Milwaukee County rejects abortion travel funds

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Milwaukee County supervisors Tuesday rejected a proposal that would have covered travel expenses of county employees traveling out-of-state for abortion services, Urban Milwaukee reported.

The Committee on Personnel voted 3-1 rejecting the resolution, which would have provided county employees reimbursement up to $1,849 for abortion-related travel expenses.

Tuesday’s decision was in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the upholding of Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban.

Milwaukee County is moving their case along with other local governments throughout the state, to the state Legislature to increase the amount of revenue flowing to localities.

State legislators unveiled a measure recently that they claim would increase funds to local governments in the Badger State. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that that bill also includes extensive policy changes that would apply to communities across the state on policing, hiring practices, quarries, and other areas.

The proposed legislation stipulates the City of Milwaukee would have the authority to levy a sales tax and Milwaukee County could add to its current sales tax to address pension challenges and public safety services.

Despite Wisconsin’s record multi-billion dollar surplus, the Wisconsin Policy forum has reported over the past generation, government spending in Wisconsin has undergone a slow but profound shift, with the gap between the local and state government shares of the total almost eliminated and the amounts in both cases now below national averages. This trend carries with it profound consequences for the state, both in terms of the cost borne by taxpayers as well as the public services that can be provided to citizens.

Even with a $6.7 billion surplus, on May 5, 2023, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told a room full of journalists that if faced with the decision to choose between increasing District Attorney salaries or funding the hiring of additional DCI agents, there wasn’t room for both.

“We know how much money we have to spend. It’s about $3 billion dollars … criminal justice is a priority but if I have the chance to spend it at new positions for DCI or a bigger increase for ADAs, which were frankly having huge vacancy rates, I’d probably put it over here (in ADA salaries),” Vos said.