The technology we use on the front end of our daily battle with crime will also be applied on the back end. I am earmarking $6 million to upgrade technology in the Department of Corrections – including a quarter million dollars to fund literacy software at correctional institutions around the state.
Getting tough on crime has a price. Plain and simple it means our prison population will grow. We will not back away from our commitment of keeping those who break the law behind bars.
So we must meet the challenge of a crowded prison system not just through new correctional institutions but with innovative rehabilitation and crime prevention programs.
Our investments in early childhood, education and welfare reform will help steer our young people away from crime. But we can bolster these efforts by adding $6 million to the Youth Aids program to prevent troubled youth from becoming incarcerated adults.
If someone commits a crime, however, they will do the time. This budget provides staff for four new correctional facilities and one expansion; Supermax, Redgranite, the Milwaukee Probation and Parole Facility, New Lisbon and the Ellsworth A-O-D-A Unit
It also provides money to expand the sexual predator evaluation unit, sufficiently fund the sex offender registry program, and staff the 300-bed Brewer Creek Treatment Center for sexual predators.
And we will work with our great partners in fighting crime – the counties – to further relieve prison crowding by leasing unused space in their jails.
These additions will increase our prison system's capacity, but common sense tells us that simply building prisons is not the sole solution to the problem at hand.
We will tackle the issue of recidivism head-on by targeting the very core of its source – drugs, alcohol and a lack of job skills.
For too many offenders alcohol and drug addiction is the chain that binds them to a life of crime. Let's help free them by committing an additional $2 million to rehabilitation programs in our prisons.
We must also teach inmates job skills and a work ethic. If we allow inmates to exit prison unprepared for the workforce, we are failing the inmate, the taxpayer and society.
Just look at the success of the Computer Recycling Project at Taycheedah Correctional Institution. The women prisoners at this institution take discarded computers otherwise destined for landfills, refurbish and upgrade them, then give them to schools or senior centers. In the process, these women are learning marketable technical skills that will allow them to get jobs in the high-demand, high-paying computer industry after prison.
And the odds of these women returning to prison drops dramatically. A meaningful job is probably the most effective weapon we have in fighting recidivism.
Therefore, we must do more to teach prisoners work skills and prepare them for transitioning into the workforce after serving their sentences.
Today, I am proposing the creation of two Department of Corrections Work Houses --150-bed "job-skill" dormitories. They will house pre-release inmates who will work in the community at market wage jobs then return to prison after their shift.
Inmates will put in an honest day's work for an honest wage. In turn, they will pay for their room and board, clothing, medical costs and any child support and victim restitution. And the real-world work experience they gain will ease the transition back into society and help them stay out of trouble.
Imagine if you will, a corrections initiative that reduces recidivism, provides badly needed workers for employers, and saves taxpayers' money. A smart way to tackle crime.
Let us work together to make sure the frontiers of possibility provide for a safe journey for our families as well as new opportunities for everyone – including those with a troubled past.
Tobacco Settlement
A safe and secure Wisconsin family in the 21st century will also mean they are healthy.
We have been waging a battle with deadly diseases and the root of their existence for years – especially the harmful side effects of tobacco use.
The state has taken a multi-pronged approach – cancer control and prevention grants, A-O-D-A programs, funding for the UW Cancer Research Center, the McCardle Lab for Cancer Research, and the Center for Tobacco Research.
We've worked hard to deny minors access to tobacco, and we've created new education and prevention programs for our youth like the one named after our departed friend Tom Melvin.
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We have been fighting this battle for years and have spent millions of dollars doing it. Our fight has now been validated. Thanks to the efforts of Attorney General Jim Doyle, a team of dedicated Wisconsin lawyers, and states across America, Wisconsin and others will begin receiving multi-million dollar payments from tobacco companies. To the president and Congress, who have thoughts of cashing in on our hard work, we say: "Keep your hands off. This money belongs to Wisconsin families."
This biennium, I am directing a substantial portion of this money into BadgerCare and Family Care – landmark programs to create a health care system that has no equal.
For too long the taxpayers have carried the burden for heath-related costs associated with smoking – so today we will repay them by building the best health care system in America.
We also seek to strengthen and expand smoking prevention programs. This budget directs $1 million to the Medical College of Wisconsin and Women's Health Initiative and $2 million to the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention for research, cessation and intervention activities.
And to help our schools keep cigarettes out of children's hands, the Department of Public Instruction would receive $1 million to help schools develop smoking prevention programs.
Keeping our children away from tobacco also means cutting off their supply. To assist our shopkeepers in identifying and turning away minors, the state will begin issuing drivers' licenses that clearly identify those under 18. Rep. Kaufert deserves special recognition for his leadership on this proactive measure. Thank you, Dean.
When it comes to smoking, we want to send a strong message made famous by First Lady Nancy Reagan: "Just say no."
Environment
The people of Wisconsin will be healthier in the next millennium. And so will the environment in which we work and play.
We can point with great pride to the success of our Stewardship program over the past decade, which helped my administration preserve more than 200,000 acres.
This includes some of the largest and most important acquisitions in our history: The Willow, Turtle-Flambeau and Chippewa Flowages, the Lower Wisconsin Riverway, Spread Eagle Barrons, the Bill Cross Rapids Wildlife Area, and many more.
Today, I am proud to announce a new environmental commitment for a new century.
Stewardship 2000 is a $515 million program with nearly twice the buying power of the original. Our proposal invests $345 million state dollars and leverages another $170 million in federal money to create a bold new program that builds our environmental heritage.
The state money will allow for the purchase, management and repair of land for our enjoyment as well as assist local communities in acquiring land or developing property for public use. And the federal money will be targeted to buying land easements to protect sensitive habitats and waters throughout the state.
Stewardship 2000 expands our commitment to preserving our precious natural resources. And through it, we can all take great pride in strengthening our generation's environmental legacy.
Our renewed commitment to the Stewardship Fund comes on the eve of our park system's 100th anniversary.
We will celebrate one of the nation's premier park systems this year by putting the final touches on the first new state park in 20 years -- the Milwaukee Lakeshore State Park. Our budget commits $3 million this biennium for improvements to the park so anglers, walkers and visitors to our world-famous Summerfest can all enjoy one of the most spectacular lakefronts in America.
This new park in Milwaukee reminds us that a tremendous challenge for the next millennium will be to preserve and enhance the environment within our urban areas.
So we also propose strengthening our ambitious $30 million brownfields program with an additional $10 million for job creation projects on brownfield sites, and help urban areas plan environmentally for the future through stronger land-use management.
As we look north to our bountiful forests, we recall a great environmental accomplishment for our state that came three short years ago, when we stood among the towering pines of the Chequamegon National Forest and watched 25 elk step foot on what was once their native soil.
Restoring a native species that disappeared from our state nearly a century ago was an emotional moment for many – including myself. We were witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime crowning achievement in Wisconsin's enduring environmental legacy.
Today, the elk herd is thriving at 50 strong. Let's build upon our success by investing another $250,000 to expand the herd, and let the bugel of the elk echo throughout northern Wisconsin.
I would like to introduce a man they call Mr. Elk – Bernie Lemon of Wauwatosa who was instrumental in starting the Wisconsin Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Club and bringing the elk home to Wisconsin.
The elk expansion is just one of the new programs made possible through the historic new compact agreements with Wisconsin's Indian Tribes. The new five-year compacts netted the state $23 million a year, far more than the $350,000 we currently receive. And the benefactors will be sportsmen, tribal members, taxpayers, our environment and our communities.
Teddy Roosevelt told us, "In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen."
Wisconsin sportsmen have certainly lived up to that philosophy with their commitment to our environment. This budget is our commitment to them.
For the first time, the state will direct non-license fee revenues to the Fish and Wildlife Fund. Our hunters and fishermen have invested millions to enhance our natural resources, and today we seek to complement their commitment with $4 million in state money to stabilize the fund and keep license fees down.
Compact revenue also will be used to protect, preserve and promote our environment and communities in the following ways:
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$2.5 million for low-interest WHEDA loan guarantees to help level the playing field for businesses in counties where casinos operate.
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$8 million for the Department of Tourism to market the beauty and spectacle of our natural resources and communities.
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$1.5 million for safety enforcement on our snowmobile trails
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And $2 million in grants for tribes to supplement existing law enforcement programs or develop new ones to combat crime and drug abuse on reservations.
The people of this state can certainly be proud of the environmental legacy we have inherited. But we can be even more proud of the legacy we will leave behind. The frontiers of possibility will be clean and pristine.
Close
In closing, the bridge this budget builds between two centuries provides us a golden opportunity to renew our legacy of good government.
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Two years ago, I began my budget speech by offering you our state's very own Rippin Good cookies. And I concluded last year's state of the state address with a cake smothered in rich, creamy icing. But I'm getting the sense you do not have a sweet tooth
.
Neither party gained from the budget stalemate of two years ago. And the growing bitterness of political campaigns is not helping matters either.
So today, I offer you nothing more than the feelings of our citizens, who are making it increasingly clear that they are fed up with partisan politics.
Make no mistake about it: Right now, there's one thing the people of Wisconsin want more than tax cuts, more than good schools, more than quality health care. They want us to work together. They're tired of the needless fighting. Because the people know if those they send to Madison don't work together, none of the above goals will be accomplished.
If we are to create a government that truly trusts the people – we must first restore their trust in government. For that to occur we must learn to trust each other.
Let us begin the budget process by remembering that civility between leaders does not infer weakness. Instead it breeds cooperation, which is what the people of Wisconsin demand from their elected leaders.
For in the end – and in this new beginning – it will be the people that will determine our fate and that of Wisconsin.
Today, let us commit to them our unwavering trust. And deliver through our actions a shining light of cooperation to guide our state into the next millennium.
The Frontiers of Possibility await. Let us explore them together.
Thank you and God Bless Wisconsin.
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The joint committee on Finance reports and recommends:
Senate Bill 45
Relating to: state finances and appropriations, constituting the executive budget act of the 1999 legislature.
Introduction.
Ayes, 16 - Senators
Burke, Decker, Jauch, Moore, Shibilski, Plache, Cowles and Panzer. Representatives Gard, Porter, Kaufert, Albers, Duff, Ward, Huber and Riley.
Noes, 0 - None.
Read first time and referred to joint committee on Finance.
Brian Burke
Senate Chairperson
Pursuant to Senate Rule
36(2)(c) and section 13.52(6), Wisconsin Statutes, the Co-Chairs of the Joint Survey Committee on Tax Exemptions shall prepare and submit a report in writing setting forth an opinion on the desirability of
Senate Bill 45, relating to state finances and appropriations, constituting the executive budget act of the 1999 legislature, as a matter of public policy.
Pursuant to Senate Rule
36(2)(c) and section 13.50(6), Wisconsin Statutes, the Co-Chairs of the Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems shall prepare and submit a report in writing setting forth an opinion on the desirability of
Senate Bill 45, relating to state finances and appropriations, constituting the executive budget act of the 1999 legislature, as a matter of public policy.
Adjourned.
4:30 P.M.
