MADISON, Wis. — Today, the Wisconsin Assembly met to consider several bills with bipartisan support but no funding attached. Rep. DeSanto spoke in favor of amending Assembly Bill 113 to only go into effect with funding.
Representative DeSanto (D- 40) released the following statement:
“Today I was put in the difficult position of voting against technically good bills that are unsound because they lacked funding. Legislative Republicans removed Governor Evers’ budget proposals and reintroduced them as unfunded bills. Republicans keep promising that we need to trust that these proposals will be funded through their budget. However, it is the function of the Legislature, not just the Joint Committee on Finance, to establish funding for bills.
Meanwhile, Joint Finance Republicans have stalled budget action and continue to propose gimmicks and vote against basic, fiscally responsible supports for Wisconsin families. When there is no dialogue, no certainty of a budget being passed on time, and no meaningful investment in our state, I can’t reasonably believe these promises are anything but empty. Wisconsin simply cannot afford unfunded mandates to state agencies and Wisconsinites certainly cannot afford these political games.
Legislative Democrats continue to advocate for the needs of our constituents by proposing amendments that would create funding for these bills and advocating for a strong budget that lowers costs and strengthens our communities.”
