Read.
Considered as privileged and taken up.
The questions was: Adoption?
Adopted.
The Chair, with unanimous consent, appoints Senators Zien, Fitzgerald and Risser as delegates to escort the Governor to the Assembly Chambers.
Senator Andrea, with unanimous consent, asked to be made a coauthor of Senator Bill 1.
Senator Farrow, with unanimous consent, asked to be made a coauthor of Senator Bill 1.
The Senate proceeded in a body to the Assembly Chamber to meet in Joint Convention to receive the State of the State Message.
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:
President Rude, Speaker Prosser, members of the legislature; constitutional officers; honorable justices of the supreme court; tribal chairmen; members of the cabinet; distinguished guests;
I would also like to deviate for just a second and thank Tom Melvin who is going to retire at the end of January. Tom and I were roommates in college. I got the A's and he did the ... Tom congratulations.
This is the ninth time I have stood before you to deliver my state of the state address ... and I am proud to report that the state of the state is excellent.
One hundred years ago, America stood poised on the edge of a new century ... and Wisconsin was ready.
True to form, we did not tip-toe into the 20th century. We roared in brimming with new ideas, new inventions, and new priorities.
We made radical changes in state government ... changes that served as a model for the nation.
Workers' compensation ... environmental stewardship ... equal rights legislation for women ... Wisconsin was singled out as a trailblazer for the nation.
Well, times have changed ... but Wisconsin's role has not.
Just look around today. Headlines coming out of Washington ... headlines coming out of other states ... headlines about things we have already done in Wisconsin.
People feel good about the direction we are going in this state. They have confidence in our future.
This is not true for everyone.
In 1994, the voters spoke loud and clear. We saw an awakening of the american people ... a stirring that said we are fed up with government ... we have had it with all talk and no action.
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People used to feel differently about government. they used to feel it was a part of them ... that they had a stake in it.
There was a time not long ago when people used to hang a picture of the president in their homes. remember that?
Most of us can probably remember our grandparents or our parentswith a picture of F.D.R. or Ike on the wall. Nothing fancy, just a dime-store variety portrait, put out the way you'd put out a picture of a favorite aunt or uncle.
People did that because they felt they were a part of something. They felt the person in that picture represented them ... their values and their dreams.
They trusted government to deliver on its promises. They had confidence in the future.
Too many people in this country today believe the American dream no longer exists ... that it no longer applies for them.
Well, if you want to believe again ... take a look at wisconsin.
We don't just talk about change. We don't just talk about success. We make it happen.
. When we say we are going to cut taxes ... we do it.
. When we say we are going to reform welfare ... we do it.
. When we say we are going to change education ... we do it.
. When we say we are going to cut $1 billion off the property taxes ... we do it.
. When we say we are creating a new government for a new century ... we do it.
We follow bold words with bold deeds ... and people have confidence in us as a result ... they have confidence in our future.
Eight years ago I stood here and told you that we were going to turn this state around.
And we did it:
. Eight years ago I told you that jobs for Wisconsin was going to be my number one concern ... and we have created 450,000 new jobs since then. This is the largest sustained 8-year period of job growth in state history.
. When I came into office, people in Wisconsin were looking for work. Unemployment was more than 7%.
Today, companies are looking for workers. We have virtually
Full employment in Wisconsin today. There are more people working than ever before in our history.
. We are number one in the nation in creating manufacturing jobs... we are number three in creating construction jobs ... good-paying jobs for hard-working people.
. Eight years ago, I told you we were going to turn Wisconsin into a good place to do business. Our business climate at the time was ranked 46 out of the 50 states. Today we are in the top 10.
. I said we were going to seek opportunity around the globe. Wisconsin businesses at that time were exporting less than $3 billion a year. This year we expect to export $8.5 billion. That's almost a 300% increase.
. Eight years ago, I said we were going to protect our environment and build a strong economy at the same time. And we have. Last year I negotiated and signed an agreement protecting more than a thousand acres of scenic rock formations along the Wisconsin river at the Dells. We have now preserved a total of 40,000 acres for posterity.
I also worked with Representative Johnsrud and Senator Rude to create the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, an idea that will succeed because it comes from real people ... determining their own future in a valley of broken federal promises.
Bold words, bold deeds.
Tonight, I am laying out my vision for the next four years. It is a bold vision ... one that will require bold actions.
But together we have shown the people of Wisconsin that when we talk about change in this chamber ... we make it happen. We deliver.
TAXES
Eight years ago I told you we were going to cut taxes in this state. And we did.
We cut the income tax ... we cut business taxes ... we eliminated the inheritance tax ... we eliminated the gift tax ... we kept the 60% exclusion of the capital gains tax ...
And thanks to cost controls, we have cut the growth of school property taxes from 11% ... to a record low of less than 1%
And in three weeks I will detail my plan to deliver the largest tax cut in state history ... the final step in tax relief for Wisconsin... $1 billion off the property tax bills.
And we are going to do it without raising other taxes.
When I say a tax cut ... I mean it.
Raising other taxes is not tax relief. it's exactly what it says it is ... it's raising taxes.
We face a lot of hard work and a lot of tough decisions in the weeks and months ahead.
Not raising taxes is greeted by applause tonight in this chamber. I hope all of you remember this in the weeks and the months to come.
Not raising taxes means that programs many of you like will be reduced. Some will be gone.
We are no longer measuring government in dollars and cents. We are measuring it by what we accomplish ... by the opportunities we create.
This tax cut gives us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to completely re-design and re-define and re-focus what government is ... what it does ... and what it can do without.
We are ratcheting down on personnel and programs...
And we are gearing up on technology and service...
We are creating a government that is smaller .... a government that works better and spends less.
No other state has done this.
Bold words. Bold deeds. That's what Wisconsin is all about.
WELFARE
Eight years ago we said we were going to change welfare in this state.
And we did it.
No one was even talking about welfare reform when we started. Today, everyone is talking about it ... and talking about wisconsin as a leader.
Our welfare rolls are at their lowest level in fifteen years ... down 25% in the last eight years.
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Wisconsin changed the dynamics of the welfare debate by laying down the very simple premise that if you accept a check from the state, you will accept certain basic responsibilities in return.
We made it clear that handing out money and expecting absolutely nothing in return is not public assistance. It is public apathy.
It is silent compliance with a system that discriminates against women and children ... that traps them in a life without hope ... and without a future.
Not anymore.
Tonight, we are completing the revolution ... we are completing the connection between welfare and work.
We are replacing the welfare check ... with a passport to a better future.
Tonight, I am announcing that we are moving the welfare division from our social services department to a new department of industry, labor and job development.
Welfare will no longer exist. It will no longer be part of the vocabulary.
Welfare is going to become a jobs program.
