Underscores Importance Doing What’s Best for Kids

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers delivered the Democratic Radio Address on Thursday congratulating Dr. Jill Underly on her first State of Education address as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and underscored the importance of working together to continue doing what’s best for our kids and our schools.

Audio file of Radio Address.    

Hi there! Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers here. 

Today, I want to congratulate Dr. Jill Underly on her first State of Education Address as State Superintendent of Public Instruction.  

Dr. Underly and I are both former teachers, so we know firsthand that what’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state. And that’s also why we agree on that our kids come first, which means putting our kids before politics and divisiveness.   

Our schools are the hearts of our community—from our Pre-K and early childhood education providers to our higher education institutions.  

Every kid, every day—no matter what zip code they live in or their family’s economic status—deserves to have the support, the resources, and the services they need to thrive.   

If we’re going to make sure every kid has the chance to be successful in this state, then we have to invest in our kids and our schools.  

It means delivering on our constitutional obligation to provide our kids with disabilities and special needs the best education and resources possible.   

It means supporting and hiring passionate, dedicated, and skilled teachers—especially teachers who understand and share the experiences of students of color.   

And it means coming together to do what’s best for our kids because I know that when we put our kids first, we will not only get through the challenges of this pandemic but build a stronger, more equitable public education system for years to come.   

We made great strides in our last budget—finally reaching two-thirds funding for our public schools for the first time in two decades and making another critical increase for special education. But Superintendent Underly and I both know we still have much work to do.   

I look forward to working together with Superintendent Underly and the DPI to meet the needs of every kid from Pre-K through college, to trust and support our teachers, and to do what’s best for our kids by putting them first.   

Thank you.

MADISON - I hope you can join us, and the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition, on Sept. 27 for our Fair Maps Lobby Day.

Our two legislative priorities for the day are for legislators to take up the new district maps produced by the People’s Maps Commission and to pass legislation (AB395/SB389) that would give us independent, nonpartisan redistricting from now on.

And don’t worry: It’s not in person. Because of COVID, the Lobby Day will be a virtual event.

To get more information and to register, just click here: https://www.fairmapswi.com/events/legislative-lobby-day

The people are with us on this issue, as a recent poll shows:

Support for Banning Gerrymandering in Wisconsin Rises to 87%!

Another issue we’re working really hard on is voting rights. With the Wisconsin Voting Rights Coalition, we’re countering the bogus narrative that the election was stolen, and we’re campaigning against the anti-voting bills introduced in the Legislature.

Here’s a post I wrote about former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman warning about the dangers that Wisconsin will turn into Arizona:

Christine Todd Whitman Denounces Wisconsin’s “CyberNinjas 2.0”

And here’s a profile we put up of Representative Janel Brandtjen, the leader of what I call the Whack Caucus in the State Assembly:

Here’s a Quick Snapshot of “Big Lie” Backer Rep. Janel Brandtjen

I hope you enjoy these postings, and I look forward to seeing you on Sept. 27.

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
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P.S. Please support our urgent work with a tax-deductible gift today. Just click here. Thanks!

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers Thursday delivered the Democratic Radio Address highlighting new funding, made available through the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funding and Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund established by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), that will go to local and tribal health departments to continue their work responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and help ensure our state’s continued economic recovery.

Audio file of Radio Address.

Hey, Wisconsin! It’s Governor Tony Evers.

Since the very beginning of the pandemic, our local and tribal health departments have been on the frontlines of our state’s response to COVID-19.

Their tireless work has been essential in stopping the spread and keeping Wisconsinites as safe and informed as possible.

And, thanks to their hard work, we’ve been able to put our state in the best position possible to recover from the pandemic.

That’s why I was proud to announce $58.4 million in new funding for local and tribal health departments earlier this week.

This investment will support our local partners in the fight to combat COVID-19, help build a robust and equitable state, and ensure our continued economic recovery.

And these funds, made available thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act, add to the $106.5 million my administration has already allocated to local and tribal health departments for COVID-19 response activities in the year 2021.

Our local and tribal health departments have gone above and beyond this past year and a half.

This funding will help them continue keeping our families and our communities safe so we can put this pandemic behind us.

Thank you.

MILWAUKEE - We discuss the escalating and human-made COVID pandemic here in Wisconsin and accross the country. New state data shows that in August the unvaccinated are 11 times more likely to die. Robert highlights a new In These Times story revealing the US is not really pushing a COVID vaccine patent waiver at WTO, despite an official policy earlier this year. We discuss the Gableman/Vos election probe, which is getting national news in an embarassing Arizona kind of way. Next, the panel updates the latest developments in Congress on the Build Back Better agenda. Finally, we welcome U.S. Senate Candidate Tom Nelson, the County Executive of Outagamie County, in our continuing series of interviews with Democratic U.S. Senate candidates. We learn more about his views on Medicare For All and other progressive issues.

Listen Now - Episode #510
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Speaker Vos’ continues to waste taxpayer dollars and sow doubt in our elections says Legislator.

MILWAUKEE, WI - We reflect on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and the destructive 20 year “war on terror” that ensued. Our panel discusses the cost of the war and the American “police state” that followed. We update the latest situation in Congress with the effort to pass the historic $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package. We close with Wisconsin’s concerning COVID surge that finds over 1000 people in state hospitals for the first time since January as students head back to school.

Listen now - Episode #509
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MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers delivered the Democratic Radio Address on Thursday to share information about two new programs, supported by more than $250 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, that will help support Wisconsin’s continued economic recovery and give communities and Wisconsinites across the state additional support to keep bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Audio file of Radio Address.

Hey, folks! Governor Tony Evers here.

Every day, more Wisconsinites get their safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, our economy continues to rebound, and we’re another step closer to putting this pandemic behind us.

But if we want to keep up this momentum and ensure our state keeps bouncing back, we have to keep working to get shots in arms and invest in our economic recovery.

That’s why I was proud to announce we’re investing $275 million into our state’s infrastructure and future so that we can come out of this pandemic even better than we were before.

We’re putting $50 MILLION of our American Rescue Plan Act funds toward a new grant program to invest in healthcare infrastructure across our state, as well as creating a $200 MILLION Neighborhood Investment Fund to support projects in communities near you.

These programs will help local leaders ensure their neighborhoods recover from the pandemic with projects that connect the dots to help families and workers succeed—like housing projects, childcare solutions, expanding transit, and increasing access to healthcare in underserved communities.

I also announced $25 MILLION to support transit infrastructure in our two largest cities to help ensure our workers, students, and families can get from point A to point B.

I’m proud of the work we’ve done to support our state’s continued economic recovery and am looking forward to making these investments so we can continue to bounce back and even better than we were before this pandemic hit.

Let’s keep it up, folks! Thank you.

MADISON - We need to let our own legislators know, and the leaders of the Assembly and the State Senate know, that we won’t stand for the grotesque waste of taxpayer dollars on the endless fishing expeditions about last year’s election.

Even Paul Ryan this week acknowledged: “It was not rigged. It was not stolen.”

So please contact your own legislators, as well as Rep. Janel Brandtjen, who heads the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections, and Kathy Bernier, who heads the Senate Committee on Elections, as well as Speaker Robin Vos and Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu.

Here are their emails:

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Tell them to stop messing with our freedom to vote.

Tell them to stop wasting $680,000 of our hard-earned taxes on these lies and shams.

And tell them instead to work on the crucial issues we face in this state, including COVID, health care, public education, the environment, and broadband.

Thanks for sending these emails, and for defending our freedom to vote!

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
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P.S. And please support our urgent work with a tax-deductible donation today. Just click here.

MILWAUKEE - We are joined by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin president and CEO, Tanya Atkinson, to discuss the U.S. Supreme Court court’s midnight assault on Roe v. Wade, which rendered abortion illegal in the second largest state and may reach Wisconsin in 2022. We head into Labor Day Weekend with guest Laura Dresser, the lead researcher for the Center On Wisconsin Strategies (COWS) on their annual State of Working Wisconsin report released this week. Our panel also discusses WEAC’s call for vaccine and mask mandates in Wisconsin schools in the face of a wave of violence against educators and public health leaders by anti-mask and anti-vax protesters. Finally the empire is striking back in Congress, as a united corporate America unleashes a massive lobbying and advertising blitz against President Biden’s visionary Build Back Better agenda. Can the newly united Democrats stand up to the pressure?

Listen now - Episode #508
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MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers delivered the Democratic Radio Address on Thursday welcoming students across Wisconsin back to school and expressing gratitude to teachers, students, and school faculty for their hard work this past year to keep themselves and their communities safe.

Audio file of Radio Address.

Hi, Wisconsin teachers, staff, administrators, kids, and parents! Governor Tony Evers here welcoming you back to school this semester.

I hope you've had a chance to enjoy a safe and fun summer and you're ready for another great school year ahead of teaching, learning, collaborating, and creating.

There’s no doubt about it—the past couple semesters have been tough, and I know for a lot of folks this semester will be difficult, too.

Every semester over the last eighteen months has presented new challenges, and this semester promises to be different still.

But in the midst of all of that, I’m incredibly proud of how hard you’ve worked to always do your best, to support your friends and neighbors, and to help keep each other safe—and I know you’ll keep it up this semester, too!

Thank you for doing all you can to wear your masks, getting vaccinated if you can, and keeping your distance to help keep each other, your classrooms, and your communities healthy and safe.

I know if everyone masks up, stays safe, and continues to be good, kind, and respectful neighbors, we can get through this pandemic together.

So, with that, stay safe, study hard, and welcome back to school, Wisconsin!