Hello, I’m Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. On behalf of the legislature, it’s my honor to give the Republican response to tonight’s State of the State address. This week has been exciting as we watch the peaceful transfer of power in our nation’s capital.
However, far too many Americans believe the only place the policies are made is in Washington, DC. While I’m excited for the changes President Trump’s administration will make to many federal policies–inflation, rising rents and increasing food prices have hurt our families for the last four years. and elected officials in Madison must also address the state policies that have created the same challenges.
The speech tonight was Governor Evers’ seventh State of the State address, where he largely delivered the same tired rhetoric he’s presented the other six times he’s given the same speech. Year after year, we hear the same lip service about wanting to work together and then unfortunately, he rarely follows through. My hope tonight is that unlike the past seven times, Governor Evers is actually serious about finding common ground with legislative Republicans. First, let’s talk about taxes. Cutting them remains the primary objective for legislative Republicans. We have the largest one time surplus in state history. And instead of talking about how to return that money to working families tonight, Governor Evers prioritized adding more spending and growing the size of government. The fact is, a surplus of this size only exists because over a year ago, Governor Evers vetoed a tax cut that would have returned around $1,000 to every family in Wisconsin. That tax cut would have helped those families as they struggle to keep up with rising costs. Instead, he alone decided it was better for government to keep your money. Tonight, Republicans stand united in returning that money to you, the taxpayers, and we will give Governor Evers another chance to do the same. We propose to return it to those who are hard working retirees in need of a much needed income tax exemption. And we will also look for ways to hold down your property taxes and help struggling young families.
Next, while we heard tonight about another education plan to write a blank check to our schools, Republicans will focus on increasing standards and demanding accountability. Right now, only 48% of students in Wisconsin are even reading at grade level. This is absolutely unacceptable and it has to change. Our reading crisis is not just limited to our biggest school districts, however. It exists in districts all across the state, both large and small. According to Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s own data, only 37% of students were proficient in English in 2022. There was little progress in the next year, with only 39% of students testing proficient. DPI says that we’re doing better now, but it’s only because they significantly lowered the standards to inflate the results. Make no mistake, our education system is doing an enormous disservice to our students. We will not allow the Department of Public Instruction to shortchange our students by lowering our standards. Republicans will enact legislation to require the Forward Exam to be aligned with the National Assessment of Educational Progress. This will bring our standards back to the baseline before artificially inflated them. It will also allow parents to compare the past with the present. Recently, Governor Evers even said in a statement, “We need to have as high of standards as possible.” He’s right. Hopefully this will be a place where the legislature and Governor Evers can actually find common ground to come together with a solution to this growing failure in K-12 education.
Finally, we will focus on helping President Trump fix the broken immigration system. Every state is a border state when we deal with the challenges presented by illegal immigration. Disappointingly, even tonight, Governor Evers has already said that he will not allow our National Guard troops to help at the border, and his administration has said they will not assist with the deportation of violent criminals. There are too many lawless bureaucrats and politicians pushing dangerous sanctuary policies that jeopardize our public safety here in Wisconsin. This has to stop. Our criminal justice systems and our government programs are already stretched too thin, and they need to focus resources on those who are here legally. Surprisingly, there is no current statutory requirement for law enforcement to inquire with ICE when an individual’s legal status cannot be verified. In fact, some law enforcement agencies, including Dane County, the city of Beloit and Milwaukee County, have already announced they will not comply with ICE in limited circumstances. Republicans will pass legislation requiring all law enforcement in Wisconsin to cooperate with the immigration service to deport those who commit a serious crime and are being held in our jails or our prisons.
The ideas I’ve just discussed in this brief response are common sense and have broad public support. Everyone, whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat or an independent, should be able to rally around the idea of fighting inflation, better educational outcomes for our kids, and punishing violent criminals. We heard tonight from Governor Evers, a long list of partisan demands in a way that doesn’t bring Wisconsin together.
We all know Wisconsin is such a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire. Our commitment and our promise to you is to keep working to make it even better. Thank you for joining me tonight. God Bless you and your family and God Bless the state of Wisconsin.