On Wisconsin

On Wisconsin

Forward Together

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers delivered his first State of the State address to a joint session of the state legislature this week marked by calls for bi-partisan efforts conducted with civility and mutual respect. Evers’ remarks were enthusiastically received by Democratic legislators who stood often to applaud and cheer as the Governor laid out his plans for our future. Unfortunately, the only measure that brought the Republicans to their feet was Evers’ plan to provide a 10 percent tax cut to individuals making less than $100,000 and families earning less than $150,000 annually. They sat back down when Evers told them he planned to pay for it by limiting tax breaks for wealthy corporations.

Stressing that “what’s best for kids is best for our state,” Evers will propose fully funding two-thirds of the cost public education, increasing special education funding by $600 million and increasing mental health services in our schools five-fold. In addition, his upcoming budget will seek to deliver on his campaign promise of providing all Wisconsin residents with quality and affordable healthcare, in part, by expanding Medicare eligibility to 76 million low-income people. The Governor noted that several GOP controlled states like Kentucky and Nebraska had expanded Medicaid coverage with no ill effects, as have Democratic states like our neighbor Minnesota.

The only lowlight came with Evers announcement that he was sending Attorney General Kaul a letter asking him to withdraw Wisconsin from the lawsuit challenging the pre-existing coverage provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act. The recent lame-duck legislative session passed a bill taking that authority away from the Governor and vesting it with the legislative leadership. Since the address, Evers’ office has walked back his comments and it remains unclear what, if any, ability he has to get Wisconsin out of that case. He may have an easier path directing Kaul to change Wisconsin’s position in the litigation from opposing to supporting the ACA’s pre-existing coverage provisions. In any event, Wisconsin withdrawing or changing positions in the lawsuit is not likely to alter the outcome as nineteen other states would remain in the case to carry the argument to its conclusion.  

Governor Evers also addressed the transportation funding crisis that has led to deteriorating highways and other transportation problems. He announced the formation of a bi-partisan task force led by his Department of Transportation Secretary-designee to come up with a plan that addresses and prioritizes the needs as well as formulates a way to raise the funds necessary to meet them. All of the transportation stakeholders will have a seat at the table.

Announcing 2019 as the year of Clean Drinking Water, Evers embarked on a plan to cleanup or replace contaminated private wells and replace lead water service lines across the state. Doing so will increase life-long earning capacity and provide better health outcomes for millions of Wisconsin families.

The Governor concluded his remarks with another call for the legislature to work with him on his People’s Budget and not to try crafting their own instead. There was no mention of a veto should they do so, but his office made it clear later that such a veto was certainly possible. He reminded all in the chamber of a slogan embedded in the ceiling of the Governor’s Office, “the will of the people is the law of the land.”

Our new governor struck just the best tone and delivered the correct content given the debate engendered during the campaign. A majority of voters across the state voted for the agenda Evers delivered in his remarks. It is certain that he will take his budget directly to the people for grass roots pressure on those in the legislature who might not be on board. It remains to be seen if constituent pressure will be sufficient to overcome the re-election purse strings held by Speaker Vos and Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald.