The Joint Finance Committee took action on the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) budget on Thursday. WRS joined other physician organizations and the Wisconsin Medical Society in sending a letter to the Joint Finance Committee in support of increased staffing for credentialing services. Unfortunately, only a small number of new positions were approved.

Supplies and Services: The Committee rejected the Governor's proposal to provide an additional $209,000 per year for ongoing supplies and services to reflect cost increases associated with: maintaining service levels for credential holders and credentialing boards and one-time expenses associated with credentialing operations.

Division of Professional Credential Processing Call Center Staff: The Committee voted 12-4 to extend 5 two-year project positions, which were set to expire in September 2025, for another three years. The Governor had proposed extending 6 two-year project positions as permanent positions and providing an additional 8 office operations associate positions for the call center.

License Processing Staff: The Committee rejected the Governor's proposal to provide an additional $875,500 PR per year and 10 positions to ensure efficient and effective processing of license and credential applications. These new positions would have replaced 10 project positions funded by federal ARPA funds, which have either already expired or will expire on June 30, 2025.