Democratic Weekly Radio Address: "Gov. Walker's special session is loaded with giveaways to special interests"
Madison -- Today Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) offered the third Democratic Weekly Radio Address. The topic for this week’s address is Gov. Walker's call for a special session. Initial analysis shows that 16 of the bills Gov. Walker lists appear to reward Republican allies and powerful special interests. While Gov. Walker does include some Democratic jobs bills, very little of the Republican proposed legislation does anything to create jobs now.
"Gov. Walker has asked for another so-called special session of the Wisconsin legislature," said Rep. Barca in his address. "But much like the Republicans' last hasty special session the key thing that is "special" about it is that it's loaded with giveaways to special interests."
This week Assembly Democratic leader Rep. Peter Barca also recorded a video version of his address.
A written transcript of the address is below:
Here we go again.
Gov. Walker has asked for another so-called special session of the Wisconsin legislature.
But much like the Republicans’ last hasty special session the key thing that is “special” about it is that it's loaded with giveaways to special interests.
We Democrats appreciate the fact that Gov. Walker has included some Democratic jobs bills on his list this time around.
But it took Wisconsin unemployment rising half a percent since Gov. Walker took office for the Republicans to even consider any Democratic jobs bills. And since Gov. Walker declared Wisconsin "Open for Business," our state unemployment rate has increased at five times the national rate.
Another question is why the governor wants to do a special session at all, particularly given that these bills will be considered at the same time as our regular fall session. Gov. Walker used his first special session to ram through an agenda that polarized, divided and distracted our state. Throughout the year, Republicans used the guise extraordinary or special sessions to shut the public out of their democracy.
Initial analysis shows that 16 of the bills on the governor’s list appear to reward Republican allies or powerful special interests.
Let me be clear: a special session should be called exclusively to pass bills that create jobs quickly.
Using job creation and bipartisanship as a cover to advance an agenda that rewards Republican special interests at the expense of Wisconsin’s struggling families is an abuse of power.
Our bills demonstrate Democrats are focused on helping create jobs for Wisconsin workers. The contrast could not be more obvious.
Our proposal? Let's set priorities. Let's select the best dozen bills, on a bipartisan basis, that focus exclusively on putting people back to work.
And that will make it special.
For the first eight months, the Walker agenda has been a relentless attack on the middle class.
Gov. Walker has failed to bring the state back together. He has failed to focus on creating jobs. He has failed to advance an agenda that moves Wisconsin forward.
It's long past time we roll up our sleeves and focus like a laser on creating jobs to provide economic security, expand opportunities, and reverse the damage the Republican agenda has inflicted on Wisconsin’s middle class families.
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