Mayor, Local Officials to Hold Community Meeting on State Budget

Public Invited to Give Testimony on the State Budget

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz will join leaders from the Madison Metropolitan School District, Madison College, Dane County and the state legislature for a community meeting on Governor Walker's State Budget on Wednesday, March 30 from 6:00 to 9:00pm at Madison Memorial High School. "Scott Walker has tried to divide us, first with his budget repair bill and now with the drastic cuts in his budget. That's not how we do things in Madison. When we face major challenges, we bring people together to solve them," Mayor Cieslewicz said. "When I heard about the drastic cuts in this budget, I reached out to the school district, the county, Madison College and our state legislators so that we can work together as a community and unite our response to this budget." At the meeting, officials will share information about impacts of the budget on local government and schools and take comment from the public. Written comment, as well as video of the meeting will be sent to Governor Walker and the Joint Finance Committee leadership since no official state hearings will be held in or near Madison. "I'm excited to hear from our community and build a united response so that together, we can fight the Governor's drastic budget," Mayor Cieslewicz said. "Even if Scott Walker doesn't want to, we will give our residents a chance to be heard, and we will take that response directly to the Governor." "Hearing from the public is a cornerstone of Wisconsin's open government tradition that those running government have forgotten lately," said State Representative Mark Pocan. "I thank Mayor Dave for gathering the unique insight that only those impacted by Walker's Draconian budget cuts can provide."