The chairman of the Assembly education committee says he is confident the state will not lose federal coronavirus relief money for K-12 schools. The legislature’s budget office last week released a memo that said Wisconsin was at risk of losing $2.3 billion in federal dollars for schools. The money is at risk because Republicans on the Jt. Finance committee have not committed enough new state money for schools to meet federal requirements to qualify for additional money. But Republican state representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt of Fond du Lac says he’s confident the requirement will be met as the budget process moves along. “There are still significant areas that are coming that they haven’t approved yet. As we go through that process there will be alterations that will be made . I’m entirely confident that Wisconsin is going to maintain the federal funding,” Thiesfeldt told WFDL news. Assembly Democratic leader Gordon Hintz of Oshkosh says “that’s a cynical comment from someone who assumes Wisconsin will do something totally different in violation of how the federal money is out there.” “If we get the money it’s because Republicans step up and do the right thing and abide by the rules and don’t underfund what Fond du Lac area schools are asking for.”
