MADISON, Wis. – Today, Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-19) expressed his support for many of Governor Evers’ forward-looking proposals on public education, while sharing deep concerns on Evers’ plans to build new prisons without any guarantee of improved conditions.
Last session, Rep. Clancy co-organized the Conditions of Confinement package, bills developed with family members of incarcerated people, formerly incarcerated people, and their allies to materially improve the conditions of people who are incarcerated in Wisconsin.
Rep. Clancy issued the following statement:
“Tonight, Governor Evers thankfully recommitted to a vital public need: providing free, healthy school meals for all kids who need them. I applaud his proposed, broad reinvestments in public education. That said, educators and allies have made very clear that a ninety percent reimbursement rate for special education is essential, and that should have been the starting point for negotiations with Speaker Vos and Legislative Republicans.
I’m also pleased that Governor Evers clearly recognized the unacceptable, unsustainable, and inhumane conditions in Wisconsin’s jails and prisons, and is proposing shutting down Green Bay Correctional Institution by 2029. That’s a shared goal of Democrats and Republicans in this legislature. But I’m deeply concerned that Governor Evers’ proposals would result in an increase to the number of cells for children. In practice, that means Wisconsin judges will sentence even more children to spend their childhoods in prison. We should not mark ‘the year of the kid’ by locking more of them up.
We know that much of Governor Evers’ budget will be stripped out by Vos and Legislative Republicans. That’s why it’s important to make this budget a moral document that clearly reflects our values, especially around education and corrections appropriations. Tonight, Evers missed the mark.”
