Representative Dallman Votes In Favor of Wisconsin’s Budget
Madison, WI --- Representative Alex Dallman along with his Assembly colleagues, voted for the passage of the 2021-2023 state budget.
“Representing a rural district, such as the 41st, comes with many unique priorities that we must look for in each biennial budget, and I am proud to say that a vast majority of the priorities are being invested in and answered within this budget,” said Representative Dallman.
This biennial budget provides $1 million in Wisconsin Initiative for agricultural exports. Despite being the leading producer of products such as cheese, cranberries, and snap beans, the State of Wisconsin still ranks 17th in total agricultural exports, which is lower than our neighboring, Midwestern states. Sadly, the suicide rate among male farmers is currently 58% higher than the national rate among men. With that statistic being so high, Republican legislators pushed to continue to invest in farmer mental health by providing $200,000 for farmer mental health assistance programming. These investments take major steps towards helping our agricultural community.
Republican legislators also are prioritizing local and rural road funding while keeping overall borrowing to a minimum. This budget provides $100 million in funding for local roads, which is $25 million more than the Governor’s proposal.
The investment in rural broadband is at historic levels. The Wisconsin GOP Assembly is continuing to invest in broadband expansion by nearly $130 million more in this budget.
“Over the past several months, I have had the opportunity to meet with many of my constituents who have struggled to obtain reliable broadband coverage. As the COVID-19 pandemic clearly highlighted- as members of our workforce left the office and began work from home, members of our rural communities were left behind. Students coming back from college, or unable to attend high school in person, were also left behind due to inadequate internet service. At a time when people have demanded action in this arena, we have stepped up to provide much needed assistance to help our struggling families, students, workers and businesses to be able to connect with the rest of society and succeed in rural communities,” said Representative Dallman
Lastly, the budget provides a $3.4 billion dollar tax cut for Wisconsin families. The typical Wisconsin family will save an average of $1,200 in income and property tax relief under this plan.
“As a member of the rural community, we understand the importance of each dollar that we send away to our government and it makes me incredibly proud to know that the passage of this budget would send those hard earned tax dollars back to the very people that paid them in the first place,” said Representative Dallman. “The people of my district and around Wisconsin know how to spend their money better than the government does and that is why this budget will be so positive for the people of the 41st district and across the entire state.”
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