[Madison, WI] – It’s no secret that Tony Evers wants to increase the size of state government. Over the past three years, Evers has proposed government-run health care, “equity officers” at state agencies, fossil fuel penalties, and $1 billion in tax hikes to pay for it all – but Evers’ state government is dysfunctional as it is, and he isn’t doing anything to fix it.
For months, the state agency in charge of granting licenses to workers has trapped applicants in exhausting delays that have exacerbated the state labor shortage and prevented employers from filling crucial positions. Yet according to a report by Empower Wisconsin, “in more than 100 pages of communications between DSPS Secretary-designee Dawn Crim, Evers and his chief of staff Maggie Gau, there is no mention of the nightmarish delays that have trapped untold numbers of professionals in bureaucratic limbo waiting for their license applications and renewals to be processed.”
This is far from the first time Evers has failed to act when his bureaucracy failed:
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- Evers’ Department of Workforce Development trapped some Wisconsinites in the unemployment claims backlog for over a year – yet Evers only met with the agency’s secretary once to fire him.
- The DOJ crime lab has become less efficient under Tony Evers and Josh Kaul despite taking in fewer cases.
- Evers’ administration undercounted 1,000 COVID deaths in long-term care facilities.
- Evers failed to get food assistance to thousands of children on free lunches while schools were closed.
“Tony Evers wants to expand state government, but he doesn’t want to step up and lead it,” said Republican Party of Wisconsin Communications Director Anna Kelly. “Wisconsin can’t afford four more years of his absent leadership.”