Madison — State Senator Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) released the following statement this evening in reaction to Governor Scott Walker’s State of the State Address:
“Unfortunately, it seems that Governor Walker is continuing to promote the same failed policies that have divided our state and caused six straight months of job losses. After promising to create a quarter million jobs, the Governor and the Republicans in the Legislature have focused instead on handing out $2.3 billion in tax giveaways to big corporations, weakening protections for consumers and the environment, and decimating funding for education and healthcare. We see the results all around us. While the rest of the county is experiencing an economic upswing, while our neighboring states are adding jobs, Wisconsin has lost 35,000 jobs ever since Governor Walker’s policies went into effect. We’re clearly headed in the wrong direction.
“The Governor also promised to balance the budget without raising taxes. Instead, he left a $2.9 billion budget gap for the next Legislature to fix, and raised taxes on seniors and working families by $70 million.
“The state of the state is deeply divided. By pursuing an extreme agenda on behalf of special interests, Governor Walker has created an atmosphere of division that makes it hard for the state to move forward. In the meantime, Wisconsin has lost more jobs than any other state in the nation. Governor Walker’s approach is simply not working for Wisconsin families.
“It was encouraging to hear the Governor talk about education tonight. But the programs he outlined will do little to repair the damage that he created by cutting $1.6 billion from our public schools, along with $320 million from our universities and technical colleges All the task force reports in the world won’t help schools that are losing educators, cutting programs and increasing class sizes in the wake of the deep budget cuts and revenue caps the governor has imposed.
“The quarter million unemployed workers in our state are tired of waiting for jobs. I and my Democratic colleagues have brought forward solid proposals based on proven ideas that help get people back to work. We’ve been at the table, ready to negotiate and work in a bipartisan way to help create the 250,000 good-paying, family-supporting jobs the Governor promised. I urge the Governor to listen to the people of Wisconsin and become a leader who will bring us together and move our state forward instead of backward.”