vocational Rehabilitation
DWD’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) provides career-building services for individuals with disabilities, including facilitating employment counseling, helping program participants find employment and get to the workplace, and assisting employers in meeting the needs of employees with disabilities. A state/federal partnership, DVR receives the majority of its funding through RSA. Under the President’s budget proposal, FFY 26 funding levels for Wisconsin’s vocational rehabilitation services would be reduced by 11.8% from FFY 25 levels. Not only does DVR have to contend with the reduction in federal funds, due to federal-state match requirements and program spending requirements DVR is not able to meet demand for its services for those program participants most in need. A reduction in federal funding would prevent DVR from meeting these critical needs of its program participants and their employers.

These programs are illustrative of just a portion of what is at stake as you consider the next federal appropriations package. I urge you to ensure continuation of these vital programs and look forward to continuing to work together on these and other issues throughout the federal budget process.

Yours in service,

Tony Evers
Governor

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.