Perhaps nothing can do more for developing a local economy -- creating jobs in towns large and small -- than a road.
Let me tell you a story about a road and two bold entrepreneurs.
Mike Johnson and Chetan Patel started Scientific Molding Corporation nine years ago with a $500 plastic injection molding machine. In just a few short years, they built their Somerset company into a multi-million dollar success and a major employer in rural Wisconsin.
But their desire to grow almost took them across the border to Minnesota. SMC wanted to expand, but there were not sufficient roads and utilities in the Somerset Industrial Park to accommodate their plans. So we stepped up and provided a $136,000 TEA grant to build that road.
Soon after, SMC expanded from 80 employees to 142. SMC did so well, it could afford to buy a company plane. Now that plane flies for Wings of Mercy transporting low-income rural residents to hospitals for treatment.
SMC also hires welfare mothers and gives the disabled a chance to contribute.
So let's recap.
A company with eyes on Minnesota stayed in Wisconsin.
As a result, more people are working
Welfare mothers and single moms have good jobs.
And sick residents from rural communities have access to hospital care.
All because we built a road. A small, simple, relatively inexpensive road.
Across this state, we can tell similar stories of newfound economic success and opportunity for communities because a road was upgraded or a new road was built. And the same for mass transit in our urban centers.
There is no greater need for bipartisan and regional cooperation than in the area of transportation.
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Whether you drive a mountain bike or a Suburban to work; whether you ride an interstate highway or a metro bus system; or whether you live on a dead-end gravel road or in a downtown high rise -- transportation affects your everyday life. And it is critical to the very future of our state.
Today, there is not a consensus on how to fund the future transportation needs of this state. But I'm pledging to work with the entire Legislature, local officials and everyone who cares about maintaining our diverse transportation infrastructure to find that consensus.
Our economic future depends on our ability to rise above partisanship and regional biases and to have a long-term perspective on transportation policy.
Critical to that process is finding an agreement on transportation issues in southeastern Wisconsin.
The East West Freeway is the Gateway to Commerce in Wisconsin -- an economic lifeline for our entire state. Cut off this lifeline and our economy staggers -- not just in Milwaukee, but in the Fox Valley, Sheboygan, Green Bay and all points north.
Rebuilding this dilapidated system will take us well into the next century; this issue can't be swept away. We must work together today to rebuild it right for tomorrow, ensuring the economic vitality of our state.
In the end, transportation is a statewide issue that needs the attention of everyone in this chamber. We need to find a consensus.
Cleaning brownfields, developing our inner cities, streamlining economic assistance, cutting red tape for small business, strengthening family farms, boosting tourism, and building the roads to opportunity.
An economic recipe for making sure America's State works for a new generation.
Environment:
A healthy environment not only helps us to build a healthy economy, but maintain the high quality of life that makes Wisconsin so special.
We take great pride that, during the past decade, we have shattered the myth that economic development and environmental enhancement could not go hand-in-hand.
While we have built our industry by 30 percent, we also have reduced our industrial pollution by nearly 30 percent. Building our environmental heritage as we build new jobs.
A few days ago, DNR Secretary George Meyer and I unveiled what some have called the most ambitious environmental agenda in a generation. An agenda that ensures we leave our environment to the next generation better than we found it. There is one more element to that agenda that I want to speak about today -- mining.
As we approach our state's sesquicentennial celebration, it is important to remember that our state's economy was first rooted in mining. A miner is even featured prominently in our state seal.
But while we value the jobs and contributions mining makes to our economy, we must make sure that our mining heritage does not threaten our environmental heritage.
Wisconsin already has the toughest mining standards in America, but my budget adds a new environmental standard that must be met to obtain a mining permit. It reads: ";Any future mining operation must identify and utilize proven existing technology to ensure any discharges from a mine are in compliance with state groundwater and surface water standards.";
I want to be very clear: If a mining company can't prove its operation is safe, it will not receive a mining permit in Wisconsin.
And we must leave it up to the scientists -- not the special interests on either side -- to make that determination.
I am instructing DNR Secretary George Meyer to appoint a science advisory group on mining, drawing on international experts to review the environmental impact of any proposed mine. We need good science on this issue, not just good rhetoric.
We also will help manage our land better during this era of growing communities by creating a Wisconsin Land Council to identify state land use goals and assist communities in land use planning.
This budget preserves the environment in America's State for a new generation to enjoy.
Human Services:
A strong economy and education will be the essence of our efforts to lift the less fortunate out of poverty, as well as provide for the health of an entire state.
As our economy grows, we must build upon our efforts to make opportunity available to every resident -- to fill our house with opportunity for all.
W-2 does that.
A few months ago, I told you about our plans to dramatically increase our child care funding -- assuring that no mother will have to work without quality care for her children. This budget initiative also expands the child care marketplace and the number of families eligible for child care assistance.
This budget expands transportation for W-2 families, providing an additional $3 million to increase access to job ride programs for families who can't yet afford a car.
And for those families starting out on the lowest two rungs of the W-2 ladder, we will significantly increase the grant they receive. This budget provides an additional $25 million annually for grants paid to those working in community service jobs and transitional jobs -- a 21 percent increase.
W-2 is a complete program. It cares for the children, provides transportation, meets family health care needs, and provides a job on a career ladder. All that participants must do is meet their responsibility of going to work and supporting their families.
We will continue making any necessary changes to ensure W-2 is the strongest program possible -- but we will never go back toward the old, failed welfare system. Not one step backwards.
And we are assuming responsibility for the child welfare system in Milwaukee County, finding families for those who don't have them. The budget provides more than $167 million over the biennium to care for Milwaukee's foster children, helping match them up with loving parents.
Our program provides services at five neighborhood-oriented sites; lowers the caseload for each child welfare worker; allows for prompt removal of an endangered child from a foster home; expedites termination of parental rights so adoption can occur quicker; and expands the pool of potential adoptive homes so children don't languish in foster care.
And I share with you a desire to provide health care for every child. Health and Human Services Secretary Joe Leean is developing a plan to do just that.
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Wisconsin is No. 1 in the nation at providing health insurance for its residents but we must do more for the 7 percent without insurance. By working together, we can find a way to make sure every child has access to health care, just as this budget makes sure every woman has access to a mammogram and breast cancer prevention.
To pay for our health initiatives -- including our women's health program, an expansion of medical assistance programs and 800 more Community Options slots -- this budget increases the cigarette tax by 5 cents, generating an additional $42 million for these important programs.
We will make our next generation the healthiest yet.
Crime:
Wisconsin is one of the safest states in the country and our streets are becoming safer by the day. We've passed tough laws and built more prisons to keep criminals out of our communities. And it's working.
But in spite of our progress, many of our citizens remain skeptical of the criminal justice system.
A system that allows a rapist sentenced to 20 years to be back on the street in five. They don't see justice in a system where virtually every criminal -- by law -- must be released well short of serving his entire sentence.
Our officers are better than ever at catching criminals. But only too often these officers see the same criminals - whom they've risked their lives to arrest -- back on the streets after serving a mere fraction of their sentence.
Ladies and gentlemen of the Legislature, the people are right. Our criminal justice system breeds distrust in its lack of consistency and maze of criminal-coddling legalities.
It's time to make it right.
I'm proposing today a fundamental, top-to-bottom restructuring of our entire criminal justice system.
We can rebuild public confidence by imposing strict sentences; expanding the beds in our corrections system; and reducing recidivism through expanded prison work programs.
Perhaps the most important change we are making is to our sentencing and parole system -- a relic from the turn of the century that makes virtually every criminal eligible for parole after serving just 25 percent of his sentence.... And provides for the release of most criminals after serving just two-thirds of their sentence.
Today, I am calling for absolute truth in sentencing. Eliminate mandatory release. And abolish the charade of parole.
If you're sentenced to 20 years in prison, you serve 20 years. Period. And the only mandatory release comes after 100 percent of the prison sentence is served. No exceptions.
If a judge thinks a crime deserves a 10-year prison sentence, that's exactly what the judge hands down. No more 40-year sentences for 10 years behind bars. It should no longer be left up to unelected parole commissioners to decide when a convict is released. That's what judges are elected for and that's what they should do.
The days of the parole board are numbered.
Not only will we make criminals complete their full sentences, we will require them to serve an extended period of strict supervision afterwards.
We are requiring judges to impose a strict term of confinement in prison and also impose an extended period of supervision after the sentence is completely served. The extended supervision must amount to at least 25 percent of the prison sentence.
Therefore, if a judge sentences a criminal to 20 years in prison, that inmate will serve the full 20 years in prison and then serve 5 years of extended supervision -- meaning he will remain in the corrections system for at least 25 years. If the rules of that extended supervision are violated, it's back to prison.
And absolute truth in sentencing means: No more time off for good behavior!
Under the new system, if an inmate does not behave properly, prison officials can extend his stay in prison. This means a prisoner who behaves violently could turn his 20-year prison sentence into 25 years behind bars, including time in the Super Max.
We are replacing time off for good behavior with more time in for bad behavior.
We back up our strict sentencing system with a commitment to create the necessary beds to keep criminals confined. Our budget addresses the crowding in our corrections system by adding nearly 4,400 beds to our corrections system.
This budget provides 494 more corrections staff for the 2,241 more beds that are ready to come on line in our corrections system this biennium.
I am also calling for the construction of new corrections facilities -- a 1,000 bed prison for the state as well as a 600-bed probation and parole facility for Southeastern Wisconsin. The probation facility will include 200 beds for alcohol and drug treatment.
To help ease overcrowding in our corrections system, we will pursue two new programs for confining convicts.
We will pursue a contract with a private prison in Appleton, Minnesota, to house up to 500 of our criminals. This is a fast, safe and cost-effective way to address our immediate needs.
And we will create 100 beds in a Control and Confinement Center providing secured supervision for those well-behaved inmates nearing completion of their sentence. This pilot program will be added to the Thompson Correctional Center, along with a secure barbed-wire fence around the entire compound to ensure community safety. This pilot center is designed to meet our immediate prison needs as well as help reduce recidivism and ease prisoners back into society.
But one false move and they're back in prison.
And we are reorganizing our prisons into an orderly system of institutions ranging from the SuperMax to medium security to youthful offender institutions to boot camps. A prisoner can be sent up the system by causing trouble or behaving violently. Or, a prisoner can earn his way down the system by working hard and preparing himself to be a productive member of society when his sentence is completed.
This zero tolerance approach to crime and punishment is complemented by a strong agenda to prevent crime and reduce recidivism.
When a person commits a crime, we want to make sure it's his last crime. This budget builds upon our trailblazing efforts to help criminals become law-abiding citizens who contribute to our communities once they leave prison. Our plan:
• ITargets educational and vocational resources for youthful offenders at the Racine Youthful Offender Facility and the Prairie du Chien boys school -- providing these boys and young men with the skills to stay on the job and out of trouble.
• Dramatically expands our prison work initiative to every prison -- making sure all our prisoners are working. This will generate much needed revenue for our corrections department. Already we're saving millions annually by making prisoners pay for their room and board. But more importantly, it will make sure prisoners have the work ethic and the work skills necessary to find a job once they leave prison.
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And requires prisoners to help beautify our state and compensate for the ugliness of their crimes by planting trees along our highways.
Our prisoners are going to work their way out of a life of crime.
Now, I'm sure many of you will ask: Won't our prison population explode because of our more strict criminal justice system? And how can we afford this?
There is a four-part answer:
1. First, I'm convinced the deterrent effect of swift and sure punishment will lower our adult crime rate just as it has our juvenile crime rate.
2. Second, our education and welfare reform initiatives are starting to address the root causes of crime before it occurs. There are positive societal signs that we're addressing crime on the front end.
