December 31, 2020

Working for you!

Happy New Year

As we continue to celebrate Christmas at the Murphy household, I’m looking forward to the close of 2020 and all the promise that 2021 brings. There’s a lot of hard work to do to get things back to normal, but I’m confident that together we can get things back on the right path.

An Honest Balanced Budget

While Wisconsin is constitutionally required to have balanced state budgets, it was a longstanding practice for governors to inappropriately hide deficits by shifting them from one fiscal year to another by using cash basis accounting.

When Republicans took control of the state budget in 2011, we inherited a nearly $3 billion annual budget deficit based on Generally Accepted Accounted Principles (GAAP). Thanks to our hard won reforms, Wisconsin will end this fiscal year with a surplus $1.5 million, the first surplus in decades!

This responsible and more transparent budgeting process means that unlike many other states, we are making a deposit of $105.8 million into the state’s rainy day fund, bringing the total to $761.8 million—the largest in Wisconsin history.

This strong financial standing ensures Wisconsin is well equipped to weather the economic storm created by COVID-19 and business shutdowns imposed by the government.

Wisconsin “Clears” Unemployment Backlog

After nine months, the governor has finally begun to correct a problem of his own making by clearing the enormous and nationally embarrassing unemployment insurance backlog. My office has been fielding calls and assisting folks forced onto unemployment insurance due to the state shutdown imposed by the Governor.

Throughout this crisis, I’ve personally done all I could to push the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) to process the claims of folks on the brink of losing their homes and unable to put food on the table simply because DWD couldn’t get its act together.

In September, when the governor finally fired the DWD secretary, the backlog had reached over 100,000 claimants. While DWD claims the backlog is now cleared, there are still over 5,000 individuals waiting for the state to adjudicate their claim, a process a recent audit showed to be deeply flawed.

Caroling at the Capitol

When the governor took down the second Capitol Christmas tree, my colleagues and I decided to respond with some Christmas cheer by putting up another tree decorated with ornaments made by children around the state as we sang carols in the rotunda.

Vaccination Distribution

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is now making data available about vaccine distribution in our state. To see the most recent statistics, click on the image above.

While I support broad access to the vaccine and will be getting vaccinated as soon as it becomes available to the general public, I do not support vaccine mandates of any kind.

Upcoming Events

Check out upcoming events near us by visiting the Wisconsin Tourism website, https://appletondowntown.org/upcoming-events/, or https://www.foxcities.org/events/ and if you run into me while you’re out and about be sure to stop and say hi!

"Like" Representative Murphy's Facebook Page

I use Facebook to update constituents more frequently on my work in Madison and the 56th Assembly District. I look forward to using this as another way to connect with constituents and encourage you to follow it and watch for regular updates.