Thank you for joining us today and I hope everybody
had a good holiday season a chance to relax at the best. So you know as we
look back on 2024 we have accomplished a lot together. I signed nearly 190 bills
into law last year the vast majority of those had bipartisan support. I signed
fair maps for Wisconsin undoing a decade of living under some of the most
gerrymandered legislative maps in the US. I approved $73 million an annual tax
relief to reduce childcare costs. For working families has projected that more
than 110,000 taxpayers will see an average of about $650 in tax cuts
beginning this year in 2025. I enacted two pieces of statewide legislation
enabling Wisconsin to receive over $78 million in federal investments to
bolster our EV infrastructure. There are now three new FES charging EV
stations coming online in Ashland Menominee and Chippewa Falls with more
to come with a new year. And we also successfully kept the brewers in
Wisconsin to 2050 with a new lease ensuring future generation will be able
to root for the home team which was finalized and approved just before the
holidays and gold brewers. And we secured a multi-billion dollar
investments from key industry leaders like Microsoft, Eli Lilly and company
Nestle, Purina, Keikomon and more. In my last state of the state address I
declared 2024 the year of the worker to renew our focus on addressing our
state's generational workforce challenges. Through these efforts we
continued our trend of historically low unemployment and nine counties
reported the lowest rates of unemployment on record. We achieved
record high employment and participation in the state's registered and youth
apprenticeship programs and expanded apprenticeship pathways including the
first ever teacher apprenticeship pilot program. We worked with Senator Baldwin
to secure the state's designation of the US regional tech hub which is set to
bring more than 140,000 jobs and $9 billion of economic development to our
state over the next decade. And we helped launch the US Climate Alliance Climate
Ready Workforce Initiative which is working to train one million new
registered apprenticeships across the nation by 2023. I'm incredibly proud of
the work we've done this last year built upon the efforts of over the last five
years. We continued providing tax relief to the middle class and working
families across our state including the child independent care credit I just
mentioned a minute ago that will go into effect this year. All told through tax
cuts I've signed in the law through at my time in office 86 percent of Wisconsin
taxpayers have seen an income tax cut of 15 percent or more with 2.4 million
taxpayers receiving a relief and Wisconsin taxpayers will see 1.5
billion dollars in annual tax relief primarily to the middle class targeted
to the middle class. Thanks in part due to these efforts and tax cuts I signed
into law as governor. A recent analysis by the Wisconsin policy forum showed
Wisconsin's income tax burden and that means how much of state and local
taxes pay at Wisconsinites pay as a share of their personal income is the
lowest on record. That means we've worked hard and successfully to make sure
Wisconsinites get to keep more of their hard earned money in their pockets. We've
also improved more than 8,600 miles of roads and 2,000 bridges and we have
built more than 17,000 units of affordable housing since I've taken
office and our work to expand access to affordable housing will continue in 25
and 2025 as we implement one of the largest state investments in affordable
housing in our history. As we look forward to 2025 there is as always more work to
do. I look forward to delivering my state of the state address on Wednesday
January 22nd at 7 p.m. We'll talk about the work ahead of us and to lay out our
state's top priorities for 2025. While we had much success in 2024 working to
address our state's challenges of recruiting training and retaining
talented workers our efforts must continue in 2025 to address the workforce
challenges that have plagued our state for decades. We can both help address our
state's workforce challenges and give working families a little breathing
room in their household budgets by making child care and housing more
affordable and accessible across our state. It can child care and housing more
affordable and addressing our state's looming child care crisis which could
have really bad consequences for our workforce and our state's economy. It's
been a top priority for me and my administration that will continue to be
that case in the new year. I also continue to be concerned about the
burgeoning crisis of mental and behavioral health in Wisconsin something
that we've been talking about for years. I will again propose robust
investments in my biennial budget to expand access to mental and behavioral
health statewide including in our schools and I urge the legislature to
join me in supporting this important work. It also obviously in
everybody in this room is in the same position ways heavily on me that we're
kicking off a new year just weeks after a school shooting here in Madison at
Abundant Life Christian School that took the lives of Ruby and Erin
injured several and affected countless others including a student who is still
recovering from those injuries. Keeping our kids our schools our streets
and our communities safe and addressing gun violence has been a top priority
for me and my administration over the last five years despite continued
legislative resistance and inaction. In 2025 this should be a shared priority
that transcends politics and partisanship in one I'm hopeful to finally
receive biennial support and effort. So I look forward to sharing more
details about my budget proposals to address these pressing statewide
challenges and I deliver my 2025-27 biennial budget.
That message will happen on Tuesday February 18th 2025
at 7 p.m. be there it's going to be something.
I'm hopeful that as we ring in a new year in Wisconsin after fair maps
we will see a legislature that's more collaborative
more responsive and reflects the will of the people of the state.
Network begins here today. It's been the last month of my this last year
traveling across our state hosting my biennial budget listening sessions and
completing my fifth annual 72 county tour to hear directly from
Wisconsinites about the issues that are important to them.
So today I'm announcing excuse me a provision I'll be including in the biennial
budget to require the legislature to give the people of Wisconsin
a pathway to ensuring the will of the people.
It's no secret that since I took office Republican legislators
have repeatedly ignored the will of the people of Wisconsin
a majority of whom support proposals like restoring role
and access to safe legal abortion legalizing and taxing marijuana like we
do alcohol funding our public schools and implementing
common sense gun safety reform among many other issues.
Instead Republican lawmakers have repeatedly worked to put constitutional
amendments on the ballot that Republicans drafted
Republicans pass all while Republicans refuse to give that same power
to the people that we served that's wrong.
Republican lawmakers shouldn't be able to ignore the will of the people and then
prevent the people from having a voice when their
legislators fail to listen. We have to change that.
Republican lawmakers are going to continue to try and legislate by
constitutional amendment then they should give Wisconsinites
the same opportunity that 26 other states have.
It's that simple. The legislature should give the people that same power too
and that's what I'll be asking them to do in my next budget.
So thanks for being here today and I'm happy to take
your questions folks.
Yeah in order to do that it has to be a joint
resolution and that and the requirement for that joint resolution will be
in the budget and that would give people the ability like
in our 26 other states to have a ballot initiative
brought by the people of Wisconsin.
Well we again we had a pandemic that made things
very much more difficult. We will be addressing that issue in the budget.
There's no question about that. We need to have criminal justice reform
and that's one of the things we'll be putting in the budget.
We're getting through this last four years in a you know a very difficult
time for our correctional institutions and the people that are in it
and we believe we'll have some answers for that in this next budget and hopefully
we'll get some support for that.
Oh for sure we should have done it a long time ago.
Yes.
Speaking to legislative leaders over the last few weeks there appears to be
bipartisan push heading into the new year to try and regulate Delta 8 and Delta 9.
Of course this is from a loophole in a 2018 farm bill.
You can see it in any grocery stores you can buy the substance
but it's concerning a lot of parents as teens can get their hands on it very easily.
We don't know what that bill will look like but in theory
regulating the industry possibly raising the age to 21 to be able to purchase
these products is that something we would generally support.
Generally I'll have to take a look at it but we need to address that the issue of
marijuana also. It would be nice to be able to do
both things at the same time but I'm open to that.
We have to make it clear to people what's legal and what's not.
I think that's important but in addition to people
Wisconsin I don't know the exact numbers 60-70 percent
in the that have been pulled by by Marquette University
support the legalization of marijuana. It'd be great to be able to take
care of both those things at the same time.
Is it accessible? Yes yes yes.
Would you like to see some type of regulation?
Yes I would but but also I'm saying it'd be great to
deal with this issue of marijuana at the same time.
We have to have clarity on what's happening with what you've gone up
but we also the will of the people it seems to indicate that
legalizing marijuana and treating it in a really
appropriate way is something that we should be supporting also.
That's just a pre-court ruling last year. Republicans have
some pessimistic on reauthorizing the Nils Nelson program.
Is that concerning to you in our pre-fold one billion dollars in your
proposal? Do you think that's something that you
can kind of get done? We should. I mean if you think about
the the value of Nils that stewardship fund it is so
important to who we are as Wisconsin and and also the ability to make
sure that we have the land available for people
to recreate on and so yes we we'll be we'll be
dealing with that issue in the budget absolutely.
I would veto that part of it. Yes. We can't we can't stop.
I mean people expect the Wisconsin the state of Wisconsin
to support the Nils Nelson project and it's been great for the state of
Wisconsin. It's important for our tourism industry
and and so the idea of ending it is not going to happen.
Governor, can we circle back to the tuition question?
The speaker of Austria has been told us that people can ban
THC products like delegate to anyone under the age of 21.
Would you sign something like that? I need I need to see the whole bill.
I need to see the whole bill.
I think it's somewhat premature to I mean we can make some
guesses as to what what might happen with the new
administration in Washington DC. My my goal is to
work with that administration when we can and
be in opposition and try to change ideas when
when we can't we when we can't support it. That may be one of them but I'd have
to see that bill before. It's way too early
for me to say I'd support it or not. The bottom line is
you know in Wisconsin 70 percent of our
our farms are dealing with 70 percent of the people
that may be part of the
maybe part of the federal government's idea to
move them elsewhere like out of our country.
Think about that. How in the hell would we
continue to be the dairy state when there's nobody there to milk the cows and do
the other important work. So that and we've made that clear
but we the overall goal with this administration will be
to work with them when they can't and and work with and to be
in opposition and changed our minds when we cannot.
What governor do you think is between that and the people who are here with
opposition who could crime or have a criminal
district should they be deported if they have that record.
It's you know what what crime speeding?
Violent crime. Violent crime. I think if they're serving time already
they shouldn't be treated any differently. I mean violent crime is
violent crime if you end up in a correctional institution
that serving that time is equally important for someone that
is documented and someone that is not.
I'm trying to remember the letter. I remember getting it.
PFAS thing is simple. Joint Finance Committee has to
release that money. That was passed. It's part of law.
No. We will be having a robust budget for
public education as as we always have and so
whatever's happening on the courts that's that's not going to stop us from
making that proposal.
That's a joke.
I mean that honest to God that is that is a joke.
We're working already on that issue so yes we're working with
Brown County and Green Bay. We anticipate it's going to be a good
event but it's an event that we are whether it's our
folks at the National Guard, the folks that we
have under our our work you know the the people at
the state patrol all those people are working together.
It's going to be like the R&C that happened in Milwaukee.
Those things have already begun that work on that.
It's going to be a great opportunity for the state of
Wisconsin obviously in Green Bay.
Go on part of 3,000 years for people to joke. Is it
that's not an increase per year for revenue cash or is it
not funny or is it mental health? What part of the chip?
No schools would be able to get by just on that small amount
of ability to spend money. They'd have to spend their
you know tax money at back home. They would they would likely have to go to
referendum even more so so it's a joke and
you know the issue of mental health you know we put
I think 50 million dollars in the last budget and I know the speaker
does feel strongly about mental health issues but
that doesn't necessarily portray what happened in the budget.
The amount of money that we got in the budget which is a fraction of that
50 million dollars.
On that piece there's going to be more there's going to be more money
period for schools.
Yeah it seems like forever doesn't it?
But I the audits that we that we provided
will be done soon. I don't know if that's going to be done before the
the budget. So hopefully some information can help us in the budget but
yeah I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated especially that they've been working
together with the city on the issue of
police in the schools. That's part of state law and
they have to be the law. So somehow they have to come to our
conclusion on that.
Yeah well we have to work with our friends in
Washington DC. I mean they're the ones that control that issue
and we will do everything in our power to prevent it from happening.
I mean it's it's illogical for your if you're a Republican or Democrat to
say well we're going to mess with America's
dairy land because of somebody's idea of what
immigration said look like. We have people working there
they're doing a great job our farms and frankly our
manufacturers also need that work and need those workers.
So we'll be working with the folks in Washington DC to make sure that doesn't
happen.
I don't have a that's a local decision to make.
It's been successful. Some people some school districts feel it hasn't been
successful but the fact of the matter is the Milwaukee Public Schools
as part of the last budget need to finalize that.
Now whether individual school districts make that decision
I know some people some school districts feel strongly
about having a lot allowing it to happen and
and some some folks are it's just it's a local issue
by the line. What is your number one priority in the
budget to get across the finish line? Well
number number one is multifaceted. We we we have to have a for
we have to make sure that people in the state of Wisconsin have the ability
to thrive economically and part of that is affordable housing.
Part of that is tax relief. Part of that is to making sure that our
public schools are strong and and so to say there's one thing
that we absolutely have to have I'd say it's a multifaceted answer.
It's the same it's the same question that I address around just around schools
themselves yes we need to fund our public schools
but children are in schools maybe six seven hours a day
how about affordable housing that impacts those kids
how about transportation that that affects those kids
how about health care that affects those children so
in order for us to thrive as a state economically and that has to be
an overall goal there's more than one thing
that has to happen and that what I just talked about is just
around kids.
I think you'll have an answer for that in the next budget.
No because I haven't decided if I'm running yet in 2026
that'll that'll that'll I'll be making that decision sometime post
post budget UW system.
Right we have 800 million for sure and that's what's going to be in my budget.
Yeah you're right you hit all the highlights we can't continue to
starve our system whether it's higher education or UW system or the
technical college system or our K through 12 system
that's part of economic development. So yes we will
I made a commitment to to put 800 million dollars in the budget and
it will be there.
Or do I have a torch?
Your decision about the election. Of course I'll look I'll think about all
those things but it ain't going to be right today.
Well Governor given that you have new maps coming into a new buy area
that new democratic lawmakers are still waiting your future would you say that
you have a political new year's resolution when you're talking to you
reaching across the app. Yeah because I see it I see it already I
anticipate that will will things be perfect and
and everybody's going to get together and Robin Vos and others aren't going to
be complaining about me. Of course that's all going to happen
but I've already seen with and I've talked to every
democratic legislator and I'll be you know any Republicans I want to be with
me that will have made that happen but I've already seen a
opportunity for some of the new people on the democratic side reaching out
and talking to individuals on a Republican side about
issues. That just didn't happen in the past. So do I think that
there's opportunity there's certainly opportunities
for us to get along better and to accomplish things for the people
Wisconsin and that's what fair maps are all about as you know
there was when I ran for this office I said we have to have fair maps
not gerrymandered democrat maps and that's exactly what we have
and the reason I believe believe so strongly about that
is that the will of the people is along the land
and we're a purple state and the maps reflect that and I think as a result of
that we will see more collaboration and cooperation so I'm looking forward
to that.
It's unlikely but you never know. We'll take a look at it.
I'm sorry.
I think we've done that every time so do it again.
I hate to even talk about things that aren't my purview anymore in the
department of public instruction but I just think
there should have been some information and dialogue happening
with all sorts of people before that decision or me
because of that change as you just said it's hard to compare year to year if one
year you're doing something completely different
and so do I do I think it could have been handled
better? Yes absolutely you have to have the have to have
in a decision like this I'm not even sure how many school people knew about it
and so I think in retrospect if I would be
have criticism about the process.
Not telling me at the last minute that even kind of problem.
I'm just saying the mistake was that there wasn't enough conversation
with the stakeholders with parents I had a time.
I'm not taking any position on that. There's at least three people two people
running and I think likely a third.
I'll do anything to get it done. I mean the idea that we pass
we the legislature passes the law. I signed something into law
and I mean this isn't the only time this has happened
and whatever I signed into law doesn't really happen because joint finance
decides to hang on to that money. That's wrong that's why we're in court
but whatever we can do to get it out if that means tying it to something else
and we move on but it's just wrong-headed to think that that is
appropriate and legal. I just think it's not. That's why we're in court.
But if there's something we can do in the meantime let's have it.
What we did was the right thing. The representatives of the Eau Claire area
people in the health care world in Eau Claire asked us to do this
and that we did it. We did you know the what came out of the
came out of the last budget or the last budget on this
was not what the people in Eau Claire at least the ones that talked to us and
included health care folks. They wanted a broader
use of that money. So no I mean we're well past the
ideas that somehow I'm going to undo that veto.
We need to get that money out. Joint Finance Committee does not have the
legal authority to to do what they did and so we're
looking forward to a resolution in court.
Well we'll work with that. We'll work with them anytime that they're
available and you know we worked a lot on the budget last time especially
when we talked about shared revenue and we hope to be able to do that in the
future. Thanks everybody. Have a good day.
Have a good year.