MADISON — The following is a statement from Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler on Gov. Tony Evers’ signing and partial veto of the 2019 – 2021 biennial budget passed by the legislature:
“This budget would have been impossible if Tony Evers hadn’t been elected governor. The funding increases for transportation, education, and health care reflect the core issues Governor Evers campaigned on, the priorities he and Mandela Barnes heard as they listened across the state while drafting the People’s Budget, and the issues they have fought for every day in office.
“Republicans have attacked and obstructed Governor Evers at every turn. In an act of breathtaking political spite, they have refused Medicaid expansion dollars that would have saved Wisconsinites money and expanded health care at they same time. They dramatically shrank the proposed new funding for schools, especially for special education, that their own constituents are crying out for them to provide. On issue after issue, where the governor listened, Republicans have plugged their ears.
“Governor Evers’s vision for Wisconsin’s future proved too strong for Republicans to ignore. Even though they fell short on urgent funding goals and key issue priorities, the legislature’s budget was far closer to the People’s Budget than it would have been without Governor Evers’s leadership. The budget signed today is, in fact, a down payment on the People’s Budget, and Democrats remain united in fighting for the full vision that the People’s Budget represents.”
