ICYMI: Wisconsin Democrats Launch First Series of Bills, Aimed at Lowering Costs for Food, Housing, Drugs
MADISON, Wis. — Last week, Wisconsin legislative Democrats launched their first series of bills during the new legislative session, including proposals to lower the cost of prescription drugs, expand tax credits for low-income renters and homeowners, and ensure that no child goes hungry at school.
While Republican politicians in Madison fall back into the political games that cost them 14 seats last fall, Wisconsin Democrats are focused on getting to work for working Wisconsin families.
Wisconsin State Journal: Wisconsin Democrats launch first series of bills, aimed at lowering costs for food, housing, drugs
By: Adam Kelnhofer
Wisconsin Democrats on Thursday unveiled their first slate of legislative proposals this session, aimed at reducing the costs of housing, food and prescription drugs.
Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer said the package of bills seeks “to help uplift working families and seniors.” The Racine native said she hopes to attract some Republican support given the GOP’s recently eroded majority.
“We have seen more Republican legislators be interested in speaking with our members about bipartisan bills,” she said. “We know that every one of us has to go back and explain why something did or didn’t happen in Madison, and we know that there are many more people who are in very competitive districts. And so we hope that that will yield more bipartisan work this year.”
To help reduce grocery costs, one measure would create a permanent school lunch reimbursement program through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program. Backers said the proposal would save families about $154 per month per child in food expenses, based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s estimated average cost per meal.
The proposal would cost each taxpayer about $60 per year, according to the Department of Public Instruction.
Another provision would expand the homestead income tax credit, available to low-income renters and homeowners. Under the plan, the household income cap would grow from $24,680 to $35,000, and figures used to calculate the tax credit or refund would be indexed to adjust for inflation.
A fiscal estimate of an earlier proposal to expand the credit, which mirrors the proposal introduced Thursday, shows the measure would roughly cost between $30 million and $40 million per year.
The bill to lower prescription drugs would implement many recommendations made by a task force Gov. Tony Evers created in 2019. Many of the proposals in that bill have been floated before the Legislature in the past without success.
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Among other things, the measure would:
- Eliminate cost-sharing payments for prescription drugs for those enrolled in BadgerCare;
- Expand the existing $35 insulin co-pay cap beyond those enrolled in Medicare;
- Require insulin manufacturers to create a program that would dispense insulin to uninsured diabetic Wisconsinites in need;
- Require pharmacy benefit managers to disclose key financial details, such as their profit margins and how much money they earn from owning any interest in pharmacies and other businesses that sell pharmaceuticals;
- Allow the Department of Health Services to partner with out-of-state drug repository programs;
- Order the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance to develop a program aimed at reducing the costs of prescription diabetes medications;
- Allow pharmacists to meet up to 10 hours of continuing education requirements through volunteering at free and charitable clinics;
- Direct the OCI to award up to $500,000 in grants per year to health care providers to develop a patient pharmacy benefits tool to disclose the cost of prescription drugs for patients;
- Require anyone who markets or promotes pharmaceuticals to health care professionals be licensed by OCI; and
- Establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Review Board aimed at reducing prescription drug costs.
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