Rep. Brostoff Statement on GOP Denying Affordable Healthcare to Tens of Thousands… Again

MILWAUKEE – In response to Wisconsin Republicans’ decision to gavel in and out of today’s Special Session on BadgerCare Expansion, thereby ignoring the will of Wisconsin voters, keeping tens of thousands of Wisconsinites without access to affordable healthcare coverage, and denying our state over $1 billion in federal funding, State Representative Jonathan Brostoff (D-Milwaukee) released the following statement:

“Today’s decision by Republican leadership to yet again deny affordable healthcare coverage to working Wisconsin families is absolutely shameful. Time and again, Wisconsin Republicans have shown that they are out of touch with reality in this state and in this country: Medicaid expansion is wildly popular among Wisconsin voters, and 38 states – red, blue, and purple – have chosen to expand Medicaid coverage for their residents. For goodness sake, Mike Pence of all people signed Medicaid expansion into law in Indiana when he was governor there. But, because of their extreme right-wing views, Wisconsin Republicans believe that our own residents don’t deserve access to the same kind of healthcare coverage other Americans currently have? I refuse to mince words: this is shameful, and it is morally repugnant.”

Earlier today, Wisconsin Republicans chose to gavel in and immediately gavel out of the special session called by Gov. Evers via Executive Order #118. In so doing, Republicans chose to spend mere seconds on a procedural motion to dismiss a policy decision that would directly affect tens of thousands of Wisconsinites, and affect hundreds of thousands more through the fiscal incentives that Medicaid expansion would bring to Wisconsin.

“Not only is BadgerCare expansion a moral imperative, it also makes plain fiscal sense. We already knew that expanding BadgerCare would result in hundreds of millions of dollars in tax savings, but the recent passage of the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 would bring an additional $1 billion in federal funding to Wisconsin. All together, expanding BadgerCare now would bring $1.6 billion to Wisconsin, just as we continue to chart a recovery after one of the most disastrous medical and economic crises in our lifetimes. In what world does not expanding BadgerCare make sense? Who can look back at the last year and say that working families in our state don’t deserve access to healthcare, or funds to go towards economic recovery?

Shame on Republicans. Wisconsin’s working families deserve better.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.