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Governor Evers 2023 State of the State Address
By Dee Pettack | January 25, 2023
On Tuesday, January 24, 2023, Governor Evers gave the 2023 State of the State Address. Below is a summary from The Wheeler Report:
GOVERNOR EVERS GIVES 2023 STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS
His speech he highlighted education, environment, childcare, business development and workforce issues, and tax provisions.
Excerpts of the speech are listed below.
Education:
- We’re going to invest $20 million to increase literacy-related programming and implement evidence-based reading practices across Wisconsin.
- I’m proposing a pathway to get experienced educators back into our workforce by making it easier for school districts to hire retired teachers and staff. And we’re going to invest over $20 million into recruiting, developing, and retaining teachers and student teachers, including $10 million for our local, homegrown educators, to bolster our educator pipeline and ensure it’s sustainable for the future.
- I’m announcing we’re going to make “Get Kids Ahead” a permanent state program, and we’re investing more than $270 million to ensure every student has access to mental health services.
Mental Health:
- Together with our “Get Kids Ahead” initiative investment, we’ll be making an overall investment of about $500 million to expand access to mental and behavioral health services for folks across our state.
- We’re going to invest in developing robust prevention strategies to reduce suicide, self-harm, and other mental and behavioral health-related injuries. And that includes state resources to support 988, the new Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Taxes:
- But I also want to be clear tonight: splurging $3.5 billion to hand out big breaks to the wealthiest 20 percent of earners isn’t responsible, folks; it’s reckless.
- When we deliver tax relief—and we will deliver tax relief—we’re going to do it responsibly by ensuring we can keep taxes low now and into the future, and we’ll do it without driving our state into debt or causing devastating cuts to priorities like public schools and public safety.
- Spending billions on a flat tax isn’t a workforce plan or an economic development plan.
Childcare:
- The first thing I’m going to do is deliver on my promise to expand the Child and Dependent Care Credit, which will provide nearly $30 million in tax relief to more than 100,000 Wisconsinites.
- Through our Partner Up! Program,…and…monthly Child Care Counts Program…These two programs made a big difference in the lives of kids and working families across Wisconsin. But the reality is that the federal funds that support them won’t last forever. So, we’ll be continuing these programs to keep childcare affordable and accessible in my budget. We’re going to provide more than $340 million for Child Care Counts so providers can have the financial stability they need to keep the lights on, pay their workers fair, competitive wages, and continue to provide high-quality care to kids across the state.
- We’ll also be investing more than $22 million into the Partner Up! program to expand partnerships between employers and childcare providers.
The governor’s address is available to watch here. The full text is available here.
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