Hi, this is Senator LaTonya Johnson with this week’s Democratic radio address.
I bet if you stopped people on the street and asked them what the most important thing in their lives was, the overwhelming majority would say their family, especially their children. That’s true for me. And not just my own child. Every child. I know it can sound trite, but they really are our future.
That’s what makes it so hard to read and hear what my republican colleagues said when Governor Evers and DPI Superintendent Underly shared their K-12 Priorities for the 2023-25 Budget. Instead of behaving like adults and saying that elected leaders need to work together, they acted as if the Governor and Superintendent Underly had proposed something ridiculous. I for one, don’t think investments to improve reading and literacy outcomes, expanding access to mental health services, addressing teacher staffing shortages while holding the line on property taxes is ridiculous.
Over 1,850,593 Wisconsin voters voted for Governor Evers and Superintendent Underly. Senate Republican leader Devin Lemahieu got 44,680 votes in his last election. Speaker Robin Vos got 16,775. It’s long past time for the republicans in the legislature to recognize that this is a democracy and start acting like grown-ups. Our children and our future depend on it.
