As a District Attorney, and as Attorney General, I saw the end result of what happens when we don't make the right investments in our kids. Higher social service costs … higher welfare spending … higher prison costs … and higher crime.
I've learned that we're all a lot better off when we take care of kids in the classroom, instead of the courtroom.
And for the last year, my wife Jessica and I have seen through our Community Connections Program what a community involved in the lives of school children really can do.
Every year, at least 9,000 Wisconsin children are victims of abuse and neglect. Too often, their bruises go unnoticed, their cries go unheard -- but their pain is very real.
I worked hard as Attorney General to fight abuse and neglect. And I promised myself that if I ever became Governor, I would do even more to help those 9,000 kids.
We know what works. Parent education and home visits for at risk children can make a big difference. Wisconsin already has a pilot program of home visits in nine counties, and it's working. Kids in the program were 30 percent more likely to be immunized, half as likely to go to the emergency room, and one quarter as likely to be abused.
Tonight, I propose a comprehensive effort of parent education and support, touching every new parent in Wisconsin. Bringing together the resources of state and local government, private foundations, community organizations, hospitals, and medical professionals, we will provide parent education services to every new family in Wisconsin.
For the most at-risk families, we will provide an array of supportive services, from home visits to family resource centers to referrals to health care and child care providers.
The Secretaries of Health and Family Services, Corrections, and Workforce Development, along with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the First Lady, have worked together to develop a comprehensive agenda for improving the lives of our children.
Later this spring, I will announce a detailed package of reforms, from improving oral health for children, to improving foster care, to promoting quality child care, to cracking down on deadbeat parents, to setting higher standards in early education, to further strengthening our law enforcement efforts against abuse and neglect.
We also need to refocus on ensuring that our children show up for school ready to learn.
One hundred and fifty years ago, Wisconsin was the pioneer in public kindergarten. Back then, it was for five-year-olds and four-year-olds.
For a while, we got away from that. But now we're a national leader again. Innovative programs in La Crosse and Wausau are national models for linking four-year-old kindergarten with Head Start and day care.
Early education like four-year-old kindergarten has proven to give kids an equal chance to succeed by reducing gaps in school performance. And it reduces special education costs later in life.
One quarter of our children benefit from the program today, but now we need to get more communities involved to help give their children the right start. Therefore, tonight I am proposing the creation of Early Education Community Partnership Grants to help local school districts work with community organizations to develop plans for implementing four year old kindergarten programs.
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When it comes to education, I'm a pretty basic guy. What our students need most is to be in a classroom with a good teacher, a small class size, high expectations, and a roof that doesn't leak.
I have named a Task Force on Educational Excellence to carefully examine how we fund education in our state, how we support special education, how we attract and retain the best teachers, and how we ensure that every child has an equal opportunity to learn.
I want to thank so many of you who have taken the time to meet with Chairman Mike Spector to give your ideas, and I am confident that the Task Force will come up with a series of recommendations that we can all draw from in preparation for next year's budget.
I also believe we need a major focus on literacy. Different kids have different abilities - but every child should have the chance to read.
We have here tonight a native of Racine who has dedicated his life to getting kids excited about reading. Kevin Henkes is part of Wisconsin's proud tradition of creativity, and a winner this year of the Prestigious Newberry Honor Award for his distinguished contributions to American Literature for Children.
Last year, he was kind enough to join my wife Jessica and a group of middle school students for "Reading Day at the Residence." Because there is no better way to encourage reading than a good book.
Kevin, thank you for your service, and let's all work together to ensure every child has the chance to spark their imagination through reading.
We're also joined by Nick Cochart. Nick joined the Wisconsin Badgers football team as a walk-on. Through hard work, a drive for perfection, and a sheer love of the game, he has not only earned himself a spot on the team roster, but has grown to become an emotional leader. He is what a student athlete is all about.
But what is really extraordinary about Nick is the commitment he's making outside of sports. He aspires to be Wisconsin's youngest principal.
Won't you join me in thanking this future educator.
But you know something, if this talented young man does get a teaching job in Wisconsin - and we hope he will - he'll make $11,000 a year less than he would in Michigan. $8,000 less than he would in Illinois.
In fact, our starting salary is now $3,500 below the national average. Less than Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio.
While the arguments over this issue have been the same for many years, the facts have changed. We're no longer fourteenth in the nation in teacher salaries - we're below the national average … and falling. It has become a direct threat to the quality of education. And I'm pleased that Representative Gary Bies, four other Republicans, and many Democrats have recognized this new reality, and introduced legislation to repeal the QEO.
No matter what your opinions are on the QEO, we need to increase teacher compensation and ensure that Wisconsin can attract and retain the best teachers for our kids.
Last year, I began to detail my Healthy Kids initiatives - encouraging a focus on fitness in our schools, launching a multimillion dollar anti-tobacco campaign, and making school breakfast available to more of our students.
Tonight, I am announcing a $10 million public-private partnership to improve fitness equipment and physical education curriculum in schools across the state. Working with the National School Fitness Foundation, we will put nearly 100 state-of-the-art fitness programs into schools that need the help the most over the next three years.
There's another issue that affects the health of our kids and their ability to learn. And that's school breakfast.
I see this in pretty basic terms. We're last in the country. We have 150,000 kids who are eligible for free and reduced breakfast, but they're not getting it. We have schools turning down millions in federal money.
And so I ask you to join me to make sure that more kids get a healthy breakfast. Because if West Virginia can do this, and Mississippi can do this, so can Wisconsin.
There is a lot that our government can and must do. But one thing it can't do is raise our kids. Only families can do that.
At the same time, government should make a parent's job easier, not harder.
We need to have quality child care, access to home visits, nutrition programs, and other support for families.
Most of all, we need a strong economy so parents can provide for their children and give them all the opportunities life has to offer.
Because when it comes right down to it, there's no better social program than a good paying job.
From balancing the budget without raising taxes … to passing the single factor tax reform … to streamlining regulations, we are positioning our state to start creating jobs again.
Wisconsin is a national leader in developing innovative new ideas and business models, but at the height of the economic boom, Minnesota got six times as much venture capital as we did.
The Senate has passed legislation to address this shortage, thanks to the leadership of Senators Ted Kanavas and Gwen Moore.
Tonight, I'm calling on the full Legislature to pass venture capital legislation, so we can start turning highly promising ideas into high paying jobs.
Let me give you an example.
A few years ago, UW Professor Lynn Allen-Hoffman made a remarkable discovery in her lab. She developed a skin-grafting technology that holds the potential to grow new skin cells for burn victims - relieving their intense pain and dramatically improving their chances of survival.
She has founded a small company - Statratech - in the University Research Park. What she needs now is the venture capital that will turn her discovery into high-wage jobs, and unlock its great potential for the human race.
Professor Lynn Allen Hoffman is here tonight. Let's pass this legislation and help people like her make miracles happen in Wisconsin.
One area we have to get back on track is our manufacturing industry.
We should pass the Manufacturing Competitiveness Program, introduced by Representatives Lena Taylor, Jennifer Schilling and Senator Dave Hansen. This proposal takes advantage of the great expertise we have at our universities, technical colleges and manufacturing extension partnerships to help manufacturers become more competitive.
The bill is affordable, it's a job creator, and it's time to get it done.
The main thing Wisconsin has to sell is the dedicated, well-educated and highly skilled men and women who make the products and deliver the services that fuel our economy.
Let's pass my worker training initiatives - from providing training to help workers and businesses become more competitive, to expanding the youth apprenticeship program under legislation sponsored by Representative Terry Van Akkeren.
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And let's not forget about those who so often work the most and earn the least. Working full time at the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, they are paid less than $11,000 a year - not enough to live on, much less raise a family.
There's something we can do today that would help more than 130,000 Wisconsin citizens - most of them adults, most of them women, and many of them with children.
Fellow citizens, these workers haven't had a raise in seven years. It is time to increase the minimum wage.
There's another group of hardworking people in our state who are struggling - family farmers.
From encouraging the sale and production of ethanol, to promoting Wisconsin's leadership in organic foods, to launching a new online farmers market, to preserving the farmland preservation tax credit, we are helping farmers add value to their products … and profits to their bottom line.
We're developing balanced, sensible livestock siting legislation, and we're leading the way in protecting consumers and producers in the event of a Mad Cow outbreak. Now, you can strengthen our efforts by passing the Premise Identification bill.
Last year you passed tax incentives for manufacturers. Now join with me and Representatives Al Ott and Bobbie Gronemus to help small and medium-sized dairy farmers afford the investments to make their farms more competitive.
Over the past two weeks, I've held town halls on the State of our State - and from Monona to Milwaukee, from Stevens Point to Superior, one of the top issues on people's minds is the rising cost of health care.
Last year, Wisconsin took a number of innovative steps to rein in health care costs for our government. For the first time, we negotiated contracts that require state employees to pay a portion of their health premiums, like workers in the private sector.
Working with a new Wisconsin company, we formed a prescription drug buying pool - BadgerRx - to bargain for lower prices for the state.
Starting in July, BadgerRx will be available to businesses, from the largest to the smallest. A small business in Oshkosh that pays to insure its 25 employees and their families will now have the market power of 600,000 people in buying prescriptions.
By joining with us, most employers could save up to 10 percent on prescription drug costs. This is a great example of government doing something that doesn't cost much, but helps lower people's health care costs.
We've also passed legislation to empower farm families to join health care co-ops that will reduce premiums, improve coverage, and expand insurance to those who can't afford it now.
Not long ago, I got a letter from a social worker in Osseo who works with a woman who can afford to buy only one roast a month because her prescription drugs cost so much. She divides into small pieces, so she can have a little meat every few days.
Our seniors should not have to choose between food and medicine.
There is one thing the federal government could do tomorrow to bring down the health care costs of every American who is taking prescription drugs - allow individuals and states to buy safe prescription drugs from Canada.
Tonight, I am announcing that we have launched a new website -- DrugSavings.wi.gov - that will give our citizens information on how to find lower price prescriptions, what the new Medicare bill means for them, and how to take advantage of SeniorCare.
I am asking the Food and Drug Administration for their approval to expand this website, giving our citizens the power to buy prescription drugs directly from Canada - from pharmacies our state verifies are reputable, reliable, and safe.
Tonight, I ask for support from the people of Wisconsin. Log onto DrugSavings.wi.gov. Register your support on our petition to the FDA.
I also seek support from the Legislature. Pass a joint resolution urging the federal government to use their existing authority to allow the reimportation of safe, U.S.-made and approved prescription drugs from Canada. Let's send a united message to the federal government as well as to the drug companies - this is an issue that won't go away, and Wisconsin's citizens need action.
I also ask for your help in another fight. The new Medicare law leaves the future of SeniorCare uncertain, and more than 90,000 Wisconsin seniors in limbo. Let's work together to save SeniorCare.
From the businesses and providers who are working together through a new effort called the Collaborative … to the disease management initiatives underway at the Marshfield Clinic … to the great work of Epic Systems and GE Medical, Wisconsin is a pioneer in health care quality.
But we can do even more.
Most hospitals still write out prescriptions and medical records by hand. Too frequently, poor penmanship leads to poor medicine, bad record keeping leads to bad drug interactions, and in some cases, disastrous effects on the patient's health. Every year, 98,000 people die in hospitals nationwide as a result of medical errors - more than from AIDS, car accidents, or breast cancer.
A solution can be found in technology that is being advanced right here in Wisconsin, called computerized physician order entry. It catches errors when they most commonly occur - when prescriptions are ordered -- reducing medical mistakes by up to 70 percent.
We should provide hospitals with extra Medicaid funding if they move to this system. The cost to the state is just $2 million, backed up by additional federal revenue. But the benefits will be measured in the care that is improved and the lives that are saved.
The bill is authored by Representative Sheldon Wasserman, who is also a doctor. Dr. Wasserman, thank you for your leadership, and let's get this bill passed together.
We all agree property taxes are too high. But let's be honest. Bumper sticker solutions and quick fixes won't work. They will devastate our schools, bring economic development projects all over the state to a halt, and destroy Wisconsin's tradition of local control.
Finger pointing and press releases won't lower property taxes; the only answer is to roll up our sleeves, and work together to reduce the costs of local government.
Let me give you an example of what works.
We're joined tonight by Mayor Joe Laux of Menasha who worked together with his colleague, Mayor George Scherck of Neenah, to hold down property taxes. Now, I understand that Neenah and Menasha would probably never agree to consolidate their high school football teams, but when faced with difficult economic times, they consolidated their two fire departments.
130 years ago, the two cities tried to consolidate - and it ended in a fistfight. This time, it ended up saving taxpayers $2 million.
Like most communities around the state, Neenah and Menasha held the line on property taxes. In fact -- contrary to all the dire predictions we heard - Wisconsin had the lowest increase in local property taxes in four years.
But there is more we can do.
First, we will continue to support shared revenue, keeping our commitment to local communities.
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Second, we will find workable financial incentives in the shared revenue formula to reward fiscal responsibility and consolidation at the local level.
Third, from health care and prescription drugs to police vehicles and information technology, we are using the resources and buying power of the state to help local governments reduce their costs.
