The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.
Welcome to Wisconsin Public Media's coverage of Governor Tony Evers' sixth state of the state address.
We are bringing you live coverage tonight from the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison.
In a few moments, the 46th Governor of Wisconsin will make his way into the assembly chambers.
Evers will speak tonight before a joint session of the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate,
the state Supreme Court, his cabinet, and tribal leaders.
Good evening, I'm Sean Johnson from Wisconsin Public Radio.
And I'm Frederica Freibert from PBS Wisconsin.
Tonight, Democratic Governor Tony Evers lays out his plans for 2024.
He'll be speaking to the 107th session of the Wisconsin legislature.
Senate Majority Leader Devin Lemihue who represents communities in Sheboygan
and Manitowoc counties along Lake Michigan will provide this year's Republican response
immediately following the governor's state of the state address.
And we do understand that the governor expects this evening to focus on what he has called
workforce challenges, including shortages of workers and child care and that kind of care.
But ahead of this shining night for the governor, the Republican legislature has been busy
both yesterday and today.
Yeah, I mean, tonight, this speech is all about him framing the agenda as he sees it.
They've spent the last couple days framing it as they see it.
They passed or rather they held a hearing yesterday in the assembly on a 14-week abortion ban.
Today, Republicans in the Senate and Assembly introduced a package of tax cuts.
And, you know, Senate Republicans even passed a redistricting plan.
So they have been busy kind of laying out the table for, you know, the legislative session,
what's left of it.
This is the governor's chance to do the same before the seat of Wisconsin.
And the governor is expected to make his way into the assembly chambers very shortly.
We know that the Supreme Court, a new Supreme Court, then the last time that the governor gave this address
is seated and the state senate is also in the assembly chambers awaiting the governor's address.
Yeah, I mean, that's a pretty seismic change in terms of the audience he's speaking to in the room.
We still have those big Republican majorities that he's been used to during his first term and, you know, the first year of this term.
We have 22 Republicans in the Senate, 64 in the assembly.
You kind of know the drill if you watch these speeches.
They're not going to clap for a lot of stuff he says Democrats will clap for most of it.
The court, though, is a huge deal.
There's a 4-3 liberal majority there now.
And, you know, they're going to be busy in the next few months on issues like redistricting.
But, you know, they won't be the vocal people on the audience.
I think it's fair to say tonight.
And as you've just said, of course, that redistricting case is before the new liberal majority Supreme Court.
A very major, major deal as the governor gives his address tonight.
And, you know, we also have different circumstances for the state of the state than we did last year in that this is not a budget year.
So this is not kind of a hint at what he's going to be doing with his budgets.
It's not his own, you know, reelection year. He's not on the ballot this year.
But we do have that 2024 election and everything that it brings with it presidential election.
As we get drawn in by the orbit of that thing, the gravity, we are going to, everything just gets more and more political.
Everything gets more and more partisan.
And so some of the bipartisan compromises that they reached last year on issues like shared revenue or funding for the Brewers Stadium housing.
It's going to be tougher to reach potentially any year when you have an election like we do and we're the center of the political universe.
But they have a couple of months to work on some stuff in the legislative session.
Well, we'll see how that goes.
And again, we were just describing how just yesterday and even today, really right up to this address, the Republican legislature was working on bills.
We'll see what happens with those.
It seems unlikely to me that that kind of compromise will persist again, as you say, leading into this very polarized kind of election season.
It's tough. Maybe they got used to it last year a little bit because I think some of the things that they were able to agree on last year, particularly, you know, local government funding, sales tax for Milwaukee.
I mean, that is, we've kind of taken it for granted out because we've talked about it a lot.
But those are kind of big deal.
And that was, you know, Republicans passed it with help from Democrats signed by a Democratic governor.
So the framework is there. They have done it.
I do know the joint invention shall come to order.
Tax cut that they have introduced.
The chair recognizes the assembly's sergeant-in-arms.
Mr. President and members, the governor of the great state of Wisconsin, the Honorable Tony Evers.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
At this time, I introduced to you the governor of the great state of Wisconsin, the Honorable Tony Evers.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
No, I didn't see. I asked one of the four legislators that were coming down with me to one of them to do a somersault.
Did anybody do that?
No?
Sorry.
Darn it.
Next year.
Good evening, Wisconsinites, Honorable Supreme Court justices, tribal nation leaders, constitutional officers,
members of the Wisconsin National Guard and active and retired members of our armed forces, cabinet members,
Senate President Kapanka, Majority Leader Lemihu, Minority Leader Hessebonne,
Speaker Voss and Minority Leader Newbar.
Legislators, distinguished guests, and Wisconsinites joining us here and from afar.
Thank you for being here with us tonight.
I'm Tony Evers, and I'm proud to be here tonight as the 46th governor of the great state of Wisconsin to deliver my 2024 state of the state address.
My daughter Katie, my daughter Katie, and my grandson Keaton are here with us tonight.
And if you bear with me for a minute, I'd like to give a special shout out to my better half Kathy, who's here as well.
Kathy was named at 2023, three caregiver, hero by Lutheran Social Services, which is awarded in honor of our good friend.
Governor, former governor Marty Schreiber.
Kathy was recognized for her advocacy around Alzheimer's and other dementias, including making executive residents a dementia-friendly location.
Kathleen Francis, I'm so proud of you.
I love you so much.
Thank you.
Wisconsin, it's been one heck of a year, and I much to report.
When I delivered my 2023 state of the state address a year ago, we are kicking off Wisconsin's 175th birthday and celebrating 175 years of statehood.
Wisconsin has never been in a better fiscal position.
Wisconsin, I begin tonight with even better news. As we enter 2024, our state has never been in a better fiscal position than we are today, better than last year, better than when I took office and better than any year in Wisconsin, 176 years of statehood.
We began this biennium in the best fiscal position in our state's history.
We set out to prepare a breakthrough budget, a rare opportunity to define our posterity, and together we did.
We needed to take responsibilities for some of our state's most important obligations, but we still couldn't afford to be careless.
We needed to make investments and priorities long neglected, but we still had to save where we could.
We needed to stay prudent and well within our means while still marching towards the future.
We're working hard to build together.
Our bipartisan efforts on housing are a good example.
I completed my fourth 72-county tour of Wisconsin this past December.
I've been to every county at least four times and sometimes many more.
And no matter who I'm talking to or where I go, our largest communities, our smallest towns and villages, Wisconsinites tell me we need more affordable housing and I agree.
Building affordable housing in every corner of our state is critical to make sure that Wisconsin is prepared to meet the needs of a 21st-century workforce in a 21st-century economy.
Since I took office, we've invested in building nearly 15,000 affordable housing units, nearly 2,500 last year alone in more than 24,000 housing units total, and we're not stopping there.
This past year we worked together to invest more than $500 million in workforce housing, one of the largest investments in our state's history.
We're working every day to make sure our workforce, economy and infrastructure are ready to meet the needs of the 21st century.
Part of that is making sure kids, families, workers, farmers and manufacturers have the infrastructure they need to get from point A to point B safely.
When I took office years of this investment, it caused our roads and our bridges to crumble and disrepair.
So, you're darn right, we've been fixing the damn roads.
How's it got to do is find those orange barrels.
Since 2019, we've improved over 7,424 miles of roads and 1,780 bridges, including over 900 miles of roads and over 200 bridges last year alone.
We've also worked with our Minnesota and federal partners to secure over $1 billion in federal funding to support our effort to replace the Blondock Bridge in Superior.
It's a critical economic driver for our state and supports our largest port on the Great Lakes.
And I'll tell you this, this got done.
You bet.
And I tell you this, we got this done because there's no one who's been fighting harder in Washington to bring this investment back home.
And when Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin.
When I was here four years ago, I announced a three-pronged plan to address our state's dairy crisis.
I later probably signed a bipartisan bill creating the Wisconsin Initiative for Agricultural Exports.
We're working to meet our ambitious goal of increasing the value of Wisconsin's agricultural exports by at least 25% by mid-2026.
So we worked together last year to invest $2 million to help promote Wisconsin's milk and dairy, meat, crop and other products around the world.
I'm also proud that our administration worked with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission,
and in the Menominee and LeCuda Ray Tribal Nations last year on a new effort to preserve and restore wild rice in Wisconsin.
Wild Rice has been harvested here for thousands of years, but it's threatened by the effects of changing climate and water quality.
We secured nearly $2 million to support researching and developing strategies to help conserve this important cultural resource for future generations.
I'm serving and protecting our natural resources and land continues to be a top priority for my administration.
I'm also excited to announce tonight that I'm approving the largest forest conservation effort in our state's history.
In partnership with the Biden Administration and the Conservation Fund, we've approved the conservation easement for the Pelican River forest remaining acres to protect the forest for generations of future Wisconsinites to use and enjoy.
This is a big deal for us.
Wisconsinites, this is the future we're building.
And no matter where you live, you can see the results of our efforts.
In Wisconsin today, a kid got ready for school and put on their favorite Milwaukee brochure.
Because we worked together last year to keep Major League Baseball in Wisconsin through 2050,
that kid can grow up, graduate, and start a family in Wisconsin.
And they'll be able to take their kids out to the ballgame where the Brewers will still be the home team.
Today, Wisconsinite tuning in from their TV at home is using electricity that is 100% solar-powered and carbon-free because we've approved enough solar projects across our state,
4,000 megawatts worth to power more than 750,000 Wisconsin homes with average electricity usage for 365 days straight.
In Wisconsin today, volunteer EMS and fire providers in Delavan are receiving increased stipends.
Barron County has hired two new public safety officers.
Pestigo is purchasing new EMS equipment, and residents on the south side of Milwaukee will have quicker emergency response times.
This progress is possible because we work together to provide a historic increase in shared revenue, state support that goes directly back to our local communities.
Our bipartisan effort included a 20% increase in support to most municipalities statewide.
After a generation of our state asking for local partners to do more with less today, we're working to deliver on our promise of making sure our communities can meet basic and unique needs alike.
Today in Wisconsin, one of our nation heroes has joined our workforce after transitioning from service to civilian life.
They went to work today in a good, paying family supporting job right here at home in Wisconsin, where I'm proud to announce that we now rank fourth in the country for successfully helping veterans find employment.
We all have to be proud of that. Wisconsinites, this is a state of our state. This is the future we've spent years working hard to build together.
Let me be clear, these results and our accomplishments don't mean, doesn't mean, our work is finished.
If anything, our progress demands our efforts to continue. There is, as always, more we can do.
And that work begins in earnest here tonight.
Let's start with PFAS. PFAS are a real threat to our kids, our families, our communities.
These human-made chemicals can be toxic to humans and wildlife, and they've been used in everyday products for more than a half a century.
In Wisconsin, where we hunt, fish, and want to trust the water coming from our tap and where our economies rely upon water resources for livestock,
livestock, crops, and outdoor recreation, PFAS are a threat to our way of life and our economy.
That's why I directed $10 million into a new statewide program to help contaminants like PFAS to get contaminants like PFAS out of our water supplies.
I'm proud to report this program has helped replace our abandoned nearly 500 contaminated water wells across Wisconsin.
And after five years of calling for legislative action, we saw the first real and meaningful state investment to specifically address PFAS in our state's history last year.
The legislature and I both approved a $125 million investment to start tackling PFAS across our state.
That's great news. That's great news. But here's a rob. I signed that budget last July, today's January 23rd.
It's been over 200 days, and Republicans have not released one cent of that investment.
A $125 million investment to fight PFAS statewide, sitting right here in Madison because Republicans refused to release it.
That's breathtaking. Republicans, please release this funding so that we can get it out to families, child care facilities,
schools, businesses, and communities across the state who need it.
Another area where we must work together to do more and quickly. Let's talk about mental health.
I said here last year that I feared the state of mental health in Wisconsin was a quiet burgeoning crisis.
One, I still believe we'll have cascading effects for generation if it goes unaddressed.
So I declared 2023 the year of mental health in Wisconsin, and yes, we accomplished some important work together.
We fought hard to secure another $30 million in this budget to build upon our successful Get Kids Ahead initiative to provide mental health services to mental health services to every school district in Wisconsin.
I don't need to remind this legislature that I requested more than $500 million last year to help expand access to mental and behavioral health services statewide, only a fraction of which was approved.
One year after declaring the year of mental health, I'll tell you tonight as governor and as a grandfather, my concerns have not changed and my fears have not waned.
Much work remains. The data have not improved. According to the latest report from the office of children's health, mental health, kids continue to report highly concerning levels of anxiety, depression,
self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. That's still especially true for teen girls, students of color, and LGBTQ kids.
One third of our high school kids still experience feelings of sadness and hopelessness nearly every day.
About one in ten teams have attempted suicide and nearly half of LGBTQ youth seriously consider suicide.
Today, one in six kids experience a serious episode of depression in 2023. Used to be one in seven.
My administration and I are not going to let up on our work on this issue in 2024. We're going to double our efforts and take a whole of a whole of government approach.
Tonight, I'm announcing I'm creating an interagency council on mental health and directing Wisconsin state agencies to work together to reduce barriers and address gaps in mental health services.
We're going to develop a statewide mental health action plan to address the root causes of our mental health crisis, increase awareness, and reduce stigma, and to build capacity for us to expand access to mental health services statewide.
APPLAUSE
Our state's mental health challenges are very, very significant. Let's do more and urgently make a difference on this issue in 2024. We have to.
And I'm optimistic we will because our kids are leading the way. Students in Merrill are doing amazing work through a student-led program called Raise Your Voice.
It's part of an effort led by NAMI Wisconsin to educate, support, and empower youth to talk openly about mental health.
The program at Merrill High School began with just eight kids and then it grew. And these students have helped expand the program to other middle schools and high schools across the region with more than 200 members.
Merrill's Raise Your Voice advisors and founding students are here in the gallery tonight. Please join me in recognizing them and let's resolve tonight to do the work to support our kids.
APPLAUSE
Now, as we continue looking toward the important work we have to do before us in 2024, there are also good things on the horizon. We have important elections coming up this year, including one in November.
It's been clear that I believe we should make it easier, not harder, for every eligible Wisconsinite to cast their ballot.
APPLAUSE
And yes, I'll continue to veto any effort by politicians, to abuser power, to interfere with our elections, just as I always have.
APPLAUSE
So I'll also be announcing new steps I'm directing my administration to take to help ensure every eligible Wisconsinite has the opportunity to participate in the most precious and fundamental function of our democracy, the right to vote.
APPLAUSE
And there's more good news. I promise from the beginning, I would never stop fighting for fair maps. As I stand here tonight, I have never been more hopeful that when Wisconsinites head to the ballot box later this year, they'll be voting under legislative maps that are
fair, responsive, and finally reflect the will of the people of the state.
APPLAUSE
And I want folks at home to understand why fair maps are important, because when elected officials, gerrymander themselves into safe seats, they can comfortably ignore the overwhelming majority of Wisconsinites who support common sense policies, like
badger care expansion, red flag laws and expanding paid family leave, and that's wrong.
What has happened on the issue of reproductive freedom in Wisconsin over the last two years is another good example of why we need fair maps.
A decade now, 60% of Wisconsinites on average have consistently said they support abortion being legal in all or almost cases, and yet each time I've asked Republicans to restore Wisconsinites reproductive freedom to what it was the day before the US Supreme Court overturned
Roe, they said no. Because of that, Wisconsin women spent over a year experiencing firsthand what it's like to live in a state that bans nearly all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest.
Today, thanks to the lawsuit, Democrats filed days after the Supreme Court decision. Wisconsinites now have the same reproductive freedom in Wisconsin that they did on June 23, 2022, before Roe was overturned.
But may no mistake, the freedoms of Wisconsinites just got back are already under attack.
Republicans are advancing a bill that would ask Wisconsinites to strip themselves some of the basic reproductive freedoms that were just recently restored to them in cases and no exemptions in cases of rape or incest.
Folks, Wisconsinites have been abundantly clear. There's another example where Republicans last candidate for governor wanted to take those same freedoms and more away.
You might notice he's not here delivering the state of the state address them.
So I want to speak directly to women in Wisconsin tonight. I will veto any bill that takes away your reproductive freedom or makes reproductive health care any less acceptable than it is today.
Period.
Every Wisconsinite should be able to access a health care they need and when they need it. And yes, that includes contraception.
Last summer, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first daily oral contraceptive pill for use without a prescription, which is expected to be available in stores and online later this year.
And that's great news, Badger Care Plus currently covers over-the-counter emergency contraception and daily contraception with a prescription from a provider.
Today I'm announcing I'm directing the Department of Health Services to issue a standing order for Badger Care Plus to serve as a prescription to cover over-the-counter contraception, including emergency contraception.
So here's how it will work. Once this contraception is out on the shelves, an individual on Badger Care Plus, we'll be able to go to any pharmacy and pick up the contraception they need.
The pharmacy will use DHS's standing order to process their insurance coverage. That individual will be able to leave the pharmacy with the medication they need at no out-of-pocket cost, excuse me.
There's also work that we can do together to support healthy moms, babies, and families across Wisconsin, especially as we celebrate maternal health awareness day.
Pregnant women in Wisconsin, up to certain income levels, are eligible for Badger Care Plus for the term of their pregnancy, and up to 60 days after they give birth.
But as most people know, recovery time for pregnancy often lasts longer than 60 days.
Today, a bipartisan bill, Senate Bill 110, introduced by Senators Bolwing and Philzkowski, would enable Wisconsin to join 43 other states that already extend coverage to pregnant women,
for up to 365 days to birth. Tonight, I'm urging Republicans and Democrats to work together to get this bill across the finish line.
This session, and to send it to my desk, we have to get this done, folks.
This past year has shown there's much we can accomplish when we work together.
Today, there are pressing issues that demand our work bridging partisan divide continues.
Again, call on the legislature to address what I believe are the two greatest challenges facing our state.
At first, our decade-long struggle to retain, attract, and train talented workers to address our state's workforce shortages.
And the second, the Republican majority's disinterest in working towards a meaningful bipartisan plan to do something about it.
Well, no isn't a workforce plan.
Asking more kids to work in the workforce is not a workforce plan.
Giving more big breaks to millionaires and billionaires is not a workforce plan.
These are not serious proposals to address generational statewide issues.
In April last year, our state unemployment rate hit a record low of 2.4%.
Last year, Wisconsin had an all-time lowest number of unemployed workers ever in modern history.
And our state's labor force participation rate also consistently remained above the national average throughout the year.
So, it's time we get rid of that old talking point that Wisconsinites aren't working or working hard.
Wisconsinites work hard, and they are working.
For my vantage point, three things are key to addressing our state's workforce challenges.
First, we must find a long-term solution to our state's looming child care crisis.
Second, we must expand, pay, can family leave.
And third, we must invest in public education at every level, early childhood to our technical colleges and universities.
Wisconsin faces a looming child care crisis.
Costs to working families are skyrocketing.
We don't have enough child care providers and providers.
The providers we have are struggling to keep the lights on.
And the effects are intuitive.
If a kid no longer has child care or a parent can't afford it, someone's going to have to stay home with them.
Folks, lack of accessible affordable child care is a statewide workforce issue.
Without continued investments in child care accounts, our workforce will suffer mightily.
2,110 child care programs are projected to close.
87,000 kids could be without child care.
We could lose over 4,880 child care jobs.
That's about a half a billion dollar of economic impact on our state.
I introduced the comprehensive workforce plan to stabilize our child care industry and prevent its collapse.
Republicans rejected it.
So last fall, I directed 170 million dollars in emergency funding to keep our child care industry afloat.
I want to be clear, I directed that funding that I could, but it wasn't enough.
Wisconsin child care providers will soon receive their final payment from the federally funded portion of child care accounts.
So the emergency, 170 million dollars, I directed last fall as a stopgap measure, now kicks in.
Republicans are officially on the clock to make this meaningful investments necessary to make the meaningful investments necessary
to prevent the collapse of an industry that's essential for making our current levels of workforce participation.
Wisconsin, we also need to expand paid family leave.
I proposed investing 240 million dollars to jumpstart a program that would provide most private sector workers 12 weeks of paid leave.
Republicans rejected my proposal, not once but twice.
Paid leave is the right thing to do for kids and our families, and it's also what we need to do to compete and keep talented workers.
And yes, doing what's best for kids is what's best for our state and it's what's best for our families and our workforce too.
So yes, we must invest in public education at every level, from early childhood to our technical colleges and our universities.
Now, I will never expect Republicans and Democrats in this building to agree with each other, or me for that matter, on the merits of every policy 100% of the time.
That's what democracy is about, but there's no excuse for not being willing to work together on what everybody agrees is the most pressing issue facing our state.
I've introduced the comprehensive workforce plan twice.
Anyone on either side of the aisle is a better plan than mine that not only prevents the collapse of our state's childcare industry,
but also helps us compete against our neighboring states for talent and invests in public education at every level to prepare our kids for the future.
Let's hear it.
I will work with any legislator, any partner, any stakeholder who's willing to engage in meaningful conversations on these issues to do the right thing for Wisconsin.
In the meantime, my administration will continue to pursue every pathway and seek every avenue to address our workforce challenges without legislative action, just as we have for five years, and we'll continue that work here tonight.
Making sure our workforce is prepared to meet the needs of a 21st century economy is a top priority for me, and my administration is going to lead by example.
By tonight, I'm declaring 2024, the year of worker of the worker in Wisconsin.
We're working on earnest to reduce barriers to employment, so we can try to make sure every available worker can join our workforce.
I directed over $150 million to find innovative long term solutions to our workforce challenges, subsidize employment and skills training with local employers, and support Wisconsinites working to reengage in our workforce.
Because of that investment, we've been able to deliver workforce training and support services to more than 33,000 Wisconsinites across the state.
I joined with the Wisconsin laborers about a year ago to announce Wisconsin had the highest participation rate in our registered apprenticeship program in two decades.
In November, I celebrated National Apprenticeship Week and announced Wisconsin had reached an all time record high number of participants in the registered apprenticeship program's 112 year history. How about that?
There are also high need areas of our workforce. We need to bolster and support.
According to the Department of Workforce Development, Wisconsin faces a potential deficit of 20,000 nurses by 2040.
Between 2020 and 2030, Wisconsin's healthcare industry will see nearly 32,000 annual openings across occupations.
So last year, my administration launched one of the country's first ever registered nurse apprenticeship pathways to help address the demand for workers.
And we announced a new initiative to train over 10,000 certified direct care professionals to address our state's shortage of caregivers.
But there's more that we have to do to address our healthcare industry's chronic challenges.
Next week, I'll sign an executive order creating a new healthcare workforce task force focused on funding, finding long term solutions to our state's healthcare industry, and make recommendations for me to consider in my next biennial budget.
We also know we must work to retain talented educators who work every day to do what's best for our kids.
Recent estimates show that only 67% of new educators in Wisconsin make it past five years.
So through the Department of Workforce Development, our administration is launching a new teacher apprenticeship pilot program with the Department of Public Instruction to provide more mentorship and support for new educators.
And finally, as one of the largest employers in the state, my administration is also going to make sure the state of Wisconsin is leading the way by example.
With new efforts to recruit and retain talented workers in our state workforce.
I'm also announcing tonight, I'm creating a new office of state employee engagement and retention to improve retention, mentorship and engagement of our state workers across all of our state agencies.
Wisconsin, we've proven this past year that we can do big things, especially when we're willing to do them together.
I know we can build upon these efforts in 2024 and together we will.
Let's get back at it, let's get to work, thank you, and on Wisconsin, UW Marching Band, take it away.
Thank you.
Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
One thing that obviously stood out about the governor's address tonight was that he declared 2024 the year of the worker in Wisconsin.
And he was really quite appointed.
He spoke about this being the most pressing issue in our state having to do with what he calls child care crisis calling for expanded family leave investments in public education.
The health care workforce.
I mean, this is what he focused on tonight.
But he also taught me some chocolates to republicans.
Yeah, I would say in terms of style, he has, he's not like a big booming order type of governor, right?
But if you look at what he was saying there tonight to republicans specifically, there were some pretty sharp veto threats.
He also kind of made reference to his gubernatorial opponent in the 2022 election said, hey, he's not standing here right now referencing the issue of abortion rights.
You don't hear that from governors very often, you know, referencing an opponent led one from a couple of years ago.
So those, I think, we call those fighting words a little bit from the governor.
As he also talked about, you know, areas where he wants to find some kind of agreement because, you know, on a lot of issues, there's only so much he can do unilaterally within his administration.
He talked about some of that federal money that he's going to use to continue a child care subsidy that's going away.
But he's going to need support from the legislature for that in the long run.
He also spoke clearly and obviously to things like new voting maps and the importance of those.
And he spoke to abortion rights for women in Wisconsin, even mentioning the fact that the republican legislature has taken up a bill that would ban abortion after 14 weeks with no exceptions.
And he said he will veto those as to his threats of vetoes.
Yeah, kind of, you've seen his rebuts around that one.
The maps thing is pretty significant.
And, you know, how that resolves itself will be very big for the balance of power in government and for who's in that room for the next state of the state address, you know, because right now the state Supreme Court has a bunch of map proposals before it.
Generally, make the republican majorities are projected to make the republican majorities smaller.
And you wouldn't have what we've kind of gotten used to in state government, very lopsided republican majorities in the Assembly and the Senate.
You know, that affects the way things work around here.
It affects, you know, how negotiations do.
Both parties behave differently when you have lopsided majorities or close majorities.
So that's a big deal.
And that's largely in the courts hand right now.
Although the legislature may get more involved.
The Senate did pass its version of a map today.
I think all we can say is we'll see on that stuff.
Yeah, that's a super interesting thing that the Senate came out with a new map proposal.
It apparently goes to the Assembly now.
And meanwhile, the Supreme Court is now considering these other submissions of maps.
And so, again, we'll see what happens there.
It doesn't seem likely that the governor would be holding hands with the republican legislature on their latest kind of submission of voting map.
And he, I think, alluded to that as much.
It doesn't seem likely, although they did base their latest plan.
At least as a starting point, they used a map that he had submitted to the court.
But they made changes and we don't really have the partisan breakdown of those changes yet.
So it's kind of hard to comment on it in comparison to the other maps that are out there at the moment.
So we are, again, awaiting majority leader Devin Lemahue from the state senate to provide the republican response.
And we do believe that he is in place.
Majority leaders Devin Lemahue represents districts from Euseburg and he has the republican response.
And actually, we can keep going here for just a moment.
Senator.
Well, we get the senator.
All right.
There we go.
All right.
Senator.
Go ahead.
Good evening.
Today, Governor Evers highlighted a vision for the state that does not align with the reality of the state's financial picture.
State spending is at an all-time high.
Over this two-year budget cycle, Wisconsin state government will spend almost $44,000 per income taxpayer.
Our K-12 schools are enjoying the highest level of funding in history.
Local governments and the school choice program have recently gotten their largest increase in state support ever.
The state budget included over $3 billion of investment in healthcare services,
including increases for nursing homes, hospitals, and mental healthcare.
We heard from our constituents about the state of Wisconsin's infrastructure,
so we invested $360 million in local roads and bridges as part of a $1.5 billion transportation budget.
And we used one-time surplus money to pay cash for major projects to avoid costly borrowing.
Workforce housing is a recurring issue for Wisconsin's middle class,
so we invested $525 million in revolving loan funds to rehabilitate Wisconsin's aging housing stock,
revitalize main streets, and incentivize the creation of new workforce housing.
Republicans and Democrats work together to keep the Milwaukee Brewers in Wisconsin for another generation of baseball fans.
Wisconsin's priorities are fully funded,
and yet the state still is projected to have a $4 billion surplus.
That surplus should not be spent to further grow the size of government as the governor suggests,
rather create or create new entitlement programs or even sit in a bank account in Madison earning interest.
The surplus should be returned to the hard-working taxpayers who have given the state government more than their money than is necessary.
The legislature released a plan today that would cut taxes for the middle class.
It would exempt retirement income from state income taxes.
It would increase the married couple credit, and it would increase the child independent care tax credit.
Since he's been re-elected, Governor Evers has consistently rebuked the legislature's attempts to cut taxes for the middle class.
During budget deliberations, Governor Evers used his veto pen to unilaterally increase taxes on Wisconsinites making $28,000 a year or more.
That highlights the core problem with the governor's administration.
He consistently says one thing and then does another.
After his campaign promised to cut taxes on the middle class, Governor Evers unilaterally raised them.
The governor campaigns as a common sense leader of our state, but then he governs as a partisan leader of the Democrat Party of Wisconsin.
Democrats see state surpluses as an opportunity to grow government entitlement on the backs of hard-working taxpayers.
Legislative Republicans have a different version.
We stand for limited government, low taxes, safe communities, and a strong economy.
A strong surplus is an opportunity to advance those goals.
This spring, the state legislature will continue to compromise where we can, but we won't compromise the principles of Wisconsin.
The principles that Wisconsin voters sent us here to uphold.
We are working on behalf of you and your family, and you can be confident that with principled leadership, Wisconsin's best days remain ahead.
That was Senate Majority Leader Devin Lemihue with the Republican Response.
If you would like to watch tonight's speech from Governor Tony Evers or Senate Majority Leader Devin Lemihue again,
we will have it posted later this evening on our website at pbswisconsin.org.
We'll also have continuing coverage and reaction to the state of the state address this Friday evening at 730 on here and now.
And Wisconsin Public Radio will also continue to follow developments from the state Capitol on the air and online at wpr.org.
I want to thank you for joining us for this evening from the state Capitol in Madison.
I'm Sean Johnson with Wisconsin Public Radio.
And I'm Frederica Freiberg from PBS Wisconsin.
This concludes our coverage of the Wisconsin 2024 State of the State Address.
Thanks for watching.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.