MADISON – Today the Wisconsin State Assembly met to vote on a slate of bills, primarily focused on Republican “tough on crime” policies funded with dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). In response, Democrats introduced a set of evidence-based amendments designed to prevent crime, support victims, and provide much-needed resources to local governments to increase public safety. Representative Samba Baldeh (D-Madison) issued the following statement in support:

“Today, we learned Wisconsin has a $3.8 billion budget surplus. Despite this unprecedented revenue projection, Republicans continue to insist on attempting to fix long-term issues like public safety with short-term funding. As a former local government official, I know that our communities like Madison need more than stop-gap measures.”

Democrats introduced amendments that would increase the percentage of shared revenue that goes to local governments, protect victims of domestic violence, improve pre-trial monitoring and reporting systems, and increase funding for victim and witness services.

“Today the Wisconsin GOP proved that they are more concerned with playing politics than finding real solutions to the increase in violent crime that plagued our state over the last year. Madison deserves better, and so does the rest of Wisconsin.”

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