We had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the kind of bold investments to bounce back stronger and benefit all our communities, and Republicans passed it up. Governor Evers is giving them a second chance to make a better decision. We sure hope they don’t throw our money down the drain a second time
On January 6, 2021 Wisconsinites were glued to their TV screens, witnessing something most of us never thought possible. Rioters beating up Capitol police officers with flagpoles. Confederate flags in the US Capitol. Lawmakers being evacuated as the mob called for their execution.
As we enjoy our beers and hamburgers, we’ll also be partaking in another uniquely American pastime—the kind of dissent, criticism, and organizing that are borne out of love for this country, and the desire to make it the very best version of itself that it can be.
The leaders who are supposed to govern in our name are squandering a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in our future. The Senate’s decision to approve this budget, without the amendments it so desperately needs, will reverberate over the next couple of years and beyond. We deserve better.
Under Governor Evers’ budget proposal, our schools, small businesses, and local governments would receive the resources they need to give every Wisconsinite the opportunity to keep a roof over their family’s heads, put food on the table, and get access to a doctor when they are sick. Under the budget passed by the Assembly, the rich get richer and everyone else keeps struggling. That’s not how Wisconsinites treat their neighbors, and we’re calling on the Senate to vote down a budget that fails to invest in us.
Republicans know their ideas aren’t popular, so they want to rig the rules to make it more difficult for Wisconsinites to have a say, all the while handing tax breaks to their wealthy friends and corporations. The good news is that we have leaders like Governor Evers and Democrats in the state legislature alongside Senator Baldwin and Representatives Moore, Kind and Pocan to stand up for our freedom to vote and fight for a future where we all get what we need.
Instead of putting Wisconsin on the path towards a vibrant economy and good jobs for our residents, Republicans are taking us down a dead end, with vindictive cuts to public transit and insufficient access to the DMV. There is a better roadmap forward, and it includes supporting Gov. Evers’ budget plan that invests helping workers get to work.
On Tuesday, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau updated its revenue estimates, revealing that the state is poised to have billions more than previously expected. This new information snatches away the final fig leaf for legislative Republicans who have attempted to defund popular and necessary services, including education, job training, and financial aid for technical college and University of Wisconsin students.
Republican leaders evidently wouldn’t know good policy if it showed up and knocked on their door. Legal cannabis would mean pain relief for those suffering from cancer, eliminating unnecessary criminal records and barriers to employment, fewer people in our prisons, and more money in our coffers.
We all share the goal of getting Wisconsinites back to work, in well-paying jobs that support a family. The best thing we can do to advance that goal is to respect our workers. That means taking up the policies proposed by Gov. Evers in his budget that would make sure Wisconsin workers have a voice on the job, the freedom to bargain together, good wages, and benefits like family and medical leave.