GOP Failures

GOP Legislators Fail Again

Tend to the People’s Business

 

Our Republican controlled legislature outdid itself once again, proving just how anti-life they really are. They rejected once again, Gov. Evers’ call for them to accept federal Medicaid expansion money which would have pumped $1 Billion federal dollars into Wisconsin coffers and provided much needed health insurance coverage to 91,000 more Wisconsin citizens. 

 

Our legislators first stripped the proposal to take the federal money out of Gov. Evers’ proposed state budget for the next biennium and then, this past week, gaveled in and out of the special legislative session Evers called to take up the proposal in record time.

 

The people most impacted are poor people without access to employer health insurance plans who made too much under earlier guidelines to qualify for insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Medicaid expansion would have changed the rules to lower those standards, making the insurance more affordable. Without access to more affordable insurance, many Wisconsinites will become ill and die due to their inability to access needed health care services. 

 

The $1 billion federal incentive, which comes out of federal taxpayer dollars, was earmarked by Gov. Evers to provide $200 million to expand broadband internet services to more in rural areas, $100 million to replace ageing and dangerous lead water pipes, $100 million for bridge and road projects and over a dozen local construction projects. 

 

In addition, Evers proposed using the Federal funds for increased mental health services, veterans housing programs, increasing tourism, more DNR Stewardship programs and better opioid data systems. On the local level, Evers wants to use the funds for a community health center in Racine, paper mill assistance in Wisconsin Rapids and Park Falls, mental health facilities in Eau Claire and Wausau, manufacturing apprenticeship programs, support for rural emergency medical services.

 

Gov. Evers condemned the GOP leaders’ failure to take up the proposal. "I think we should be doing everything we can to make sure our economy bounces back from this pandemic, and this special session was about finding common ground and getting bipartisan support for our efforts," Evers said in a prepared statement. "Clearly, it’s disappointing Republicans don’t seem to take that responsibility seriously, and they’ll have to explain to Wisconsinites why they made the decision they did today."

 

GOP legislators have opposed the expansion ever since it was introduced by the Federal government in 2014, claiming it is unnecessary welfare and that it might cause additional burdens on Wisconsin taxpayers in the future should the benefits decrease. They also take issue with Evers’ authority to spend the federal dollars, claiming it should rest with the Legislature instead.

 

So far, 38 states have accepted Medicaid expansion benefits without any substantial issues. Those state that took the funds show decreased mortality rates when compared with states that rejected the funds. They have used the funds creatively to help combat the pandemic and increase services for their citizens with no adverse impacts. 

 

It is clear that the real opposition is rooted in fears that Democratic governments will actually take care of working people and their families and win the policy wars in our divided America. They fear actual debate in open sessions of our legislative bodies on the merits of the proposals and the actual impacts their decisions will have on the rest of us. It is much easier to just say no to what ever Democrats propose. 

 

On the other side of the same coin, Assembly Leader Robin Vos (R-Mount Pleasant) just approved spending $100,000 in taxpayer dollars to hire retired police officers to investigate the last statewide election to see if there were irregularities that warrant new election laws. It does not matter that GOP presidential minions already floated their conspiracy theories in Wisconsin and Federal Courts after the election only to see each and every one shot down because they could produce no facts to support their outlandish claims. Vos is wasting precious tax dollars chasing ghosts of long dead conspiracies. 

 

The Republicans in our Legislature have wasted our time and money doing nothing but trying to undo what made Wisconsin the progressive leader in America and opposing anything proposed by Democrats. We elect our Representatives and Senators to look out for the common good and address real problems affecting significant parts of the populace. It is time we hold them accountable and elect those willing to tend to the people’s business.