Contact: Rep. Tyler Vorpagel, (608) 266-8530
Madison- State Representative Tyler Vorpagel (R-Plymouth) issued the following statement regarding Governor Evers budget address:
“I am extremely disappointed that Governor Evers has chosen to build his budget based on raising taxes on our manufacturers, putting difficult caps and mandates on our successful School Choice Program and setting Wisconsin back by including divisive policies. Policy items like expanding Medicaid, giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens, and legalizing marijuana belong as stand alone legislation where we can fully vet the merits of these proposals, rather than being stuck in our state budget.
“As the Federalism and Interstate Relations chair I believe in stronger and more powerful state governments. Expanding Medicaid may give us more money from the federal government but will also require us to spend significantly more money that could be invested in Wisconsin’s economy and workforce, K-12 or UW Systems, or roads. There are many programs that began as a Federal Grant and now the State of Wisconsin fully funds because no one wants to get rid of them. We currently spend one third of our budget on welfare programs, and by expanding Medicaid we will unnecessarily add more people to government programs without actually improving access or affordability to healthcare.
“Divided government should not equate to grid lock, there are many areas that when the legislature met with the Governor at the beginning of session we were able to find common ground. I had hoped that after vetoing a middle class tax cut he would use his budget to find areas of common ground where we could keep moving Wisconsin forward, instead he took the path of hyper partisanship and division. As always, I stand ready to work with the governor on areas where we can develop good policy and find common ground, not ‘my way or the highway’ policy jammed into the budget.”
