Gov. Evers: ‘It’s not enough. The state must step up.’

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MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers is calling on the Wisconsin State Legislature to provide more resources to local communities and remove restrictions on local control in legislation regarding shared revenue that was introduced earlier this week, according to a written statement from Gov. Evers.

On Thursday, Gov. Evers released a statement responding to a proposal, AB 245, indicating he cannot support the proposal and will veto it in its entirety if it is sent to his desk in its current form. Despite having been introduced only two days ago, Assembly Republicans are hosting a public hearing on the bill in the Committee on Local Government later this morning, Evers said.

According to data from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB), since 2011, state aid to communities has been cut by more than nine percent while public safety costs have increased by more than 16 percent. As a result, over the last decade, local communities have been asked to do more with less and have been forced to make difficult decisions to cut critical services, including public safety. Gov. Evers has been clear for four years now that the state must do its part to ensure communities have the resources they need to meet basic and unique needs alike.

A full transcript of the governor’s statement is available below.

You know, we’ve been talking about shared revenue now for the five, four-plus years I’ve been in this position—and for good reason.

Our communities—whether it’s a county, whether it’s a city, whether it’s a township—they do the hard work, public safety, public health—you name it—public libraries.

And for a decade, we have not increased any of that money that goes to these folks in any meaningful way.

We need more money for our communities—their constituents expect it, and we expect them to do this work. So, it’s a top priority for me—and has been since I became governor.

And I’m really optimistic because I see that same thinking coming out of the Legislature. So, we’re all on the same page there.

But the state must step up more than what I’ve seen. It’s why I can’t support the Republican plan as is—and frankly, I’ll veto it in its entirety.

It is not enough resources. We have the resources to do it. Let’s increase the money that’s going to the locals. And, frankly, also, let’s remove all those restrictions that the legislation was putting on those local folks.

Here we, in one way, we want to bring them more money, and in another way, we want to take more control away from them. It doesn’t make sense.

Send me a clean bill that talks about the money that we are going to give to the municipalities.

Let’s work together to make it happen, and I know we can get it done.

In response, the four Democratic members of the Joint Committee on Finance released the following statement in anticipation of Thursday’s executive session:

“Governor Evers’ budget made responsible investments in local Wisconsin communities, returning taxpayer dollars back to the people. He set historic benchmarks in funding for public education, child care, and local government funding. In our first executive session, Republicans gutted some of the most popular pieces of Governor Evers’ budget. Acting on these critical priorities would have set Wisconsin communities up for future success and demonstrated that we were serious about using our state’s resources to address the difficulties Wisconsinites are facing.”

“Meanwhile, over the past few years, Republicans have recklessly wasted taxpayer money on unnecessary lawsuits and exorbitant attorney fees for the Gableman sham investigation. Justice Gableman was hired by Speaker Vos to appease President Trump and national Republicans. Then, after almost two years of a sham investigation and no evidence of widespread election fraud discovered, Speaker Vos changed his mind and said Gableman was an ‘embarrassment to the state.”

“Today, the Democrats on the Joint Committee on Finance will offer a measure to ensure accountability and greater transparency to prevent future runaway investigations. Wisconsinites deserve a government that invests in them and their communities.”