One January 4, 2021, the new legislative session began in Madison. On February 24th 2022, Wisconsin Republicans adjourned the Assembly until January 2023- deciding that they needed to work just 57% of the time for which they were elected. Republicans deciding to cut out of work early has happened biennium after biennium.
It is absolutely unacceptable, and would not be tolerated in any other profession. Imagine if a football player was given a two-year contract, and three games into his second season, he stopped playing and instead spent the rest of the season trying convince the general manager he deserved another two year contract. It would never happen. And yet, that’s what Republicans do every two years.
Luckily for Wisconsinites, Governor Evers does not stop working for them. We have seen again and again that, even when Republicans go home to do some more campaigning or to other states for a fundraiser, Governor Evers stays in Wisconsin to do what he can to improve the lives of the people he represents. One need only look at the grants that Governor Evers has announced to get an idea of how hard he is working:
$5 million to expand access to Telehealth services | $8 million in Neighborhood Investment grants for Rice Lake, Altoona, Menomonie, and Eau Claire |
$8.4 million to Milwaukee for violence prevention | $7.9 million in Healthcare Infrastructure grants for Appleton |
$6 million for a new healthcare cline in Elroy | $20 million for facility upgrades and modernization at Marshfield Medical Center in Park Falls |
$4 million to support healthcare access in Edgerton and Janesville | $17.2 million in Community Development Housing Awards |
$20 million for healthcare access in Racine | $50 million for community safety throughout Wisconsin, including $19 million for law enforcement agencies |
$86 million for small businesses disproportionately affected by the pandemic | $549,000 to 14 organizations that help veterans and their families |
$9.4 million in harbor grants to strengthen supply chains | $8 million for Wisconsinites to access legal services to help recover from the pandemic |
It’s simply an incredible amount of research and work that the Evers administration puts in to aiding Wisconsinites. What’s more, all of the money I highlighted above was what the Evers administration did just in March 2022. I do not have the space in this column to detail what Governor Evers has done for Wisconsin since he took office in 2019, but if you would like you can visit Gov. Evers’ Badger Bounceback website to see how much money has been allocated and to where it is going.
The difference in work ethic is simply staggering. Wisconsin Republicans simply cannot wait to go on vacation, while Governor Evers works for Wisconsin day after day. I am grateful to have worked with him ever since he was Wisconsin’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. Wisconsin is lucky to have him in charge.