Suicide prevention task force seeks quicker release of money

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A final report from the Wisconsin Legislature’s bipartisan suicide prevention task force calls for quicker release of $110,000 a year to fund a suicide prevention hotline, unlike an earlier draft that proposed passing a bill to make the money available.

The money was included in the state budget passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in July. But it required the GOP-controlled budget committee to release it before it could be spent.

A draft of the task force’s report dated Sept. 25 called for drafting a bill to approve the funding, a move that would delay its release.

But in the final version released Wednesday and also dated Sept. 25, the task force calls for the budget committee to release the funding. That could be done any day.