Gov. Tony Evers visits Wausau to talk affordability

Gov. Tony Evers met with local leaders in Wausau on Tuesday to discuss affordability challenges facing residents, including concerns about health care, child care and food access amid uncertainty at the federal level.

Evers participated in a roundtable discussion at Neighbor’s Place, joined by the organization’s director, Donna Ambrose; Bee Her, executive director of the Hmong American Center; Marathon County Supervisor Ann Lemmer; and other community leaders.

Participants shared concerns about potential cuts to health care and local programs, as well as rising costs.

“We had a great conversation with several people that are really important to the Wausau area,” Evers said. “It was around affordability — food sovereignty, child care, health care and several other areas where people are seeing financial needs.”

Evers said his administration is working on legislative steps to help reduce costs for Wisconsinites, noting that the state currently has funding available that could be used if lawmakers act.

“The state of Wisconsin has some money available that we’re hoping we can get the Legislature to do some work before they go home to run for re-election,” Evers said.

He said those funds could be used to address several cost pressures, including efforts to prevent property tax increases.

“If there’s some things we can do in those various areas, we’ll be looking forward to doing that,” Evers said. “We have anywhere between $4 billion and $6 billion. Not all of it is available, because we have to be thoughtful about that. But we do have some that is available, and hopefully some of these ideas we can solve.”

Evers said he hopes action can still be taken before his departure from office.

He added that when the state government has the ability to help residents, it has a responsibility to do so.

“The good thing — and the people in Wausau should be thankful for this — is that there seems to be a general feeling that if things get bad, people in Wausau come to the table,” Evers said. “They do what they can to make sure people are getting food and getting those services.”