Parents and teachers also know that students learn better when class sizes are smaller. As part of my budget, I'll ask you to honor the agreement we made last year...and provide a major investment to reduce class sizes from kindergarten to grade three.
Smaller classes, higher standards, good nutrition, a strong start in life, and a ticket to college for every kid willing to work for it. That's our education agenda, an agenda of opportunity.
Jobs
In my inaugural address, I spoke about the tremendous changes happening throughout our economy, and our world.
We face a new challenge to our competitiveness, and I believe the states that have the fastest, most flexible worker training programs are going to be the ones that succeed.
In the next decade, Wisconsin will need more welders and nurses. We'll need more engineers, machinists, and skilled manufacturing workers. That's why we need to invest in job training - increasing our efforts from $2 million to $8 million in the next budget - to help Wisconsin's technical colleges train an additional 36,000 workers.
We'll also build new, unique partnerships between businesses and high schools to get our kids ready for the world of work. To do that, I ask the Legislature to double funding for the highly successful Youth Apprenticeship Program.
Wisconsin has thousands of researchers and entrepreneurs with good ideas for new businesses, but they need venture capital to get these companies off the ground. Tonight, I propose a new Wisconsin Venture Center to give our entrepreneurs an edge. This center will be focused on helping Wisconsin's innovators connect with investors from around the country.
With investments in workers, a strong commitment to manufacturing, and by unleashing a new generation of entrepreneurs, we can win the global competition...and put Wisconsin to work.
UW
Many states will try to compete with us, but we have an unique and special advantage they'll never match: the University of Wisconsin.
Tonight, I propose a new investment in the University to produce more college graduates, more engineers, scientists, and nurses. We need more research, and more support for innovation that will be the cornerstone of our success.
This will be a major undertaking for the University and for the state, but the benefits will be wide and far reaching.
We'll expand enrollment from Green Bay to La Crosse to Oshkosh, Superior and River Falls, making the dream of college a reality for thousands more of our citizens.
From Parkside to Whitewater, and across the UW system, we'll expand financial aid, recruit more minority students, and provide additional academic help to those who need it.
We'll create a new Health Sciences major at Stevens Point, new opportunities for technical college students at UW-Oshkosh, improve services for adult students at Green Bay, strengthen student retention efforts at River Falls, and expand the liberal arts programs available at Superior.
In partnership with the UW-Platteville, we'll expand opportunities at UW colleges as well, like a new mechanical engineering degree at UW-Fox Valley, an electrical engineering degree at Rock County, and opportunities for hundreds more students throughout the state.
It's not only an investment in our students. It's an investment in our economy. We'll train more nurses and teachers in Oshkosh, more engineers in Platteville, and more biologists in Green Bay.
We'll fund an innovative partnership between Eau Claire, Stout, and the Chippewa Valley Technical College to produce more graduates in advanced disciplines like nanotechnology, biotechnology, and polymer engineering.
Early next year, we'll break ground on the Institutes for Discovery - without any ideological strings attached. Together, we'll launch a new and exciting era in which the University of Wisconsin-Madison will not only help create thousands of new jobs, but will help unlock cures to deadly diseases through biotechnology and stem cell research.
And at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, we'll make a major new investment in research. We'll recruit top experts from around the country, and build partnerships with the Medical College and leading health care corporations that will strengthen the regional economy. It will cement our status as one of America's leaders in scientific and medical research.
Now I'd like to introduce you to a very special person, someone who will benefit from this investment.
Last year, while he was on duty in Iraq, a Russian-made rocket exploded just a few feet away. He was hit in the neck, right arm, torso, and lower body, suffering a stroke and losing his left leg.
He is a devoted husband, a father of two. Would you please join me in welcoming Wisconsin National Guard Specialist Ray Hubbard - a Wisconsin hero.
Ray is an example of the tremendous service and sacrifice made by our men and women serving in harm's way. What's even more remarkable is that Specialist Hubbard has decided he isn't finished serving his country. This fall, with the help of the veterans education plan you approved, he'll be a student at UW-Whitewater, on his way to becoming a teacher.
Specialist Hubbard, your continued service not only makes us strong, it makes us proud. On behalf of a grateful state, thank you, and good luck.
Department of Children and Families
As I said earlier, making sure our citizens have access to affordable health care and providing good quality education are our top priorities. But there are other challenges that need our attention.
St. Paul wrote that “each of you has your own gifts from God." And when you look into the eyes of our children, it's not hard to see those gifts.
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I believe we have a sacred obligation to help every child in Wisconsin realize all the potential that God has given them.
Right now, Wisconsin has a cabinet level department devoted to prisoners, but not one devoted to children and their families.
Instead, we have a patchwork of overlapping programs divided between many agencies.
Two separate agencies responsible for child care.
Two separate agencies responsible for low-income families.
Two separate agencies responsible for child support and child welfare.
Two separate systems, two separate bureaucracies that families must navigate, leaving them frustrated and confused.
In my budget, I'm proposing a major shift in the way state government serves our families. We will create a single Department of Children and Families, with an intense and singular focus on the safety, economic and social well-being of our youngest citizens. We'll make sure that bureaucracy never gets in the way of doing what's right for our kids.
Milwaukee Package
Whether you live in Milwaukee or Marinette, the future of our state's largest metropolitan area affects you. For Wisconsin to thrive, we need a strong and growing Milwaukee. It is a great and vital city -- our center of culture and commerce, the hub of our economy. Yet Milwaukee also faces unique challenges. Unless our entire state joins together to help meet those challenges, our entire state will suffer.
Next week, I will join with leaders in Milwaukee to announce a comprehensive strategy to help the Milwaukee metro area to succeed and thrive. From supporting kids, to cracking down on violent crime, to creating jobs and investing in infrastructure, I'll ask you to join me in making an investment in Milwaukee for the sake of all Wisconsin.
Environment
I've spoken tonight of opportunity - and the opportunities before us are nearly limitless. But we also are entrusted with great responsibility.
From the quiet waters of the Apostle Islands to the abundant forests of Northern Wisconsin, to the majestic farmland valleys of the Mississippi, we have been blessed with incredible natural beauty in Wisconsin. And as St. Luke reminded us, to whom much is given, much is required.
Since the days of Gaylord Nelson, more than a million acres of pristine Wisconsin lands have been permanently set aside - forever protected so that our great hunting, fishing, and conservation traditions will always be safe. In the last four years, we have added 160,000 acres to this legacy, including the largest purchase in history, the Wild Rivers Forest that spans more than 100 square miles in Northeast Wisconsin.
Unless the Legislature acts, this program will expire, and our preservation efforts would come to an end. Tonight, I am challenging the Legislature to reaffirm decades of bipartisan support - and reauthorize the Stewardship Program.
And speaking of good stewardship, we must also live up to our responsibility as protectors of the largest body of fresh water in the world. One year ago in Milwaukee, ten Governors and Premiers signed the Great Lakes Water Resources Compact to preserve these waters for future generations. Tonight, I urge you to ratify this compact.
But we have other responsibilities as well.
Over the past few years, the world has awakened to the growing, accelerating threat of global warming.
There is no question that global warming demands immediate action by the federal government. It is a disgrace that so many national leaders have turned a blind eye to what is a scientific fact. Yet the scope and consequences of this problem are so massive that the responsibility for action rests not only with our leaders in Washington, but with all of us.
With new technology, and a commitment to renewable fuels, we can not only reduce the carbon emissions that cause global warming, we can and will help this nation kick its addiction to foreign oil.
In my budget, I'll propose the next major step forward in our effort to become America's leader in energy independence - a $40 million investment in renewable energy like solar, wind, hydrogen, biodiesel and ethanol.
We'll provide incentives to dramatically increase the availability of E-85. We'll move four university campuses off the power grid in the next five years. And next year, we'll more than double our commitment to energy conservation.
Tonight, I am announcing a Governor's Task Force on Global Warming, comprised of business, industry, labor, environmental, government and community leaders to develop a comprehensive plan of action that we can all get behind.
Of course, one state, acting alone, can't do everything. But my fellow citizens, we have a responsibility to do everything we can. I ask you to join me, and make a commitment that when it comes to global warming solutions, Wisconsin will lead the way.
Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform
Tonight, we've talked about an aggressive agenda of change and reform. And some pretty big change happened just today.
Earlier this afternoon, Republicans and Democrats joined together to agree on the most sweeping ethics reform in thirty years - creating a strong Government Accountability Board that will have the power to enforce our laws, investigate and bring prosecutions against those who violate the public trust.
It is a model for what can happen when people in both parties set aside differences and do what's right, and I look forward to signing it into law.
But we shouldn't stop there.
Every two years, our TV sets are bombarded by nasty and negative ads from shadowy groups that don't play by the same rules as everyone else.
But we can put a stop to it. Tonight, I ask you to end the phony issue ads...and require these groups to follow our campaign finance laws. They should disclose their donors, abide by contribution limits, and be forbidden from taking corporate contributions that would otherwise be illegal. Let's pass this vital reform now, and clean up Wisconsin's airways.
Finally, we need to improve the way campaigns are financed in Wisconsin.
Today, we have new leadership and a new opportunity to achieve consensus. I have asked Speaker Huebsch and Senator Robson to work with me to come up with a strong, comprehensive bill that can win the support of both parties. Let's get this done, and do what's right for the people of Wisconsin.
Conclusion
I'd like to close tonight by recognizing three young people who sum up what this is all about.
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Please welcome members of the eighth grade class of Franklin Middle School in Green Bay -- Jordan Gilliam, Sidney Ly and Tyler Dessell. Thanks for being here kids.
These students have agreed to be among the first to sign the Wisconsin Covenant.
Later this year, I'll join with them as they pledge to stay in school, maintain a B average, be good citizens and take courses that prepare them for college. Over the next four years, they'll have to work hard in high school to live up to that commitment...and we are going to have high expectations of them.
In return, we'll make the dream of affordable college a reality for them and their families.
I've spoken often of the Wisconsin Covenant, which is really part of a broader promise I believe we must make to all the hardworking families of Wisconsin.
Together, we must make Wisconsin a place where anyone who is willing to roll up their sleeves and work hard...can afford to get an education, buy a home, raise a family, and enjoy all the good things that life in our state has to offer.
Yes, Wisconsin is filled with opportunity...and filled with a determined people ready to seize it.
Now let's get to work.
Thank you, and On Wisconsin."
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Adjourned.
7:56 P.M.
