Madison, WI – Representative Rick Gundrum (R-Slinger) released the following statement regarding Governor Tony Evers’ State of the State address:
“Tonight, Governor Evers highlighted a Wisconsin that showed its tenacity and resolve. Governor Evers talked about how he’s invested unprecedented federal dollars, how he kept our state’s transportation projects on track, and how, thanks to him, the pandemic was weathered resiliently in Wisconsin.
“However, that is not Tony Evers’ Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Tony Evers highlighted tonight is thanks to the Republican leadership, both today and in previous sessions of the Legislature. In reality, Tony Evers’ Wisconsin is giving power to Madison bureaucrats to determine whose small businesses get to be deemed “essential,” and which ones get to go bankrupt. Tony Evers’ Wisconsin is doing everything he can to keep more people out of the workforce. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are approximately 100,000 less individuals in the workforce than pre-pandemic.
“Tony Evers’ Wisconsin is letting Kenosha burn while he fans the flames of unrest and dissidence. Tony Evers’ Wisconsin is refusing to discipline John Chisolm despite his carelessness directly leading to the deaths of multiple individuals.
“The worst of Tony Evers’ Wisconsin, however, is taxes. In 2021, Governor Evers had a chance to show taxpayers what he was all about, and he was true to form. Tony Evers’ Wisconsin is a budget proposal paid for by a massive $1 billion tax hike. What Governor Evers has failed to point out is that the Legislature was able to provide Wisconsinites with a record tax cut because of the sound fiscal discipline practiced by Republicans over the past decade.
“Tony Evers’ Wisconsin, from 2019 through the present day, lacks many qualities but the most obvious of these is leadership. When the DWD needed improvement, it was the Legislature who had to do it for him. This despite the common knowledge that he had the power to fix it. When the Governor proposed a budget that contained an unacceptable tax increase, the Republican Legislature provided a sound budget. Governor Evers failed to deliver leadership in addressing the lawlessness in Kenosha and District Attorney Chisolm in Milwaukee. Leadership is in short supply with this governor’s administration, and I
am hopeful this is his final State of the State Address.”
