June 28, 2019

Working for you!

A Budget that Meets Needs and Upholds Values

This week we adopted a strong budget for everyone. If Governor Evers vetoes this budget, he'll be turning his back on the people of the Fox Valley and the entire state.

The budget enumerates improvements to I-41 and Highway 15, continues the tuition freeze for undergraduate Wisconsin residents attending UW System campuses, provides UW System with the largest budget it has ever seen, and increases funding for K-12 education by more than $600 per student. Our budget also cuts taxes by more than half a billion dollars.

Although no budget is perfect, I’m content that I voted for a budget bill that will expand access to health care, provide our universities with necessary funding, put money directly into local K-12 classrooms, and cut taxes for hardworking Wisconsinites. Even Gov. Evers' Secretary of Administration praised the budget we adopted as a consensus budget that required compromise on both sides.

 I’m proud to have voted for a budget that will bring safer roads to the Fox Cities, by beginning the process of expanding I-41 north of Appleton and completing Highway 15 improvements.

Adoption Task Force to Meet in Green Bay

On Tuesday, July 2 the Speaker’s Adoption Task Force will be holding a public hearing in Green Bay. After hearing from invited local experts the task force will be open to hearing testimony from the public. If you’re interested in attending and providing written or spoken testimony you can find out more here.

The website for the adoption task force is now live. Click on image above to visit it. If you have a story about adoption that you’d like to share please consider sending task force members a message via the website.

Your Questions and Concers

Richard of Appleton asked: You indicated this is the largest total investment in K-12 education. What measures are you using?

Thanks for the excellent question Richard. As always, I draw my budget numbers from the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Based on their analysis, per pupil funding and the total amount provided to districts by the state will be the highest ever.

I also regularly meet with local school district board members and superintendents, who are very pleased with our investment in students within the legislature’s budget.

Some people could get the impression that we’re cutting school funding because it’s not as high as the governor proposed, but a proposal is not an actual budget and next year, if the governor signs the budget, students will see more money in their classrooms than ever before.

Richard of Appleton asked: You mentioned that this budget was built in a bipartisan manner. What does this mean?

We incorporated many of the governor’s budget proposals that we could find common ground on. In fact, today the Post-Crescent reported that one of the governor's top deputies is praising the budget as a consesus package that required movement from the legislature. You may have noticed that three Republicans in the Assembly and two in the Senate voted against the budget because they felt we were including too much of what the governor wanted. In a divided government, compromise and bipartisanship is critical, which is why I voted in favor of the budget. I guarantee you that this is not the budget that would exist if we had a Republican governor and it’s not the budget we’d have with a Democratic legislature. We passed a bipartisan budget in the spirit of negotiating in good faith among all the leaders the people of Wisconsin elected.

Stephen of Appleton wrote: I urge you to eliminate the proposal for a study on the use of per-mile fees, approved by the Joint Finance Committee. Allowing a single legislative committee to usher in a fee without proper oversight would set a dangerous precedent.

I was not particularly happy with this provision either; however, it was changed to require the entire legislature, and not just the Joint Finance Committee, to approve any new tax. Getting a final budget agreement is difficult with many people having different opinions, but I think this is a big improvement.

Ann of Appleton wrote: Governor Evers proposed freezing enrollment in Wisconsin's parental choice program. Please say no to the freeze.

I’m always proud to stand up for school choice and I’m happy to report that the budget we adopted removed the freeze that the governor proposed.

Upcoming Events

Check out upcoming events near us by visiting the Wisconsin Tourism website or  https://appletondowntown.org/upcoming-events/ and if you run into me while you’re out and about be sure to stop and say hi!

"Like" Representative Murphy's Facebook Page

I use Facebook to update constituents more frequently on my work in Madison and the 56th Assembly District. I look forward to using this as another way to connect with constituents and encourage you to follow it and watch for regular updates.