Wisconsin Elections Commission
Policies and Procedures
Pursuant to 5.05 (16)(a), Wis. Stats.
Received on December 28, 2016.
Referred to the committee on Elections and Local Government.
Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health
2016 Annual Report
Pursuant to 51.025 (2), Wis. Stats.
Received on December 28, 2016.
Referred to the committee on Health and Human Services.
Department of Children and Families
Children in Out-of-Home Care Report
Received on December 29, 2016.
Department of Children and Families
Rehab Review Report
Pursuant to 48.685 (5g), Wis. Stats.
Received on December 29, 2016.
Department of Children and Families
2015 Child Abuse and Neglect Report
Pursuant to 48.981, Wis. Stats.
Received on December 29, 2016.
Referred to the committee on Health and Human Services.
Department of Children and Families
Report on Children with Disabilities Served by the Child Welfare System
Pursuant to 48.981 (11), Wis. Stats.
Received on December 29, 2016.
UW School of Medicine and Public Health
Cancer Research Tax Check-Off Program Report
Pursuant to 255.055, Wis. Stats.
Received on December 30, 2016.
Referred to the committee on Health and Human Services.
Department of Administration
Temporary Reallocation of Balances
Pursuant to 20.002 (11)(f), Wis. Stats.
Received on December 30, 2016.
Referred to the joint committee on Finance.
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President Roth appointed Senators Testin and Johnson to escort his Excellency, the Governor, to the Joint Convention.
Senator Vukmir, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate recess and proceed is a body to the Assembly Chamber to meet in Joint Convention to receive the Governor’s State of the State Address, and further, that the Senate stand adjourned until Tuesday, January 17, 2017, upon the rising of the Joint Convention.
2:32 P.M.
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Recess
The Senate proceeded in a body to the Assembly Chamber to meet in Joint Convention to receive the State of the State Message.
2:45 P.M.
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In Assembly Chamber
In Joint Convention
3:00 P.M.
Senate President Roth in the chair.
The Committee to wait upon the Governor appeared with his Excellency, the Honorable Governor Scott Walker, who delivered his message as follows:
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State of the State Address
“Speaker Vos, Speaker Pro Tern August, President Roth, Assistant Majority Leader Vukmir, Minority Leader Shilling, Minority Leader Barca, Supreme Court Justices, Constitutional Officers, tribal leaders, members of the Cabinet, members of the Legislature, distinguished guests, and most importantly, fellow citizens of Wisconsin, it is an honor to come before you this afternoon, to report on the state of our great state.
First, I would like to introduce the First Lady of Wisconsin, my wife, Tonette Walker. Thank you for all that you do for the people of the State of Wisconsin. Next to my wife - our sons, Matt and Alex.
Next to my family is the Adjutant General of the Wisconsin National Guard, Major General Donald Dunbar. On behalf of the citizens of this great state, I want to thank you and the more than 10,000 strong members of the Wisconsin National Guard.
At the start of December, I had an opportunity to travel overseas to visit Wisconsin troops in the National Guard, reserves, and active duty in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, and Germany. Then, at the end of last month, General Dunbar and I went to Guantanamo Bay to visit members of the 32nd Military Police Company from the Wisconsin Army National Guard. I am so proud of the men and women from Wisconsin. Please remember all of our service members, and their families, in your prayers.
I also want to thank the members of our National Guard for all that they do within the state. Last summer, parts of northern Wisconsin were paralyzed by severe storms and floods. Roads and bridges washed out. Lives devastated by loss. We sent in the National Guard, and acting quickly, they were there, on the ground, working together with state and local agencies to help in the recovery. It was an amazing team effort. I join the local residents in thanking everyone who helped in the response.
To all of our men and women in uniform, we appreciate all that you do - here and abroad. Thank you to you and to your families.
Today, I am happy to report that the state of our state is strong.
More people were employed in Wisconsin last year than at any point in the history of our great state. Unemployment levels are the lowest in more than 15 years. And the percentage of people working in Wisconsin is one of the highest of any state in the country.
We are working and winning for Wisconsin.
In the Kenosha area, Joshua, a former Marine Staff Sergeant, was hired as a maintenance technician at Colbert Packaging. The company just announced in October it was relocating from Illinois to Kenosha and plans to hire 100 employees this year. Over the past three years, 7,900 jobs have been created in this county that borders Illinois, in addition to $1 billion in capital investment and more than 9.5 million square feet of development.
In the Fox Valley, Amy was hired in the HR department at Amerequip in Kiel. She joins us here today, along with Amerequip's CEO Mike Vanderzanden. Thank you for joining us. Amy specializes in recruitment and works with our technical colleges on youth apprenticeships. Since 2011, Amerequip has invested more than $20 million into improvements for its facilities, and the company most recently doubled its welding capacity.
These stories show the real faces of record employment in the state. Which begs the question, "Arc the people of Wisconsin - you, me, us - better off than we were six years ago?" The answer is a resounding yes. It may seem hard to believe now, but during the four years before we took office, Wisconsin had lost more than 133,000 jobs and the unemployment rate peaked at 9.2%. When we first took office, the biggest challenge in our state was helping to create more jobs.
Today, we've more than recovered the jobs that departed during the recession, wages are up, more than 50,000 new businesses have been created, and our unemployment rate is down to 4.1%. In fact, our biggest challenge is not creating jobs, but finding people to fill them. We went from a focus on "jobs, jobs, jobs" to talking about "workforce, workforce, workforce." This is my top priority for 2017 - and beyond.
During the past 4 years, we invested millions into workforce development. This helps people like Gary, Ryan and Jeff who are part of our Wisconsin Fast Forward program. Today, they work at Catalyst producing mechanical printing paper. These are just a few of the many people who were trained through the Wisconsin Fast Forward grant program and they are here with us today.
Gavyn, Matthew, Caitlin, and Brianna are just a few of the students who got a head start on their career through youth apprenticeships offered while they are in high school. This program has more than doubled since we took office. Thanks to all of you for being here this afternoon.
And Madclyne and Jordan graduated from our Project SEARCH program here in Wisconsin. Each of them is working, and they are part of a program for people with disabilities that has a success rate of 88%. I am proud that the number of Project SEARCH sites has grown from two when I first took office to 18 today. By this next school year, we will have 27 sites across the state. Madelyne and Jordan, thanks for joining us here today.
We are working and winning for Wisconsin.
In addition to a growing economy, I am happy to note that our finances are stable. We finished the fiscal year, yet again, with a surplus. Our rainy day fund is 165 times bigger now than it was when we first took office. And Wisconsin has the fourth lowest overall long term debt obligation of any state in the country.
Getting our finances under control allows us to reduce the burden on the hard-working taxpayers. I am proud to report that, since taking office, we’ve cut taxes by more than $4.7 billion. That means a cumulative income tax reduction of $1,159 for a typical family. We also cut property taxes. Since December of 2010, the cumulative reduction is $426 for a median-valued home. In the decade before we took office, property taxes went up 27 percent. If that trend had continued, the difference is a savings of $1,700. That's real money.
Property taxes, as a percentage of our personal income in this state, are the lowest they've been since the end of World War IL Plus, here's another piece of good news - from 2010 to 2014, Wisconsin outperformed 43 other states in reducing the overall tax burden. Remember - since taking office, we've cut taxes by more than $4.7 billion. And we’re not done yet. Just as I promised when running for re-election, property and income taxes will be lower in 2018 than they were in 2010.
That's great news for families like Jeff’s and Patricia's, who told me how surprised they were to see their property tax bills going down!
We are working and winning for Wisconsin.
In addition to providing more tax relief, getting our finances in order allows us to focus on other priorities.
For example, we invested more than $18 billion into transportation over the past six years. Put that into perspective: that's about $2 billion more than my predecessor put into transportation during the previous six years.
We have also invested more than $14 billion into programs to help needy children, families and seniors over the past six years.
Our reforms allowed us to cover everyone living in poverty under Medicaid. No other Wisconsin Governor has been able to make that claim. In fact, we rank as one of the best states in the nation for health insurance coverage. And even though we did not take the Obamacare Medicaid expansion, we actually outrank 21 of the states who did - and every one of the 22 other states that did not.
A few years ago, some argued that we should take the Obamacare Medicaid expansion money. In tum, I warned that it would come back to hurt Wisconsin taxpayers.
What happened in Minnesota this past year suggests we were right. Late last year, health insurance premiums there increased by as much as 67 percent. The governor of Minnesota declared, "The Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable." And just last week he called on the Legislature to spend $313 million to buy down health insurance premiums, putting Minnesota taxpayers on the hook.
In contrast, we have a modest surplus in Medicaid while covering eve1yone living in poverty - all without putting the taxpayers at risk through a state exchange or by taking the Obamacare Medicaid expansion.
We are working and winning for Wisconsin.
Our improving financial situation also allows us to do more to help our students prepare for college and careers. You see, it is a moral imperative that every child has access to a great education. But it is also an economic imperative as we need to grow the workforce in Wisconsin.
We invested more resources this past year into college and career readiness initiatives, including dual enrollment, FAB labs, and youth apprenticeships. The state started providing funding for school districts to do academic and career plans as early as 6th grade starting this year. We want every child to prepare a path to a career that is right for them.
Across the state, our students are doing well. We just started including everyone in the ACT tests and Wisconsin is one of the best states in the country in that category. Students here also have some of the best graduation rates in the country.
On top of that, more than 90% of the school districts in the state meet or exceed expectations according to the report cards. One of those districts is Neenah. Today, we are joined by students and teachers from Neenah.
And families - particularly low income families - all over the state now have more quality choices in education. For many, (like it was in my family) it will be a traditional public school. For others, it will be a charter or a choice school. Some will choose a virtual school, while others prefer to homeschool their children.
Whatever the option, when it comes to making the right choice for their daughters and sons, I trust parents.
Many of the areas of new investment in our schools are giving students a jumpstart on their careers. Our initiatives arc helping many students get through college sooner and into the workforce. Earning college credits in high school also helps reduce the cost of higher education.
