Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority
Welcome back to another edition of the Sortwell Scoop, where we’ll be talking about a couple new budget highlights from the 6/29 session.
One of our top priorities when it came to workforce housing was to address and take measures to fix the housing shortage. Republicans have been working to fight the Biden inflation after seeing housing and construction costs increase substantially in recent years. We have seen the statewide median home price increase 7.7% from the first half of 2022 to the first half of 2023 and recognize that general inflation and workforce shortages are making it extremely difficult to create and maintain affordable housing.
Our budget acknowledges this need by allocating $525 million for housing initiatives to increase access and affordability of housing statewide. $275 million will go to the residential housing infrastructure revolving loan fund, which helps developers make housing more available. To go a little further in depth, this fund helps residential housing developers cover costs associated with installing, replacing, upgrading, or improving public infrastructure for workforce housing or senior housing projects.
The remaining amount will be used for the workforce housing rehabilitation loan program, the Main Street Housing rehabilitation revolving loan fund, and the commercial-to-housing conversion revolving loan fund.
Please note that these are revolving loan programs, not grants. These are not giveaways to builders; they will have to repay the money they are given in order to continue to support ongoing housing projects.
To listen to what I have to say about this issue, click here or on the photo above.
University of Wisconsin System
Our budget encouraged the UW System to refocus their priorities on developing and maintaining our workforce rather than supporting divisive ideology. With that being said, we cut diversity, equity, and inclusion positions system-wide, along with associated funding. More specifically, we cut 188 diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) positions and $32 million. We also eliminated 142 vacant positions system-wide.
Unfortunately, the governor vetoed the reduction in position authority associated with the removal of DEI positions. The effect of this veto is that 188 positions remain intact, but the associated $32 million is still removed from the budget.
In-District Events
The Town of Two Rivers Volunteer Fire Department (6525 County Road B, Two Rivers) will be hosting a fish boil on Friday, July 28th, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The Two Rivers Snowfest Parade will be July 29th at 11:00 a.m. It will start at 7th and Columbus Streets and head north on Columbus concluding at State Highway 310.
Head on down to the library for some friendly competition! Every Tuesday from 6-7:30pm, the Lester Public Library in Two Rivers (1001 Adam St.) hosts a Family Game Night. Games and popcorn are provided.
