Governor Evers delivered his budget address on Wednesday, outlining his proposed investments in Wisconsin and Wisconsinites, and casting vision for his next 4 years as Governor of our great state! A budget is a moral document–it reflects our values. It is important we keep that in-mind as we continue to discuss the state budget and prepare to vote on it in (likely) June.

Wisconsin has a record-high surplus, and that is why you’ll hear higher numbers in this budget proposal–Governor Evers addressed that in the speech:

“This is a breakthrough budget,  one that has rarely—if ever—come along in our state’s history. And with this opportunity comes responsibility— today, we carry the weight of posterity.”

-Gov. Evers

He also made a plea for bipartisanship:

“I also believe we should be able to pass common-sense proposals that already have broad, bipartisan support—especially those we know will help us retain and recruit a talented workforce.”

-Gov. Evers

“I promise you this: in this budget, there’s more that unites us than divides us. These aren’t Republican or Democratic priorities—they’re Wisconsin priorities, areas where we should be able to find common ground.” 

-Gov. Evers

“This is a budget about solutions, not wish lists. 

This is a budget about pragmatism, not politics. 

This is a budget about getting back to basics and doing the right thing.”

-Gov. Evers

I am SO EXCITED Governor Evers has included so many of my budget requests!

Democratic Leader Senator Melissa Agard and I are jazzed to let you know our Universal Changing Stations are INCLUDED IN THE BUDGET!!!

I’m so excited. I’ve worked on this issue since 2019, thanks to Sarah and Matthew in Brookfield, and I’m hopeful we can find common ground for the common good and pass this so small businesses can receive a tax credit for installing Universal Changing Stations across Wisconsin.

We know that when the buildings don’t work for the people, the people don’t go to the buildings— and with adult-sized changing station needs being both a public health and a human dignity issue, we are SO GLAD to see Governor Evers use his budget to make Wisconsin more accessible for ALL Wisconsin families!

SO THRILLED my Go Big For Small Business small biz portal is IN THE BUDGET! Thank you, Governor Evers — Representative Hong and Senator Agard and I were so thrilled to hear this on Wednesday!!!

Wisconsin goes BIG for small business!!!

(Which is smart because 99% of Wisconsin businesses are small businesses.)

“A budget is a moral document–it reflects our values. Tonight Governor Evers delivered a budget proposal that reflects the values and needs of my constituents–a state budget that focuses on mental healthcare; safe, healthy schools; affordable healthcare; clean water; affordable housing; fair assurance of the constitutional right to vote; a promise made and kept to deliver a middle class tax cut; healthy meals, and more!”

“My constituents spoke and Governor Evers listened. I am particularly excited that some of my work is included in the budget: Universal Changing Stations, Go Big For Small Business, historic investments in mental health as well as healthcare for postpartum women, violence prevention and intervention, public school funding and assistance to local municipalities, increased funding for autism services, and more! I am very grateful to our governor –The People’s Governor– for crafting a budget that addresses the needs of my constituents, and Wisconsin! Thank you, Governor Evers!”

“I look forward to discussing this budget proposal over the next several months, and passing a budget that reflects the values of the people, and addresses what the people of Wisconsin truly need. The Governor has made a plea for bipartisanship and I join him in that hope. May we find common ground for the common good so that we can move forward, together.”

-Rep. Robyn Vining

Link to full press release on the budget address here.

Hop to the end of the Forward Fridays for more details on the budget. 

I checked in with our new 5th Senate District senator Wednesday, Senator Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield). We worked together in the Assembly 2019-2020, and he’s now serving in the senate. I’m now the only woman, and the only Democrat in the state senate district, and I appreciate the chance to chat with Rob and his staff about how we can work together.

If you read twitter you might think the two parties don’t regularly sit down and work together—that our ideological differences prevent us from working together. Not the case. We are grown humans who can both fight hard for our constituents without sacrificing our values, and work to find common ground for the common good across all sides of the aisle.

At the end of the day, the call on us is to move the state forward, and I appreciate the Senator’s time Wednesday.

(I sprinted all over the Capitol to so many back-to-back meetings that I clocked nearly 7 miles. Thank heavens we don’t have to wear heels every moment of the day anymore!)

Seen here: Rep. Vining and Rep. Riemer (D-Milwaukee) discussing the printout of the slideshow we were given.

The Committee on Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care held an Informational Hearing this Wednesday to talk about long-term care in Wisconsin. The Department of Health Services briefed the committee on the various long-term care programs in Wisconsin, and were able to answer questions from legislators. This was essentially a “101” on Aging and Long-Term Care.

Black History Month events in the legislature continue next week with a Day of Empathy with Representative Drake and Senator Taylor on Wednesday, February 22nd, and a Climate Justice meeting with Representative Baldeh on Friday, February 24th–both events will be held at the Capitol.

The Republican-controlled Assembly will not be meeting in February for session, a departure from what they have done the previous 2 sessions since I have been elected. 

Normally, bills and resolutions that were introduced at the beginning of session in January have gone through the committee process and are ready for debate on the Assembly floor in February, but Republican leadership canceled all dates we could have voted in February.  The next possible date we can vote is March 14th.

One of the resolutions that Republicans will not be debating this month is 2023 Senate Joint Resolution 12, Proclaiming February 2023 as Black History Month. Since session dates were canceled in February,  I hope to see this resolution scheduled for a vote in March.

On Friday I met with 3 Mayors! Is it a record for one Friday? We don’t know! (Kidding.)

The Milwaukee Delegation met with Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and County Executive David Crowley last Friday to discuss shared revenue and city and county needs as we work through preparing to debate and vote on the state budget.

I also met with Mayor McBride, and Mayor Devine, and their dedicated staff, to hear their thoughts on the same topic as it relates to Wauwatosa and West Allis.

Following requests from each state agency - agencies like the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), Department of Public Instruction (DPI), and the UW System - Governor Evers will be announcing his budget for the 2023-2025 biennium. The Governor will introduce the budget via an address at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, February 15th, and then the budget is received by the Joint Finance Committee, the legislature's budget writing committee. Learn more about the budget process here.

The budget is typically the biggest piece of legislation each session.

Governor Evers’ is making historic investments in public education! The $2.6 billion investment in public schools is the second largest proposed investment in state general aid since the 1995-97 biennium, the largest per pupil adjustments ever, and an historic investment in special education.

The Governor’s NEW budget is focused on improving reading and literacy, expanding school-based mental health services and school nutrition, addressing staffing shortages and classroom sizes, and a significant–and important– investments in per pupil special education funding. 

The budget invests over $100 million in the Healthy Kids, Healthy Meals program, which improves student health and reduces hunger with fully funded school breakfasts and lunches for all children. 

“What’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state.” I am so thankful for Governor Evers’ dedication to the future of Wisconsin kids!

See MORE at Gov’s full release here.

Wisconsin’s workforce is a HUGE part of Wisconsin’s economic momentum! And, we need to take good care of workers and their families!

Governor Evers introduced “a comprehensive approach to family paid leave” in his 2023-2025 biennial budget proposal on Wednesday. The program would make 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave available to employees in both the private and public sectors, beginning in January 2025.

This plan explands paid beyond new parents to also include the unexpected closure of a childcare facility, aftermath of domestic violence or sexual assault, caring those with a serious health condition, having a serious health condition like medical quarantine, and military deployment for service members and their spouses, kids, parents (something I worked on in 2019-2020 with the hope to pass). By expanding paid leave for Wisconsinites in need, Governor Evers can position Wisconsin as a worker-friendly and family-friendly state.

Majorities of each partisan group favor a parental leave policy. In the pre-election polls conducted by Marquette Law  this past November, 73% of eligible voters were in favor of paid leave for mothers and fathers of new babies, including 62% of Republican eligible voters.

Governor Evers’ new budget has a plan to increase safe, affordable housing across the state. Many of these investments are directed towards Milwaukee, implementing rental housing safety and expanded renter protections through the Wisconsin Emergency Rental Assistance (WERA).

The Governor will also provide $100 million for the Municipal Housing Rehabilitation Program, award grants that will be used to restore and update homes, keeping housing options affordable in our communities.

Expanding renter protections is another budget focus, with new landlord-tenant responsibilities that allow governments to impose transparency and requirements for inspections. The WERA will also receive $60 million for civil legal aid for low-income individuals. The investment will focus on establishing a statewide right to counsel for evictions, a much-needed protection for renters in Wisconsin.

Ensuring safe, affordable housing is critical to communities, families and children throughout Wisconsin.

See his release here.

Governor Evers’s NEW budget will include what he promised–a 10% tax cut for the middle class!  Promises made, promises kept!

This is great news for working families, parents, seniors, veterans–for Wisconsinites!

Building on a safe and fair 2022 midterm elections cycle, Governor Evers will use his budget to protect voting rights! 

Voting should always be safe and easy for Wisconsinites, whether they want to cast a ballot in person, by mail, or absentee somewhere else. Governor Evers’ work with the Wisconsin Elections Commission and the Department of Transportation supports local partners and election officials in carrying out safe, fair, and secure elections.

See his release here.

Governor Evers’ budget proposal will send 20% of the state sales tax back to local communities for shared revenue! Over $500 million per year will be available for local communities to invest in resources like transportation, EMS, and local health and human services.

In addition, a local sales tax option for Milwaukee will be available to generate new revenue for Milwaukee to address the city’s needs–the proposal would require approval from a local referendum to take effect.

It is the largest increase in aid to municipalities and counties in decades, and this historic investment can shape Wisconsin for generations.

The state budget is developed every 2 years, on the odd years. This process takes place over about 6 months. Tonight Governor Evers will introduce his budget proposal, it will then be sent to the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee for feedback, discussion, and eventually a final version sent to the legislature for a vote. 

Last session, and the session before, Republicans threw out the democratic Governor’s very popular budget and wrote their own, and the legislature ended up with a very different budget once it was time to vote. The GOP version of the state budget didn’t reflect the values or needs of Wisconsinites, so I voted against their version of the budget TWICE.  So, if you hear proposals from Governor Evers you’d like to make sure STAY in the state budget once Republicans get their hands on it, speak up, speak out, contact your legislators, tell your friends, tell your friends to contact your legislators. Now is the time to make your voice heard. This will be your state budget for the next two years.

The legislature will likely vote on a final version of the state budget in (late) June, at which point it will be sent to the Governor to be signed, vetoed, or line-item vetoed.

What questions do you have about how the state budget process works? We are happy to answer them!

*Please note Wisconsin requires a balanced budget, so anything you read otherwise on this topic is misinformation.

HAPPY FRIDAY! 

Here’s a peek into both our Capitol office, and the fun we have in our Capitol office these days. Our welcome board very quickly (within seconds) became competitive (which of course no one would ever accuse me of). Ben, who is my legislative assistant, is a UW student from California. He’s right about a lot of things, but he’s wrong about basketball, so we make sure to battle it out on the board.

The thing we agreed on pre-trade deadline? The Milwaukee Bucks should bring on Jae Crowder (I just didn’t want to LOSE anyone— because I love this team so much.)

I never know what I’ll find newly on the board when I arrive at the Capitol, but what I do know is I’m glad Ben works in our office, he’s a fantastic member of the team, and if you call you should be sure to close the conversation with #BUCKSINSIX