WESTBY, Wis. – State Representative Tara Johnson (D-La Crosse) held a roundtable discussion with local stakeholders about the impact of cuts to federal agencies and services already implemented, or being proposed. Representatives from a number of sectors attended the discussion including representatives from education, health, elderly, disabled and farming. Everyone expressed a deep level of concern over the cuts, freezes and layoffs that have already taken place, and even more concern over the impact locally if the proposed cuts in the federal budget take place.
Johnson said at the state level the legislature has been floating ideas about how to deal the cuts at the federal level to lessen the impact to Wisconsin residents. One attempt to find a way to deal with those freezes and cuts is the introduction at the state level of the “Frozen Federal Funds Emergency Act”. Johnson said the idea of the legislation is to force the state legislature into an extraordinary session to address the $1.9 billion in rainy day funds. Those are funds the state has set aside over and above the budget surplus that could possibly used as a stop gap to federal cuts.
“I really felt like this was a very responsible, proactive thing to do, to introduce this legislation and hopefully have the conversation about what a state can do in response to these extraordinary times and the freezes that are in place,” said Johnson. “And my goal today is to hear from each of you what the impact is on your agency, your organization, your family, your business, and help ground me in understanding more fully what these freezes have meant.”
Vernon County Government
Vernon County Administrative Coordinator Cassie Hanan said the county depends on federal funding and services in a number of areas and the county will be impacted if the freezes already in place stay in place, or the proposed additional cuts take place. Hanan said over 31 percent of county residents depend on BadgerCare, so proposed cuts to to Medicaid would impact the county. Hanan said about 30 percent of county nursing home residents receive Medicare and 14 percent receive Medicaid.
Exactly how much Medicare and Medicaid will be impacted by cuts at the federal level is hard to determine exactly. The Republican-led Congress is considering significant cuts to Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income households. In Wisconsin that includes programs like BadgerCare Plus, which serves children, pregnant people and non-disabled adults, and long-term care programs for people with disabilities and seniors.
The House budget proposal could cut more than $880 billion in mandatory spending from the committee that oversees Medicaid, according to reporting by KFF Health News. While the Senate’s proposal doesn’t specify exact cuts, they plan to offset over $300 billion in new spending, according to NPR.
Hanan said she fears some people may not even realize where their benefits come from and these cuts will likely impact vulnerable populations in the county.
“We’re serving the most vulnerable population,” said Hanan. “It’s the most vulnerable population that’s going to be affected by these cuts. I have concerns about, if we have to cut staffing, what that means for not only recruiting in the future, but retention of our current employees. It is hard enough to find people that want to work for the public sector, and when you can’t even provide that stability anymore, it’s going to hurt everyone.”
Hanan also said the ability to keep people in their homes is crucial because county run nursing and assisted living facilities are stretched already, and many have already closed.
“The cost to keep people at home for as long as possible is beneficial to the entire state of Wisconsin,” said Hanan. “You’re not putting those costs on operating an assisted living facility, skilled nursing facilities. There’s a reason why counties across the state of Wisconsin are getting out of the nursing homes because they cannot make it work. You’re going to see baby boomers that are currently utilizing the ADRC services will end up, hopefully not for a very long time, but using a nursing facility. And the problem is lack of nurses, there aren’t that many around the state anymore because of those increased costs.”
County Health
Vernon County Health Officer Amy Klieber said her department is about 65 percent to 70 percent federally funded and they residents they serve would be severely impacted by the cuts.
“Really, if we’re looking at funding decreases like these, they could cripple our care and then our ability to reach out to those in the community that may have inequities, that may have difficulty giving transportation to get to the clinics to access their health care,” said Kileber. “So if you look at a department, we staff eight full time people, have four part-time people, that’s leading us down to about three staff.”
Klieber said her department handles everything from health education, communicable diseases, disaster preparedness and recovery, child safety and epidemic response. Klieber said she has to compete with the private sector for nurses and to lose them is costly when they have to be replaced.
“I was thinking about when you were talking is, the impacts of this funding sustained for our department,” said Klieber. “We have four-year prepared nurses. These aren’t just people I can hire. They need an education base, and if I have to lose those people doing funding, it takes me a long time to build that back up and that capacity for us to respond to clinical disease, for us to respond to emergency preparedness. I think it just, it’s this trickle effect that just rolls on and on. So I think being aware of that is also a really important point. And public health workers don’t do this, we do this because we care about our community. All my nurses could go and work at a hospital and make almost a good $10 more an hour. I can’t pay that, but they love the work, and they think that is important to remember, too, as we’re transitioning throughout this is that really do this for our community.”
Agriculture – Hidden Springs Creamery
Travis Forgues and his wife Amy own and operate Hidden Springs Creamery near Westby said they invested large sums of money to do projects based on signed contracts with the government and were told those funds were frozen. Forgues said some of those projects have been completed and they may or may not get reimbursed for funds already spent.
“We put in $123,000 project, and then we had to invest in the facilities,” said Forgues. “On top of that, that project was part of a program that we finished, turned it on in January. We’re owed $70,000 plus, plus our tax thing, and we’re just frozen, no rational reason, not that there was, you know, we’re checking for fraud or, just frozen. So we’re, we’re actually, everything’s all done. We’re just waiting to get those dollars, but at this point, we don’t know what’s going on.’
Forgues said the impact to the freezes are not just to his operation. The whey byproduct from their operation will eventually be used by Birch Point Distillery in Westby that is currently under construction.
“So anyone that’s involved with any kind of innovation right now and was putting their name on the line, I actually feel for people that know Scott and Staci (Kring), they have even worse being because they have a they don’t have a building run,” said Forgues. “They don’t have a building over there. They don’t even have facilities, and now they’re losing money on top of the investment they were doing. So it’s a it’s a crazy time.”
Forgues said he is not partisan but the way cuts and freezes are being handled is not the right approach.
“I am a big believer that different administrations and different leadership will have different priorities with what they want to spend money,” said Forgues. “No problem. I would have never expected that when you signed a government document that they could default. And I actually have all the faith in the world. I should say, I have a lot of faith that that will not happen before this is over, however, the stress you’re putting on farms and families and small businesses that are going to directly affect Vernon County, State of Wisconsin, is pretty dramatic.”
Forgues went on to say if the state can help business in the short term that may make al the difference because even a month or two of uncertainty could be devastating.
“I do think the concept of having some protective measure, this will get cleared up,” said Forgues. “I just have faith that this will get cleared up so that you don’t lose the businesses that you’re trying to stimulate, for the town and for the counties, for that short gap where people can… if I’ve already spent, let’s just say, a quarter million dollars, which is probably on the low end of things in my investment, and now I am sitting on an extra 150 (thousand) that you weren’t expecting, that’s going to come back. I don’t know if you want to see us fire people or change our programs because of a month or two, and I think that’s where our program is at.”
CouleeCap
CouleeCap Executive Director Hetti Brown said her organization is heavily dependent on federal funding. Brown said CouleeCap, gets about 85% of their funding comes from federal grants, serving over 24,000 people annually. CouleeCap programs include areas like housing, food, transportation, education, and workforce development. Brown said they pays bills to over 250 local businesses because of the many contractors and business partners they depend on and work with.
Brown said they are concerned about the potential impact of a federal shutdown on their ability to provide services and make payroll, and for the first time ever they are receiving emails from state agencies indicate that they may not be able to pay their bills if they don’t receive reimbursement from the federal government.
That means that CouleeCap may not be able to make payroll, may not be able to pay our contractors, and could be in serious financial trouble. So I appreciate the legislation that’s been put forth, because I don’t know what we would do in that situation. Right now, just in our energy services department I have $460,000 that I spent through contractors. Contractors that are going to expect reimbursement at the
end of the month.
CouleeCap Executive Director Hetti Brown
“We have started to get emails from state agencies warning us that they can’t pay, they may not be able to pay their bills if they don’t get reimbursed from the government,” said Borwn. “So what we do is we have a contract with the state or the federal government. We provide the services. We outlay those costs, and then we submit for reimbursement through our state contracts or federal contracts. If the states can’t pay their bills because the federal government is not paying them, then they can’t pay us. And we’ve recently started to receive emails from state agencies saying that actions at the federal level related to this grant funding, including executive orders, could impact the continued funding of this project. Those are emails that we’re receiving directly related to our grant funding. So basically, they’re giving us a heads up that if they can’t get paid, that they cannot pay us. Even if it’s money that we’ve already spent. That means that CouleeCap may not be able to make payroll, may not be able to pay our contractors, and could be in serious financial trouble. So I appreciate the legislation that’s been put forth, because I don’t know what we would do in that situation. Right now, just in our energy services department I have $460,000 that I spent through contractors. Contractors that are going to expect reimbursement at the end of the month.”
Brown said this situation is much more serious and dire than during previous government shutdowns.
“I never received an email like the ones I’m getting now from our state partners,” said Brown. “That sends a really fearful message out through the community, that our state partners are not confident, and that just creates just this fear of uncertainty, so that’s why I said we are starting to close services. We are starting to pull back because we can’t be in a situation. We didn’t pull back at all during that last three months. We just kept moving right along our state part. We kept in really good contact with our state agency partners. They were like, nope, business as usual. Things will work out. It’s very different now. It is very different now.”
Impact to La Crosse Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC)
Carissa Pagel-Smith, manager of the Aging and Disability Research Center (ADRC), said that the center provides services to adults with disabilities and older adults, and is in large part funded by federal and state grants. Pagel-Smith said said funding reductions could lead to increased wait times for support services like long-term care, functional screens, and services to help people maintain their independence to stay in their homes. Which could lead to increased reliance on long-term care facilities, which is ultimately more expensive.
“With the disability part about 50% of our ADRC operations are currently funded federally, and through the state of Wisconsin,” said Pagel-Smith. “What that means is, essentially, we provide a lot of resources to adults with disabilities as well as older adults. They can call us with that free resource, we’re helping them to get connected to support some resources. So a loss of 50% of operations would be pretty detrimental to the ADRC side of our services.”
Pagel-Smith about 40% of their aging services are funded with federal and state funds and cuts could drastically reduce services and their ability to help keep people in their homes.
“It is connected to federal funding that’s through the Older Americans Act. It’s about a 20% reduction in our holdover meal program,” said Pagel-Smith. “Which the estimate is about 11,000 meals that would be lost. Those meals are being delivered to the most vulnerable individuals within our communities, that in many cases, that’s their only opportunity to receive a meal and as well as their only opportunity to socialize with a person. So that’s that’s a big deal. Congregate dining also provides social opportunities for folks to come to a site, to be able to die and then socialize. That’s about a 20% reduction there. And then other programs there would be potential elimination of caregiver supports, which that program right now. I mean, more and more people are identifying as caregivers every day. And, you know, we already don’t have enough funding to essentially support all of those that come to the ADRC. So potential elimination of caregiver supports is pretty impactful. Something called support services. So again, we have some funding that’s quite flexible that you know, someone calls us, our main goal in the ADRC is to help people maintain their independence within their homes, right? So if they’re not having to essentially connect with other supports and services potentially helping them keep that independence to stay within their communities, and that funding is at risk of implementation as well.”
Schools
Steve Michaels, Superintendent of Westby Area Schools, said the impact of federal funding cuts on their district, which has been using operating referendums since 2018 could be significant. The district receives significant federal funds for struggling learners and students with special needs, and any reduction in these funds would require cuts elsewhere because the district is required to provide those services by law. Micahels said the district has not filled a school resource officer position due to the uncertainty of federal grant funding and may not be able to fill that position moving forward.
Superintendent of the La Crosse School District Aaron Engel – Tim Hundt photo
Aaron Engel, Superintendent of the La Crosse School District, said that 52% of their students receive free and reduced lunch, and 19% are in special education. Engel said the district receives $5.2 million in federal funds, which is about 5% of their budget, and these funds are crucial for providing services required by law. Engel said the district uses federal funds to support reading programs, special education services, and vocational programs, which are essential for preparing students for the workforce.
“Those are two different paths that special education funding helps close. And so our government, or we as taxpayers, can either pay now to provide those services to students that they can be self sufficient, well productive adults, citizens in our community that contribute to our workforce and our economy, or they’ll be receiving all the services we’re talking about for years and years and years, or paying later with interest.”
Superintendent of the La Crosse Schools Aaron Engel
Engel pointed out there is a long term cost to not providing the needed services to students that ultimately impacts the whole community, and it is ultimately more cost effective to provide the services while students are in school.
“For a student that might have a disability, they struggle with reading, and they qualify for special education services, we’re able to provide tailored instruction that’s specific to that student because of these funds the federal government, and they’re able to catch up to their peers,” said Engel. “Maybe eventually read on grade level. They might not, you know, get an A in an AP English class, but they got work based skills, and they can go and they can do a good job. Maybe they go to Western Technical College because of that foundation that they had. The alternative path is they don’t catch up to their peers. They don’t do well in high school. Maybe they drop out. They don’t even have a high school diploma. To be able to go and get a decent job at Culvers or Kwik Trip, which provides great jobs in our community. Those are two different paths that special education funding helps close. And so our government, or we as taxpayers, can either pay now to provide those services to students that they can be self sufficient, well productive adults, citizens in our community that contribute to our workforce and our economy, or they’ll be receiving all the services we’re talking about for years and years and years, or paying later with interest.
Michaels echoed that sentiment that students who get services early are much more likley to have postivie outcomes.
“Sometimes you get multiple cracks at something in life,” said Michaels. “But generally speaking, third-graders don’t get another shot at third-grade. And there’s a reason why. There’s a reason why a teaching reading happens when it does and to not have the support, even for a short time, you can see the impact.”
Economic Development
Travis Forgues reiterated the chilling effect the freezes could have on businesses and economic development even if those funds are ultimately unfrozen.
“That’s what happens with money from farmers, right? That goes away. It isn’t like, oh, well, you know, so and so got screwed out of a grant. Who cares? It affects everyone. You just don’t see it. And I think some, I think we have to, we have to start using some common sense, politically, left or right politically. Just how do we protect what we have?”
Travis Forgues – Co-owner of Hidden Springs Creamery
“I moved here from Vermont, maybe almost 12 years ago,” said Forgues. “I came from an agricultural background, from a state that had lost its agriculture identity, right? Because it shrunk up. And when I moved out here, it was like this place is still alive. Agriculture matters. Community matters. And so it was like stepping back 40 years, in a lot of ways, to what Vermont had, which it no longer has. If we don’t protect, and on top of that I would just say the Renaissance about Viroqua and Westby … things that are happening around here are pretty unique. And they surround food. James Beard award winning restaurant. The eccentric organic crew that’s around, I can say that because I’ve been part of them for a long time. But I mean, just this whole idea of good food and those kind of pieces have brought money and taxes to our school base. But Hidden Springs, who takes in money, farmers take in money in agriculture and spend $7 for every dollar we receive back into the community. That’s what happens with money from farmers, right? That goes away. It isn’t like, oh, well, you know, so and so got screwed out of a grant. Who cares? It affects everyone. You just don’t see it. And I think some, I think we have to start using some common sense, politically, left or right politically. Just how do we protect what we have?”
Forgues also pointed out that farmers, or anyone signing up for a program or grant will now think twice about participating because there is no way of knowing if they can trust what they are signing up for.
“This isn’t political,” said Forgues. “This is just, how do we save everything that we’re working towards and then enhance these there are better ways to do a lot of the things we’re doing. We should be doing that, left or right, but doing this is going to hurt. And I will would ask one other question. This whole concept of like confidence, talk to my wife about confidence, that because they’re going to say the grants are open again, but who the hell in their right mind is going to say, I go spend $150,000 and the feds are going to give us another 50, and this is going to do the A, B and C, when you when you have been stuck. And the change in in the political realm every day changes tariffs. No tariffs. Freeze. No Freeze. Freeze again. How can you run a business on that? And it’s just, it’s, it’s staggeringly dangerous, because once people like that are willing to put their neck out on a line out here, stop. The last thing you ever want is a Scott and Staci Kring, you don’t want those kind of people not building it in this community. You want entrepreneurs, and this is going to stop it.”
Brown said what is sometimes missed when talking about cuts in various areas individually is they are all interconnected. Brown said ultimately what happens at the school can impact what happens at her agency or vice versa. Or what happens with housing impacts jobs and vice versa and all these programs that have cumulative effect if they are funded and a cumulative negative impact if they are not.
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