Representative Lisa Subeck Response to State of the State

 

1/13/2015

 

 

MADISON - Representative Lisa Subeck (D-78) made the following statement in response to Governor Walker’s State of the State Address:

“After four years of putting politics ahead of people, Governor Walker again fails to put Wisconsin families first. In his State of the State address tonight, Walker offered no tangible policy solutions to help struggling families in our state. Instead, he offered a series of gimmicks, claiming to reform state government but offering no real benefit to the public. Walker touted property tax declines, neglecting to mention these decreases have left schools and local governments strapped for dollars needed to provide basic services.

 

In his address, Governor Walker painted an artificially rosy picture of Wisconsin’s economy and current state of affairs. In reality, the state faces a $2.2 billion structural deficit and consistently lags behind our Midwest neighbors in job creation, wages and other economic indicators. At the same time, Walker’s policies on education and economic development continue to move our state backward.

 

Only one week into the legislative session, Republicans have already launched attacks on our public schools with a fast-tracked bill that takes away local oversight of neighborhood schools under the guise of school accountability. This comes on the heels of last session’s statewide expansion of a failed private school voucher program and is nothing more than an attempt to further decimate public education, handing over our schools to Walker’s special interest campaign donors.

 

Instead of focusing on an extreme right wing agenda and catering to special interests, Governor Walker should refocus his efforts on growing Wisconsin’s economy and ensuring all Wisconsin residents have the opportunity to prosper.

 

During this legislative session, I will work with my Democratic colleagues to restore opportunity and ensure all Wisconsin residents have access to well paying, family supporting jobs. I will fight for our public schools to provide every child with a great education and will continue fighting for every Wisconsinite’s right to participate in our democracy.

 

Creating opportunity is at the core of building strong communities, which is why we must put Wisconsin families first in our effort to make Wisconsin a great place to live, work and raise a family. Governor Walker’s failure to put Wisconsin families first is disappointing.”