Madison, WI — State Representative David Steffen (R-Howard) released the following
statement in response to Governor Evers blaming Republicans for prison system inaction:
“Governor Evers is trying to rewrite his unfortunate legacy regarding GBCI. He failed to
mention that his first six years in office ignored the closure of GBCI. Furthermore, Governor
Evers stuck his head in the sand in 2020 when he was presented with a state-funded engineering
report that indicated GBCI was beyond repair. Governor Evers’ support for closing the prison
only began late in his second term, and only after years of continuous pressure from architects,
structural engineers, prison staff and a bipartisan coalition of local and state officials.
“While I’m thankful Governor Evers finally came around on the closure of GBCI, he should take
ownership of his early failures and inaction.”