So, we’re going to build on the success of our state’s technical colleges for the more than 280,000 students they serve and employers who count on them for Wisconsin’s highly skilled workforce by providing an additional $36 million investment over the next two years.
But we also have to make sure higher education is something that’s accessible, affordable, and therefore attainable to all those who choose to pursue it.
So, we’re going to keep the tuition freeze for our System campuses. And we’re also going to expand Bucky’s Tuition Promise to all UW System campuses statewide ensuring students from low-income households can get a 4-year education at no cost to them or their families.
And while we’re going to freeze tuition, we’re also going to fund that freeze and invest $190 million into the UW System over the next two years. So at the end of this biennium when all is said and done, the state will again be investing more GPR dollars annually in the UW System than the Department of Corrections.
And that’s important, because we can’t keep doing things the way we’ve always done them if we want to bounce back and better than we were before this pandemic hit. That’s why our Badger Bounceback agenda is about investing in people, not prisons.
We know our justice system has put a strain on our state. We’ve failed to adequately fund alternatives to incarceration, especially for folks who need mental health services or substance abuse treatment. Our prisons have been overcrowded, which costs more of your tax dollars in the long run. And we haven’t given folks enough resources or tools to be safe and successful when they re-enter our communities from education to affordable housing to workforce training. And perhaps most importantly, we have yet to address the disproportionate impact the last more than two decades of laws have had on our communities of color.
It’s time to face the facts: we have got to change.
If we’re going to bounce back from this pandemic, we have to get our priorities straight. We can’t keep throwing your taxpayer dollars into a system that doesn’t help our state or our people thrive—it’s holding us back. And here’s the deal, you know I’m a big believer in science. We can keep our communities safe by holding violent offenders accountable, save money, and reform our justice system all at the same time. Because in the 21st Century, we can use science and evidence to help us make better decisions.
And it starts with our kids.
It’s been years since 2017 Wisconsin Act 185 was passed and the Legislature made promises to close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake—many of those changes and promises have yet to be realized due to legislative inaction. By focusing only on physical buildings and not on holistic change throughout the system, Act 185 was always going to fall short. That’s why in this budget, I am going to propose that we truly overhaul our juvenile justice system by focusing on best practices and a community-based approach to facilities. We’re once again proposing that our juvenile justice system treat youth under 18, with some limited exceptions, as kids, not adults. We are one of the only states in the nation that has not made this evidence-based change in ensuring that youth are treated as youth, and that needs to change now.
And right now, there’s no foundational training for how to interact with and engage justice-involved kids. So, we’re going to make sure that across our state, youth justice agencies have the training they need to help our kids be successful from understanding adolescent brain development to best practices on engaging kids to evidence-based practices for delinquency to understanding the unique needs of girls and LGBTQ youth.
We’re also going to invest nearly $9 million in a pilot program to start increasing services in our communities so kids who are at moderate or high risk can get intensive, evidence-based treatment closer to home. Because we know that we should be providing kids and families with as much support as we can to get on the right track and prioritizing investments in rehabilitation and treatment for our kids.
That’s why we are also going to change the way we sentence our youth, to require that courts truly consider the youth’s risk, treatment needs, and the severity of the offense. Our justice system should be about both accountability but also about the opportunity for treatment and rehabilitation. And any meaningful reform of the juvenile justice system must include this approach.
Finally, we’re going to again propose to close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake so that we get our kids closer to home as soon as we safely and responsibly can. And we’re going to do it by eliminating Act 185’s outdated two-tier correctional system and creating smaller, community-based facilities across our state and make sure that our kids get the same evidence-based treatment and behavioral support no matter what part of the state they’re from.
And when it comes to our adult justice system, we have work to do there, too. We can save more tax dollars in the long run by investing in treatment and alternatives to incarceration. A study conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice found that by investing in state treatment and diversion, for every single dollar we invest in diversion programs, we save more than $8 in return.
Expanding access to treatment and diversion isn’t just the right thing to do for people, it’s the right thing to do for our pocketbooks, too. That’s why in our last budget, we increased the funding for the Treatment Alternatives and Diversion programs to the highest funding level ever. And we’re going to double down on this investment in this budget by providing an additional $15 million to expand this program.
A decade-long study on “Race and Prison Sentencing in Wisconsin” found that, compared to their white counterparts, individuals convicted of felonies in Wisconsin, Black men are 28% more likely to end up in prison. Hispanic men were 19% more likely. Native American men are 34% more likely to end up in prison. The last wholesale rewrite of Wisconsin’s criminal code hasn’t happened in more than a decade. So, we’re going to start by having a Sentencing Review Council go through every section of our state’s criminal code to focus on equity, rehabilitation, and evidence-based sentencing practices that will result in better outcomes and make this system fairer while keeping our communities safe.
We’re also going to expand the earned release program to include programs that are evidence-based to reduce recidivism like education, work training, and treatment programs so that when folks re-enter our communities, they have the tools they need to be successful.
Reforming our justice system is long overdue, and it’s part of our overall goal to ensure our state bounces back and better than before. But I want to be clear: there’s more to equity and justice than corrections and incarceration.
We cannot ignore the role environmental justice plays in building a state where every family in every zip code can be successful. The climate crisis is taking an undeniable toll on folks across our state. Every Wisconsinite—whether they live in the Driftless, the Central Sands, or the Northwoods, or in the heart of our urban areas—has experienced the effects of climate change. And communities of color, low-income Wisconsinites, and our farmers have been among those most disproportionately affected.
At the crux of recovering from this pandemic and bouncing back is our willingness to stop pretending the problems we face don’t exist. We have to acknowledge our challenges if we’re going to have a chance at fixing them.
But I want to be clear: addressing climate change doesn’t mean abandoning all of our state’s history or our traditions—we aren’t, and we won’t. Because it is that very history and that very tradition—from the Indigenous people who were the first stewards of the land, to our farmers who’ve been the backbone of our state for generations, to our outdoor recreation economy—that demand we embrace a future where we don’t have to choose between mitigating climate change and protecting our environment and good-paying jobs and economic development. And we’re ready for bold and urgent solutions that will stop treating these goals as mutually exclusive—we can and will do both.
Over the last few years, increased flooding caused in large part by climate change, has cost Wisconsin communities, businesses, farmers, and families millions of dollars. But we know that for every dollar invested in flood prevention, we can save in costs down the road.
That’s why our Badger Bounceback agenda proposes a $30 million investment in proactively floodproofing, ensuring public safety, and reducing the risk of catastrophic flood damage. This will also help municipalities address at-risk properties and infrastructure with programs that help build adaptable roads and infrastructure, restore wetlands to prevent catastrophic flooding, and support farmers, families, and small business owners when they lose their crops or their properties are damaged. And we’re going to get to work helping our shoreline communities by creating the Great Lakes Erosion Control Revolving Loan Program—this will help support communities across our state that are experiencing record or near-record lake levels and dangerous shore erosion.
We also know our small and family farms are some of our most ardent supporters of protecting our land and our water. We’re ready to be good partners to our farmers who will play a critical role in our work to build a more sustainable future. That’s why we are investing in farming innovation so that our small and family farms can lead the way on transitioning to more sustainable best practices in addressing local watershed issues, runoff, and reducing water contamination.
Our Badger Bounceback also builds on the work of the Task Force on Climate Change—led by Lieutenant Governor Barnes—which included a diverse, bipartisan coalition of farmers, environmental advocates, Indigenous leaders, utility companies, and businesses. Thanks to Lieutenant Governor Barnes for all his good work on this issue.
We made a commitment to make Wisconsin 100 percent carbon-free by 2050, and we’re going to keep it. Our utility partners have made great strides this year toward reducing emissions, but we still have a long way to go to our 100 percent goal. It is critical that we take necessary and immediate steps to address energy production and efficiency.
So, we’re going to double the required utility company contribution to the Focus on Energy Program, which will allow us to generate an additional $100 million to help make our homes, our schools, and our businesses more efficient. We’re also creating a new $20 million energy efficient grant program for our schools, so that they can update aging infrastructure and reduce energy usage.
And as we embrace an economy that will allow us to protect our environment, we’re going to invest in clean jobs and sustainable infrastructure. But we’ll need skilled workers to make it happen.
That’s why we are also investing $1 million in our Fast Forward program specifically for training for green jobs across the state, encouraging folks to pursue career paths in clean energy production and environmental conservation. We’re also creating a $4 million renewable and clean energy research grant through the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy and directing the Public Service Commission to establish an innovative technologies pilot program in partnership with the state’s utilities.
Folks, we cannot afford to continue ignoring science and denying the reality of climate change in Wisconsin. I know we can deliver on the promise we make to our kids to leave them a better life and world than the one we inherited. But I also know there might be wavering faith that the Legislature and I can accomplish this budget together. So, I want to address that here tonight.
To my friends in the Legislature: our opportunity to bounce back from this crisis calls for you to summon the will to get this done. There’s no time for false promises of hope and prosperity with empty words that you know full well won’t match your actions. You can disagree with me if you want, but don’t punish the people we serve so you can settle a score no one but you is keeping. Each time a bill fails to pass, each time a compromise ends up in flames, each time legislators lose sight of the people who sent you here, the disappointment, the resentment, and the disparities grow. We must be unafraid to agree, unwilling to wait, and unabashed about the work we have before us.
Wisconsinites, when I ran to be your governor, I said it was time for a change. And I told you then as I’ll tell you tonight—that change won’t happen without you.
That’s why, because of you, I’m optimistic. I’m hopeful. Because over the last year, I’ve seen the heart and grit and resilience of the people of this great state. I believe we can pass a budget with bipartisan support. I believe we can pass a budget that will make sure our state can bounce back and better than it was before this pandemic hit. I believe we can pass a budget that will finally realize the future we’ve dreamed. I know that Legislature and I can get this done.
Change is possible. The future we want to build is possible. Because I know you will hold us to account and demand it.
So, let’s go forward together, let’s bounce back together, and let’s get this done.
Thank you, and On, Wisconsin!”
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Adjournment
The Joint Convention arose.
7:38 P.M.
