Eau Claire Hosts Congressman Mark Pocan for Budget Town Hall

EAU CLAIRE, Wis (WCFW) – Eau Claire residents gathered at the Pablo Center on Saturday for a town hall with Congressman Mark Pocan and local state lawmakers.

Congressman Pocan was joined by State Representatives Jodi Emerson and Christian Phelps and State Senator Jeff Smith for the town hall. The group sought to warn Eau Claire residents of cuts in the budget bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill is now under consideration in the Senate, and appears unlikely to pass without significant changes.

Among the warnings shared by lawmakers on Saturday were significant cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs. “First of all, you’re going to pay in healthcare,” said Congressman Pocan during the town hall. “The single largest cut to healthcare in American history is in this bill. 13.7 million people its estimated will lose access to healthcare because of the cuts to Medicaid.”

Eau Claire’s representative Congressman Derrick Van Orden voted to approve the bill, despite routinely promising not to support a budget bill with cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs. It passed with 215 voting in favor, and 214 voting against.

In addition to the ongoing federal budget debates, Wisconsin is currently in the process of negotiating a new biennial state budget. The state representatives attending the town hall have regularly expressed concerns regarding the effects the federal budget will have on negotiations over the state budget.

“At the state level, we’re trying to build the state budget right now which is almost impossible when we don’t know exactly what’s going to be happening in D.C.,” said State Representative Emerson. “We don’t know the level that we need at Medicaid and at other programs when we don’t know what they’re going to be sending us from Washington.”

“It’s my first budget process on the inside, and the joint finance committee is already way behind schedule,” said State Representative Phelps. “Because we don’t know whether we’re getting $28 billion from the federal government like we did in the last biennium or $0. And how do you craft a budget under those circumstances?”