MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s economic strength is clear in WalletHub’s 2021 Best & Worst States for Jobs rankings – coming in at 11th for jobs (1st in the Great Lakes region) and 8th for overall job market. Experts cited Wisconsin’s impressively low unemployment rate for the ranking. Currently, our state’s unemployment rate is three times better than in 2020 (3.9% now, versus 14.1% in April 2020) and well below the national average.
Thanks to Gov. Evers’ and President Biden’s leadership, and despite Republicans obstructing pandemic relief, Wisconsin is on its way to bouncing back better than before. Wisconsin is one of the top states for getting shots in arms, and nearly 84,000 small businesses are receiving financial support as the state fully reopens. The governor has also made record investments in rural broadband thanks to President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.
But there is still work to be done. To ensure Wisconsin can fully bounce back from the pandemic, legislative Republicans need to pass Gov. Evers’ Badger Bounceback agenda and stop playing games with Wisconsin’s economic recovery. Just last week, the Wisconsin Legislature’s budget office announced that due to Republicans’ failure to increase education spending, Wisconsin is at risk of losing $2.3 billion in federal pandemic relief funding – $800 million more than initially anticipated. Under Gov. Evers’ proposal, education funding would increase by $1.6 billion and fully secure the federal relief funds for schools.
A report from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau shows an “unprecedented increase” of $4.4 billion in the state’s revenue – meaning the legislature can make a historic investment in the state’s rainy day fund and still invest in K-12 education, job creation, and other aspects of the governor’s Badger Bounceback agenda.
“Thanks to Governor Evers – and no thanks to Republicans who have continually obstructed relief for Wisconsinites – Wisconsin is on its way to bouncing back better than before the pandemic,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Rapid Response Director Kayla Anderson. “From giving grants to small businesses to making record investments in rural broadband, Governor Evers is quickly getting relief to Wisconsinites and continuing to deliver on his promises to improve our economy, support our small businesses, invest in infrastructure, and fund public education. All legislative Republicans have accomplished is a record amount of embarrassing political stunts – like going to Arizona this past weekend to perpetuate the Big Lie and endanger our democracy.”
