As the fight against COVID-19 changes our daily lives, the Wisconsin Policy Forum maintains its commitment to providing the highest level of nonpartisan public policy research on state and local issues in Wisconsin.
We plan to release new, relevant research in the coming weeks. For example, the state of Wisconsin has seen improvements in recent years in indicators of financial health, and we are gathering those data now to help shed light on how the state is positioned to respond to this challenging time. We’ll similarly explore where local governments are most financially vulnerable and what the impacts might be.
We’ll also be completing and publishing several important in-depth reports (which you will now have more time to read!) that we previewed in our last newsletter. Those include our deep dive into city of Milwaukee housing policies, the first in a series of reports on teacher workforce diversity in Wisconsin, and analyses of the fiscal condition of Greater Racine municipalities that are part of a larger project to promote intergovernmental collaboration in that region.
While it is tempting to cease work on research projects that are not directly related to the coronavirus outbreak and its economic impacts, that would be short-sighted. Indeed, one could argue that the need to tackle Milwaukee’s affordable housing challenges, bridge the state’s unacceptable K-12 racial achievement gaps, and pursue intergovernmental service sharing will be even more pronounced when we are over the initial crisis and seeking to thoughtfully and effectively address its aftermath.
So, watch your email for continued content from the Wisconsin Policy Forum. Also, while we’re working remotely for the foreseeable future, you can call, email, or engage us here or on our Facebook and Twitter pages if you have questions that our researchers might answer or thoughts on research we should pursue in the uncertain weeks ahead.