By State Sen. Joan Ballweg

Thanks to responsible budgeting by Republicans last cycle, our state is on good fiscal footing to recover from the pandemic.

COVID-19 hit state governments hard, but it devastated many of our friends and neighbors who are still dealing with long waits for their unemployment, losing their jobs and seeing their family businesses close or completely shut down.

Even though Wisconsin, due to our responsible budgeting, will see a surplus; it does not mean it is okay to use this budget to fund Governor Evers’ long list of divisive policy priorities.

Governor Evers continues to make statements about how he doesn’t see a problem with putting policy into the budget. This is not his first budget, and once again, he continues to ignore the process. Republicans have consistently taken policy provisions out of the budget.

I believe it should be our responsibility to continue to focus and invest in our critical infrastructure. We should prioritize keeping as much money as possible in the hands of our constituents who need it the most.

I look forward to my new role on the Joint Committee on Finance where we will listen to stakeholders and Wisconsinites from around the state on what priorities are important to them.

I encourage folks to reach out to my office with any suggestions or concerns. This address is just the beginning of the budget process, and I look forward to crafting another good budget that will continue to move Wisconsin forward.”