Watch his full address in the video player above. More: Prepared comments | What’s in the budget plan
Tonight, Governor Tony Evers presents his proposal for the next Wisconsin state budget.
Before giving his scheduled speech, his office shared these comments as prepared for part his speech.
I want everyone to understand how we arrived here. At the end of the day, our budget is about putting people first. It’s about creating a Wisconsin that works for everyone–a Wisconsin for us. This isn’t the Tony Evers budget, the Democratic budget, the Speaker’s budget, or the Republican budget–this is The People’s Budget. And it’s one that we crafted together.
We heard from people like Maryann who lives in Coleman in Senator Tiffany and Representative Mursau’s district and Nancy who lives in Amherst in Senator Testin and Representative Shankland’s district. Both Maryann and Nancy came to our listening sessions and talked to us about water quality and water pollution issues across our state.
Because of people like Maryann and Nancy, we announced we’re making safe drinking water a top priority in Wisconsin. We’re authorizing nearly $70 million in bonding to address water quality, from replacing lead service lines to addressing water contamination across our state. I know Representative Shankland has been working with us closely on this issue. Thank you, Representative Shankland, and to Maryann and Nancy, who are here with us in the gallery tonight, for advocating on this important issue.
We also heard from people like Tony who lives in Senator Petrowski and Representative Snyder’s district in Wausau. Tony not only has a great first name, but he also came to one of our listening sessions and talked about why we need driver’s licenses for immigrants and persons who are undocumented, especially in communities where there’s limited access to public transportation.
Because of people like Tony, we’re announcing tonight that undocumented folks will be eligible to receive driver’s licenses and ID cards. This makes our roads and our communities safer, and helps strengthen our economy and Wisconsin families. I know Representative Zamarripa has worked on this issue, and Tony is here with us in the gallery tonight–thank you both for your work on this issue.
And finally, I shared that tonight so that everybody understands what’s at stake in choosing to play politics with this budget.
What’s in the state budget? The Associated Press outlined specifics:
ROADS: Evers has signaled he will increase the state’s 32.9-cent gas tax to pay for roads in a comprehensive plan to find a long-term funding solution. Republicans have shown openness to toll roads, but some conservative senators stand ready to block any type of tax or fee increase.
MARIJUANA: Evers wants to legalize medical marijuana and decriminalize up to 25 grams of recreational pot. The plan appears to be a non-starter among Republicans.
K-12 SCHOOLS: Evers, the former state schools chief, campaigned on the promise to increase funding for K-12 schools by 10 percent, or $1.4 billion. Republicans say they support increasing school funding but not as much as Evers wants.
VOUCHER SCHOOLS: Evers wants to freeze enrollment in voucher schools starting in 2021, a move Republicans oppose. Evers says an enrollment freeze would save money on property taxes, but supporters of the program say it will deny people the chance to escape failing public schools.
HIGHER EDUCATION: Evers plans to continue a tuition freeze at the University of Wisconsin for at least two years, boost funding by $150 million and allow for immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to pay in-state tuition. Republicans oppose the in-state tuition plan, a version of which they stripped from state law in 2011.
DRIVER’S LICENSES: The budget would make people living in the country illegally eligible for driver’s licenses and identification cards.
TAXES: Evers will propose a 10 percent income tax cut targeting middle-income earners. He vetoed a similar Republican bill last week. Evers and Republicans disagree over how to pay for the tax cut.
HEALTH CARE: Evers has promised to propose accepting federal Medicaid expansion, a move that would add about 76,000 low-income people to Medicaid and save the state about $280 million over the next two years thanks to an infusion of federal dollars. But Republicans have been outspoken against it, saying putting more people on Medicaid will shift costs to the private sector and ultimately cost the state more in later years.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Evers said he won’t include funding for a new prison, but he will increase spending to pay for hiring more guards and pay them more. Evers also wants to reduce the overall prison population, which is about 32 percent over capacity, but hasn’t said exactly how he will do it. Evers wants to indefinitely delay closure of the troubled Lincoln Hills juvenile prison, while spending nearly $200 million more on smaller replacement facilities. He also wants to raise from 17 to 18 the age that offenders are considered adults for most crimes.
NATURAL RESOURCES: Evers plans to borrow nearly $70 million more over the next two years to combat water pollution and replace lead pipes. Evers also said he wants to hire more scientists at the Department of Natural Resources after some positions were eliminated under Gov. Scott Walker’s administration.
DARK STORES: Evers will call for closing the “dark stores” loophole that allows big box retailers to save millions of dollars in property taxes by assessing the value of their active stores as if they were vacant.
PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Evers will include nearly $28 million to support women’s health care issues, including restoring funding available to Planned Parenthood that was blocked by Walker.
REDISTRICTING: Evers proposed a nonpartisan redistricting process that would take away the Legislature’s power to draw political boundary maps, a move he said would stop partisan gerrymandering. Republicans support the current process. The next round of redistricting will occur after the 2020 census.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Evers campaigned on defunding the state’s job-creation agency, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. But since winning election, Evers backed off on eliminating WEDC and instead will propose tightening restrictions on tax breaks it gives companies.
MINIMUM WAGE: Evers also campaigned in support of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. He said his first budget will provide a pathway to getting that done, but won’t go all the way in two years.
WHAT’S NEXT: Evers’ budget goes first to the Legislature’s Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee, which will hold public hearings across the state before returning to Madison to begin rewriting the plan. The budget begins on July 1, but if the Legislature hasn’t passed a new spending plan by then the old one remains in effect. Evers has threatened to veto the entire thing if he can’t reach a deal with lawmakers.
