Contact: Brian Evans, 630-217-7561 Brian@keldaforgovernor.com
MADISON, WI — In response to Governor Scott Walker’s latest campaign ad, “To Save Lives”, gubernatorial candidate Kelda Roys released the following statement on Walker’s callous, ineffective, incomplete approach to combating the opioid epidemic:
“Scott Walker has spent his entire tenure as governor making things harder for people suffering from substance use disorder. This began with Walker’s refusal to bring our own tax dollars back to Wisconsin to expand BadgerCare. This decision, made for political reasons, cost our state funds which could have been using to combat the opioid epidemic.
“Walker has pursued plans to drug test FoodShare recipients and signed a bill to drug test people in public housing. Both of these measures remove Wisconsinites’ access to those safety net programs if they fail to complete treatment. When our friends, family members, and neighbors are struggling with drug addiction, the last thing we should do is take the food from their table and the roof over their head – even though studies show that public assistance recipients are actually less likely than the general public to use illegal drugs. Yet that is exactly what Scott Walker is doing.
“Any governor who was serious about addressing the opioid epidemic and treating those affected would have expanded BadgerCare access, dramatically increased evidence-based treatment options, and worked to legalize medical cannabis. By failing to do so, Walker has demonstrated that his concern has always been for himself and his political career, not those struggling with substance use disorder.”
