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Assembly Bill
41
Relating to: polling hours.
By committee on Campaigns and Elections.
Read first time and referred to committee on Universities, Housing, and Government Operations.
Assembly Joint Resolution 15
Relating to: the joint rules.
By Representatives Jensen and Freese; cosponsored by Senators Chvala and Risser.
Read and referred to committee on Senate Organization.
Assembly Joint Resolution 17
Relating to: fund-raising social events in Dane County during floorperiods and special and extraordinary sessions.
By committee on Rules.
Read and referred to committee on Senate Organization.
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Senator Chvala, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate recess for the purpose of awaiting the Governor's State of the State Address in Joint Convention in the Assembly Chambers at 7:00 P.M. and upon the rising of the Joint Convention adjourn until Thursday, February 1 at 10:00 A.M.
The Senate stood recessed.
6:47 P.M.
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The President of the Senate in the Chair.
The committee to await upon the Governor appeared with his excellency the Governor, who delivered his message as follows:
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Speaker Jensen, President Risser, Members of the Legislature, Constitutional Officers, Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court, tribal leaders, members of the Cabinet, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Before I get started, let me thank the Speaker and the entire Legislature for the wonderful gifts and words of encouragement. I will truly miss you. Thank you for your friendship and partnership throughout the years.
Senator Risser, I know you're happy tonight. The real reason you've hung around so long is you wanted to outlast me. You win, Fred. And Speaker Jensen, you still hold the only position I've ever wanted but never achieved. I'm proud to see my friend rise so high and do so well.
I'd also like to thank my current and former Cabinet and staff for all their hard work and dedication to this state. They're the unsung heroes of our success. Let me introduce Nora Weber, Marge Miller and Marlene Cummings – the only two staff members and Cabinet secretary to spend all 14 years with me in office. Thank you for your unwavering support. Tonight, it all ends in the place where it all began.
Thirty-five years ago, I first came to this chamber a green and humble young man from Elroy. As you can see, I was fresh out of law school and had a bit of a baby face back then. The mustache, wide ties and leisure suits would come later. Thankfully, my daughters grew older and eventually broke me of them. But I'm glad Cliff Miller has been able to put my old wardrobe to good use.
Despite my youth, I came to Madison with a great deal of confidence, idealism and hope – qualities given to me by my hometown. The people of Elroy raised me. Taught me my values. And instilled in me the importance of putting people first.
Elroy common sense guided me as a legislator and a governor. And those same values will guide me as I serve the president of this great country as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
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Washington is a long way from Elroy, but Elroy will never be far from me. It's who I am.
And so this man from Elroy humbly comes before you one last time tonight to talk about our great state and its future.
We've done remarkable things inside and outside this grand old building. Just think back for a moment to the state of our state in the mid-80s.
Remember when our good friends down in Illinois mocked our troubled economy? They even went so far as to put up a billboard on the border saying, "When the last business leaves Wisconsin, please turn out the lights."
Well my friends, the lights are on in Wisconsin and burning brighter than ever.
In fact, I hope our friends in Illinois didn't let the toll gate hit them in the bumper when they moved their families and businesses to Wisconsin by the truckload.
Illinois companies are moving to Wisconsin for our more positive business environment – there are almost 50 in the Kenosha Business Park alone. Illinois families are coming for our great schools and unmatched quality of life. And the poor are venturing north for a good job and greater opportunity, not a bigger welfare check.
We've even taken to beating up on their sports teams. Let's see, since 1986, we've gone to two Super Bowls, three Rose Bowls and a Final Four. Down in Illinois, they still haven't found a quarterback.
I engage in this lighthearted teasing of our good friends and neighbors because it illustrates how much we've built Wisconsin since the days when they teased us.
My, how far we have come together.
We've come so far that we can all claim with great pride tonight that in the year 2001 the state of the state is that of the nation's leader. Name the issue and Wisconsin is leading the way.
Many states claim they're the best, but only one state can back it up. We follow our bold words with bold deeds. During my confirmation process, it was heartwarming to hear how often senators recognized Wisconsin as the nation's leader in innovation.
We took office with one clear mission: To build our economy. And this has remained our No. 1 priority – even in the good times.
We recognized that without strong businesses and good jobs, we can't provide a high quality of life for our families. We can't afford the social programs that help those in need or great public schools for our children.
Let's take a look at the strong economy we built: 800,000 new jobs; 95,000 new manufacturing jobs; a record 3 million people working – the highest percentage in America; unemployment cut by more than half to 3.3 percent; a jobless rate below the national average a record 156 straight months; and a median household income of nearly $46,000, well above the national average.
What a turnaround! No Company mirrors our comeback better than Wisconsin's very own Harley Davidson. Since 1986, Harley grew its earnings from $4 million to $348 million; increased employment from 1,200 to 3,700; opened four new facilities; and saw its stock price grow from 33 cents a share to $40. Please welcome Ken Sutton and Wayne Curtain from Harley.
Wisconsin is once again the place where eagles soar and Harleys roar!
We're enjoying the longest period of sustained economic growth in our history.
To those who try to downplay our economic success by giving the credit to good times nationally, let us be clear about one thing: Wisconsin built its economy first, and the nation followed.
Look at these charts, particularly the period from 1987 to 1992.
When the country fell into recession in the early 90s, Wisconsin was one of only a few states not to feel the sting. Our job creation grew while the nation's fell, and our unemployment rate dropped while the nation's rose.
We did not benefit from an economic boom – we helped create the economic boom.
How did we build this economic engine? By what I call the Four Ts of the Great Turnaround: Our 'Tude, the slang for Attitude, Tax Cuts, Transportation and Teaching.
We set a new tone, where success was the only option. We began believing we could achieve anything, then worked together to make it happen.
Don't for a second discount the importance of our attitude change, for it transformed how companies looked at Wisconsin. We made it clear Wisconsin was open for business and companies responded by building and growing here.
As we were adjusting our attitude, we began making investments in the right places to trigger economic growth.
We cut taxes in the very first budget and haven't stopped since.
With your help, we cut taxes 91 times totaling $16.7 billion. These cuts saved the average
Wisconsin family $8,400. And they infused new money into the economy to help stimulate growth and prosperity.
And tonight, we have good news to report. The state's national tax ranking has fallen to ninth in the nation, according to the latest Census Bureau figures which reflect tax year 1999.
And when the cuts we enacted for years 2000 and 2001 are factored into the equation, we can say with confidence that Wisconsin is finally out of the top 10 states.
As for state spending, our per capita rate is the 14th lowest in the nation and our state government is the third smallest. Could it be better? Absolutely. Is it bad? Absolutely not.
But let's be fair about what has driven spending – the desire to cut local property taxes.
In 1995, the state picked up two-thirds the cost of local schools and we've maintained that percentage ever since. That costs money. But we made this commitment to cut property taxes $1.2 billion initially and keep them under control in future years.
And without the cost controls we placed on local school spending, property taxes would be $2 billion higher right now.
So let's put this in the proper perspective: Spending went up at the state level so taxes could go down at the local level.
What's most impressive is the state took on the extra burden of local school spending and still made substantial cuts in state taxes.
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That's quite a feat. And it's a testament to our fiscal discipline.
But if some partisans are still intent on playing games with the spending issue, let me remind them of this fact: Every budget I submitted to the Legislature has come back with more spending -- $1.6 billion to be exact. And my 1,900 vetoes pared $287 million. Also, I set aside more money for a rainy day in every budget, but the Legislature spent it.
So, perhaps it is time for a cap on state spending.
But back to the four Ts. Along with adjusting our attitude and cutting taxes, we stimulated our economy by investing in our roads.
When we came in, Wisconsin was largely a network of inefficient and dangerous two lane highways. So we built strategic corridors of four-lane roads that are delivering remarkable economic benefits for communities. From 1990 to 1996, more than 87 percent of the 1,900 manufacturing developments in Wisconsin occurred within five miles of a Corridors 2020 highway. And these plants created 90 percent of the new manufacturing jobs in our state.
We built the roads and the jobs followed. The correlation couldn't be clearer, nor could the payoff on the investment.
We also increased spending on mass transportation by 140 percent, helping our workers get to and from their jobs. And we are leading the nation into an exciting new era of high-speed passenger rail with the help of Amtrak.
We've taken a balanced approach to moving our products and people in Wisconsin.
The fourth T, and perhaps the most important, is teaching. Educating our children and workers.
As the nation's Education State, we have long recognized that education must be the foundation for individual success. If we were going to create more jobs, we needed to develop the skilled workers to fill them.
So we invested in our schools like no other time in our history – and that's saying a lot.
We now spend $7.8 billion dollars each year on public schools – an increase of 141 percent. And the state contribution to schools has grown from $1 billion to nearly $5 billion. In addition, we increased other state aids and credits by 230 percent; raised per pupil spending to $9,000 annually; spent $47.2 million more in the SAGE program to reduce class sizes; made our teachers among the best paid in the Midwest and America; invested in teacher development and created a salary bonus for national certification.
No state is making a greater, more consistent investment in its public schools than Wisconsin.
We've learned, however, that just spending more money doesn't buy you more success in the classroom. Nowhere was this more evident than in Milwaukee Public Schools, which were lagging behind. This despite the state increasing its aid to MPS by 55 percent and funding 82 percent of its costs.
So we targeted our efforts to building up Milwaukee. We started with the principles that every student can learn and parents must be empowered with more choices.
This philosophy spawned some of the nation's most innovative education reforms.
Charter schools. Public school choice. Private school choice for Milwaukee. Charter schools operated by the city of Milwaukee, UW-Milwaukee, and the Medical College of Wisconsin and MPS.
Nowhere in America does a parent have more choices than in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
