MADISON (WKOW) — The state Legislature’s budget-writing committee, the Joint Finance Committee (JFC), voted late Friday night to release $9 million to support a literacy coaching program under the state Department of Public Instruction.
The money will come out of the $50 million that had been set aside for the literacy program in a 2023 bill, but had not been released due to a dispute between the Republican-led committee and Governor Tony Evers (D-WI).
Republicans put the money in a separate emergency fund controlled by the JFC. Gov. Evers claimed the Legislature didn’t have the power to withhold the money. This week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court sided with the Legislature.
If the rest of the money is not released by Monday, it would go back into the state’s general fund.
The Joint Finance Committee hearing was originally scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Friday. The meeting got underway just after 10 p.m.
After releasing the $9 million for the literacy program, members of the JFC continued their work on other parts of the state budget. Committee co-chair Representative Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) said JFC will vote in the coming days on funding for departments that were not covered during Friday’s hearing.
