Republicans Fall Far Short of Governor Evers’ Budget
GOP Creates a Budget of Missed Opportunities
MADISON — On Thursday, Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) passed their version of the 2019-21 biennial state budget. Despite overwhelming public support for the Governor’s investments in health care, public education, and transportation infrastructure; Republicans chose to significantly decrease these provisions while leaving billions of federal dollars on the table. After his election in November, Governor Evers toured the state attending listening sessions. His budget reflects the priorities the public discussed with him at those events. Assembly Democratic Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) released the following statement:
“When your budget reflects the priorities of the people, things are pretty straightforward. You incorporate the policies that people want and invest in the issues that matter. That is exactly what Governor Evers’ budget does. By maximizing revenues and opportunities for our state, the Governor’s budget would have wide-ranging positive impacts on the lives of everyday people.
“Instead, Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee passed a budget of missed opportunities. They missed an opportunity to draw down over $1.6 billion in federal money when they chose to reject Medicaid expansion. They missed an opportunity to truly invest in classrooms across Wisconsin when they slashed the Governor’s special education funding proposal. And for the fifth budget in a row, they missed an opportunity to find a long-term sustainable solution for transportation funding.
“While it was encouraging to see Republicans negotiating on the Governor’s grounds and attempting to catch up with the Governor’s proposals, they ultimately could not reach the same levels of investment due to ideological decisions like rejecting the Medicaid expansion. When you compare the Republican budget coming out of JFC with the People’s budget, it’s clear the GOP fell well short of what our state needs due to these missed opportunities.”
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.
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