Our Agenda for Wisconsin Is Working
Low taxes, low unemployment, plus a six-year freeze on UW tuition.
Gov. Walker.
Wisconsin is Working.
Employment in our state is at an all-time high and the unemployment rate of 2.9% is at a historic low. To continue to build our workforce, we invested more actual dollars into schools than ever before and included major increases for our technical college system. We balanced our budget and had another surplus yet still eliminated the state property tax. In fact, the cumulative impact of our tax relief through the end of the budget is $8 billion. We froze University of Wisconsin tuition for six years in a row to make college more affordable for students and working families. And our health care systems are ranked number one in the nation for quality.
To build on our successes, we laid out an ambitious agenda during our State of the State address in January. A special thanks to the members of the state Legislature who passed our Ambitious Agenda for 2018:
More Funding for K-12 Education
On top of our historic overall investment in schools (an extra $200 per student this year and another $204 per student increase next year), we gave rural schools with unique costs more aid and low revenue districts more help to ensure that every child has access to a great education. Our plan passed with bipartisan support on votes of 90-3 in the Assembly and 31-1 in the Senate.
Health Care Stability
Because health care costs are a growing concern, we proposed a plan that will lower premiums, increase choices, and stabilize health care in Wisconsin. This is particularly important for people on the individual market like small business owners and family farmers. Our plan to lower premiums in the individual market passed with bipartisan support on votes of 79-16 in the Assembly and 23-9 in the Senate.
Welfare Reform
With employment levels at all-time-highs, we need more people in the workforce. That’s why we called a special session on welfare reform. Our plan requires able-bodied, working-age adults to work at least 30 hours a week and to be able to pass a drug test. For those who fail, we will provide treatment to get them healthy and ready to work. So far, we’ve helped transition 25,000 people on food stamps into the workforce.
Every student, teacher, parent, and administrator should feel safe in our schools. That’s why I proposed a $100 million School Safety Plan that will provide grants to schools across the state. As a country, we made necessary changes after 9/11 to ensure that firearms, explosives and other weapons could not get on an airplane. We should do similar things to ensure that our schools are safe. Our plan passed with bipartisan support on votes of 78 – 8 in the Assembly and 28 – 4 in the Senate.
Child Tax Rebate and Sales Tax Holiday
Wisconsin has a larger than expected surplus this year, and we want to send it back to the hard-working taxpayers. One of the easiest and quickest ways to get it back is through a per-child sales tax rebate. Every resident of the state who is a citizen is eligible for $100 for every child under the age of 18 living at home. The checks or direct deposits will be received before school starts in September, so parents and grandparents can use the money on supplies and clothing for students. We also provide a sales tax holiday that will help them save even more money. This is in addition to the property tax and income tax relief that we provided to people of all ages across the state. We were happy to have bipartisan support in both chambers.
Government Accountability
People I talk with around the state want their government to be more effective, more efficient and more accountable. Part of that includes juvenile justice reform. We spent more than a year working with county officials, law enforcement, members of the judiciary, national experts, and lawmakers from both political parties to develop a comprehensive plan to replace the current model (which has been around for decades) with a series of smaller facilities around the state. The plan received unanimous support in the Assembly and in the Senate.
Addressing the Opioid Epidemic
We continue to fight opioid, heroin, and meth addiction with two more pieces of legislation: one related to medical treatment and another with law enforcement. These are two of the 30 laws I’ve signed dealing with addiction. Thanks to Representative John Nygren for putting together a broad-based, bipartisan coalition with us on these measures.
Back in January, there were many cynics who said we could not accomplish this Ambitious Agenda for 2018 by the end of the legislative session. We not only got it done, but we did so with broad bipartisan support. This proves that these are not Republican or Democrat ideas, but Wisconsin ideas.
Wisconsin is Working. We don’t want to turn back. Together, let’s keep moving Wisconsin forward.
Scott Walker is the governor of the State of Wisconsin.
No it isn’t Walker! You are a lying, cheating, scheming Career Politician that has been mooching off the Big Government since you were 22 years old! You have never worked a day in your life in the private sector!
FoxCON SUCKS! This 4.5 BILLION dollar boondoggle does NOTHING for Northern Wisconsin where there are NO jobs and since you turned down high speed internet we can’t even start businesses in the modern economy. No more corporate welfare!
Republican’s stealing our voting rights via gerrymandering SUCKS!
The roads SUCK!
1 BILLION in DOT debt sucks!
You and republican’s selling the state out to Dark Money groups SUCK!
Your enabling and love for Trump SUCKS!
We could go on and on and on…
Career Politician Scott Walker is a corrupt, scheming charlatan that has turned Wisconsin into a third world style slave wage dump named Wississippi!
YOU SUCK WALKER!
DUMP WALKER 2018!
Go away you liar and crook!
Here’s the shirt version!
Please don’t vote me out. I have nowhere to go and I’ll be broke without taxpayer welfare!@!!
I’m moderate I’m the most liberal governer ever!@
Oh the whole tyrant dictator thing is a joke.
Please, I’ll be nothing but a ham sandwich eating fox news pundit. Please democrats, please love me.
Thank you, Governor Walker!! Looking very forward to your re-election and continuing to move Wisconsin ahead!!
Yes Rethug,
You enjoy the white supremacism of your tyrant leader.
You enjoy seeing Milwaukee bashed and punished.
You enjoy voter suppression and election fraud.
But most of all you, enjoy staying ignorant and angery.
Who is your favorite Nazi WashCoRepug? Goering? Goebbels?
Dump Walker 2018
-Terry, the NY Times had an interesting article last week on German food banks assisting Muslims immigrants in their new German home. The new immigrants sprayed swatizkas on the food bank help vans. They also reported the new immigrants could not wait their turn in the German “bread lines”. The new immigrants would push to the front of the line assaulting elderly woman and children.
See you in the bread lines,Terry.
@Russian Troll, Pas moi mon ami! I’m out in the woods! Only chumps stand in breadlines.
I’m guessing you were a Hesse man. You seem flighty…
Wississippi Uber Alles, Troll, Wississippi Uber Alles
Does the Governor have his head in the sand? It’s going to take three years to close Lincoln Hills (latest report is 2021)? By that time many of the juveniles will be adults and forever scarred and hardened by their treatment at Lincoln Hills. And they will be re-entering society – what kind of citizens will they be?
Why is Wisconsin so backward in their treatment of prisoners and juveniles? According to the District Attorney Minnesota has a cap on a prison population of 9,000 while Wisconsin has a prison population (2010) of 25,000.
Come on, Governor. Do something substantial.
its not working for me. You promised Seniors some relief. where is it? $50 in property tax cuts is not relief. All I see is more money to your cronies, a damaged DOT, damaged school system, damaged worker rights, damaged UW system, damaged voter rights. But we get more gun relief and more free religious schools.
WI income taxes are more than 50% higher than Illinois, where is the money going?
They’ve cut local schools, cut college funding, our roads are terrible, and local governments practically have to hold bake sales and raffles to run themselves.
Where is all the money going?
Foxconn and all the business buddies of Walker are the only ones cheering for more, I wonder why.
$200 per student.
$4,500,000,000.00 per taiwanese electronics manufacturer.
I love you Terry. You are my hero.
Unemployment is low however the poverty rate in Wisconsin is at 30 year highs. So what gives? People are working sure, usually 2-3 low wage jobs with no benefits just to make ends meet. Walker and republicans sold the state out to corporations. Having lots of wage slave labor is good for them but not for the rest us. I agree, Dump Walker!
Yes, well said Tom. Taxes are still higher in Wisconsin than “socialist” Minnesota as well and Walker gutted the education system like never before!
Dump Walker
Legalize Weed
GREAT to see the weather forecast for tomorrow!! Republicans will walk through fire (or snow) to get to the polls… Democrats tend to be more fair-weather voters. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…..
@WashCoRepug, we just got another 12 inches of snow up here in beautiful Bayfield and the Dallet signs are EVERYWHERE! The lines are forming already outside the voting places! Looks like democrats are going to camp outside in the snow and bitter cold for their opportunity to keep the BLUE WAVE rolling! Too bad you will disappear after the fat man loses. Just like you disappeared during Walker’s attempt to not let Wisconsi ite’s vote in the special elections. Thank God he LOST in court!
Vote Dallet!