Sen. Larson Statement on Gov. Evers’ Partial Budget Veto

Milwaukee, WI – Today, Governor Evers partially vetoed and signed the budget put forth by the Republican-controlled legislature. While the Governor used his veto authority to salvage what he could, the final budget remains an example of missed opportunities and false choices. Senator Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) issued the following statement regarding the signed budget:

“Governor Evers understands the value of investing in our children. While the Republican budget continued the dangerous scheme of allowing an education funding gap and barely qualifying for federal funds, Governor Evers was able to meet the promise of two-thirds funding by using federal funds to increase per-pupil aid by $100 million. Given the education funding shell game of the GOP budget, there was little room left for the governor to fix their chaos while meeting the needs of our kids.

“When will Republicans stop forcing the false choices between tax cuts and adequate public education funding? In a year of plenty, they chose to underfund our kids, while giving an outsized tax cut to the wealthy. Seventy-four percent of this regressive tax cut goes toward the wealthy few, while the average person saves little. How many of them should we expect to be grateful enough to use their ill-gotten gains to fund a new school air ventilation system? Or boost the special education reimbursement rate?

“Budget after budget, when Republicans control the process they have failed our children and put our future in jeopardy. They have done this by intentionally denying our kids adequate and equitable funding for their education. It is time for those in GOP leadership to hear the call of the people. Over the past biennium, our communities passed 138 referendums, costing taxpayers $3,220,966,510. Wisconsin deserves better than forcing local communities to keep going back to referendums to make up the gaps in what is needed for our children.

“As the economic future of Wisconsin remains strong, we should have invested in our teachers, reduced classroom sizes, and ensured that our public schools system returned to being a point of national pride. As a member of the Senate Committee on Education, I will continue to fight for progressive policies to bring our children, and those that devote their lives to them, the resources they need to thrive.

“This Republican budget started out as an ugly and empty piñata, and while Governor Evers’ veto pen couldn’t fill it with good policies or smart investments, he at least broke it apart into a few useful pieces.”

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.