MADISON, WI – Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) offered the Democratic weekly radio address today. In his radio message, Sen. Erpenbach highlighted the challenges ahead in 2017 and Democratic solutions to help Wisconsin families.

“While we’ve seen strong national growth over the past several years, Wisconsin’s lagging economy and declining wages have compounded the challenges for working families. We need to start investing in the people of Wisconsin to help grow our economy, and Democrats stand ready with solutions to lower student loan debt, improve child care access, and make health care more affordable." - Sen. Jon Erpenbach

The audio file of this week’s address can be found here: 
http://media2.legis.wisconsin.gov/multimedia/Sen27/erpenbachradio12.29.16.mp3

A written transcript of the address is below:

“Hi, I’m Senator Jon Erpenbach. With the New Year upon us, the State Legislature is getting ready to start another session. The 21,000 vote margin favoring Senate Democrats in the recent Wisconsin election shows that voters want a balanced approach to governing that addresses the needs of working families.

“While we’ve seen strong national growth over the past several years, Wisconsin’s lagging economy and declining wages have compounded the challenges for working families. We need to start investing in the people of Wisconsin to help grow our economy, and Democrats stand ready with solutions to lower student loan debt, improve child care access, and make health care more affordable.

“Funding for schools needs to be a top priority in the state’s upcoming budget so local communities don’t have to rely on referendums and higher property taxes just to operate our public schools.

“Republicans also need to stop derailing long term decisions on funding for roads. Costly credit card financing and repairs just to delay road replacement is reckless – six years of delays and inaction have put our roads in crisis condition. Without a safe and strong infrastructure our economy comes to a sharp stop.

“We’ve listened to hardworking families, and our Democratic priorities are focused on solutions to strengthen the middle class, encourage community development and expanding economic opportunity all across Wisconsin. I’m hopeful that 2017 will be a prosperous and positive year for you and your family!”