In the early morning of July 3, Governor Evers signed the two-year Wisconsin state budget after months of debate about funding for education, childcare, and more. The next day, President Trump signed into law the Big Beautiful Bill, which guts Medicaid and will result in the transfer of wealth from the poorest to the richest Americans. At the state and national levels, the quality of our healthcare, childcare, and education system is in jeopardy, and to break down how these budgets will impact folks in Wisconsin and across the country, host Ali Muldrow is joined by State Representative Francesca Hong and Angela Lang.

They talk about the impact of the budget, including its shortcomings. Lang says she’s disappointed with the new state budget because Gov. Evers vetoed the proposal to close the Green Bay prison. Meanwhile, Wisconsin spends more money on incarceration than anything else and it seems impossible to make cuts to the prison system. There’s not enough political will to do so, says Lang.

Rep. Hong says that the current budget compromised too much to Republicans and didn’t fund education as they should have. She says that we have to think of budgets as moral documents, documents that should be representative of the needs of Wisconsinites. But the current budget gives zero new dollars to education in the state, and this is a tragedy for democracy and a missed opportunity for the state budget to provide a level of protection from the Trump budget.

They also discuss the status of the Democratic party in the state, how race and racism affect voters, how to energize folks on the Left, including supporting Democratic leaders who are fighters. As Muldrow says, “We’re on this ship together, whether it’s sinking or floating.”

Francesca Hong is a mom, service industry worker, and community organizer. Elected in 2020, she is the first Asian American legislator in the Wisconsin State Legislature, representing the 76th Assembly District in Madison. She is an original author of the Economic Justice Bill of Rights and prioritizes progressive legislation, including universal school meals, paid leave for all, and fully funded public education.

Angela Lang was born and raised in the heart of Milwaukee. She has an extensive background in community organizing. Angela has served as both an organizer and State Council Director for the Service Employees International Union, working on such campaigns as the Fight for 15. Before joining BLOC’s team as Executive Director, Angela was the Political Director with For Our Future Wisconsin.

Featured image of a person holding up a sign at a rally in front of the Milwaukee Public School Administration in 2018 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

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