Civic Media News – 2025 WI State of the State Address

Welcome to the special live coverage of the state of the state address on your local civic media radio station and the civic media app.

Governor Tony Evers is set to share his priorities for Wisconsin in 2025.

Todd Alba, host of the Todd Alba show, along with Pat Critelow, host of Up North News Radio, will guide you through the remarks.

You'll also hear from Dan Schaefer with analysis of what the governor's plans mean for you, along with the Republicans' response to it.

Now, your special live coverage of the governor's

state of the state address from the state capital in Madison.

Here are your hosts, Todd Alba and Pat Criteblow.

And good evening, everyone.

Todd Alba here at the World Headquarters of Civic Media News, just a block away here on State Street from Wisconsin's state capital where in moments Governor Tony Evers will deliver his seventh state of the state address.

We are proud to bring it to you here live across the.

Civic Media Radio Network, all 11 stations.

If you want to tune in for Pete Schwab, his program continues online.

We hope you stay with us.

And joining me is Kawhi and Kurt tonight, the wonderful host of Up North News Radio every morning from six until eight across the Civic Media Radio Network.

Pat Crite, little Pat Crite, a little good evening to you, my friend.

You bring a unique perspective.

Not only are you a longtime journalist and political observer, you also spend a term in the Wisconsin State Senate.

Tell us, Pat.

What do we expect tonight in the Capitol?

Sore knees from standing up and sitting down standing up and sitting down.

I remember that from Jim Doyle being governor.

Not so much of that exercise on the Republican side tonight.

If if the usual pattern fits, the governor will propose many things he will try to get some bipartisan reaction to the ideal of something like kids should be able to, you know,

not go hungry, maybe not get the applause if he calls for free school lunches and breakfasts for all kids.

It's going to break down like that for a host of different issues.

So he'll talk to two different audiences today, the legislators and the general public.

And then he'll hit the road tomorrow to do more of talking to the public and local media.

We have an entire team of civic media news around the state of Wisconsin and bringing in our political editor, the founder of the Recapobulation area, Dan Schaefer.

Dan, pleasure to have you with us this evening as well.

Help us Recapobulate.

You've watched this better than anybody else.

These new maps that people voted on in November may well play at least a theme behind the scenes of how Governor Evers approaches this speech.

Yeah, I think to me this is one of the big questions going into this year in the state budget conversations in Madison How will the new margins that came from the new maps impact governing?

Because Republicans are no longer at a near supermajority level in the state legislature How will that play out exactly when we talk about proposals for the state budget earlier today?

Do the governor was released a number of excerpts from his speech?

focusing on certain priorities

taxes, workforce in the economy being one, mental health being another, child safety, childcare.

So those seem like some of the top priority issues he's going to want to get to in this speech to kind of lead into the budget process that we'll be looking ahead to.

I think back to a couple years ago when Tony Evers delivered a speech in 2023 talking about the need to really address the state's shared revenue formula.

That became a hot topic in the budget then.

it'll be interesting to see if he highlights any particular topics, you know, in the weeds along those lines this year as we look ahead to the budget process here in 2025.

This

is largely Democratic Governor Tony Evers evening, but there will be a Republican response afterwards.

Civic Media will cover that as well.

Bring that to you live.

And our North East, pardon me, our Northwest Wisconsin Bureau Chief James Kelly is following that from our headquarters in Chippewa Falls.

James, good evening to you.

What do you expect Republicans to say tonight?

Good evening.

There's definitely a few things I'm expecting and a few things I'm on the lookout for.

The name of the game for state Republicans is tax cuts and cutting spending this year.

Wisconsin ended the fiscal year with an over four and a half billion dollar budget surplus and there are some disagreements on how to use it.

I expect Republicans to reiterate their calls for returning that money to the taxpayers.

Assembly Speaker Robin Voss and Senate Majority Leader Devin Lemahue have called for a tax cut of two billion dollars already.

We could see some criticisms of state spending on things like the newly created

Office of Violence Prevention.

This session features the newly formed Government Operations Accountability and Transparency Committee, which is essentially a state-level replication of the new Department of Government Efficiency on the federal level.

Speaker Voss says the committee's focused on its renewed goal of identifying and addressing government inefficiencies, which could include things like remote work for state employees or administrative services in school, could see some talk on expanding school choice, or even back and forth over the joint finance committees.

parent unwillingness to re funding for things like hospitals out here in th line item vetoes by Gov

sounds good.

You'll be w and James will come back to you also now to our north East Lisa Hale, Lisa.

Good evening watching and talk you a little Democrats released earlier to accomplish as a legislat

That's right.

Last week, they released a package of three bills the Democrats did that they are really focusing on this year, and they are bills to reduce costs for families, for senior citizens, and for those who are low income.

Specifically, it is one that is called the Healthy School Meals for All, which Pat mentioned a little bit earlier.

It's free breakfast and lunch for all school children, not just those deemed to be.

underserved but though all school children they actually think that that will reduce a lot of money when it comes to what is the word I'm looking for administering the program for school lunches because they won't have to keep track of who makes what and all of that the other bills were an extension of the homestead tax credit which would be to $35,000 of income

tax credit for your property taxes.

And then finally, the less for our X agenda, which would put a cap on some medications such as insulin at $50 for all people in the state of Wisconsin, not just seniors or whatever.

So they're all looking at reducing costs for working families.

We appreciate your great work, both Alisa and James, and following those issues.

We'll check in with you throughout the evening.

Pat Kratlow, I want to go back to you.

These evenings, look, as a guy who worked in the legislature and never got elected, like you did, Pat, but worked for a legislator for a long time, this is a lot about pomp and circumstance.

If you're into that, which of course I am, senators sit along the aisle and as a former state senator yourself, you know, it's kind of a big deal.

The sergeant arms from the assembly comes over and you all walk from the Senate chamber to this

there's a big hoopla when they get introduced.

The senators come down and sit there.

Members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

There's some pomp and circumstance to this as well.

Well, sure, there's tradition there.

There's a little bit of ceremony and there's what you would call the quaintness of political norms that are still followed in some circles today, even if not in all of them, where you have a governor who is universally opposed by the majority in the legislature that still gives him a warm welcome.

Doesn't mean they applaud everything that he says, but he comes in and it tries not to become a political rally, but there will be some

politics put into all that pomp and circumstance.

Governor Evers isn't just speaking to all the legislators and the general public.

He's going to speak specifically to what you would call those swing district Republicans who got in by narrow majorities with the new maps.

They don't want to go home in 2026 and say they didn't do anything because Robin Voss didn't want them to do anything.

So Governor Evers is going to try to put pressure on them to pass some of these things like the Healthy School Meals Bill.

Yeah, watch your live feed right now.

We're going to bring this to you live as soon as the governor gets the dance there and starts.

As Pat said, you'll have some pop on circumstance.

It appears right now that the assembly is out waiting for the senators to get to the chamber and take their seats and walk in and the governor will walk in behind them while we wait for the speech to actually start.

Dan Schaefer, I want to go back to you for a moment.

We talked to this with Pat and Trigby Olson on our show a little bit earlier today.

Look, we hope that we're proud to bring this

speech to our listeners across the state.

We think it's important, an important public service, but let's not kid ourselves.

Tony Evers is not exactly, this is no slight to him, not everybody is, not exactly a sexy political speech.

This isn't going to be a rousing speech, but to pass point, this speech really isn't the news, what he says, the headlines tomorrow and what people are going to be talking about on social media for the days to come to set the agenda.

Yeah, I think you're right about that.

And you're right.

Tony Evers is not exactly the sparkling orator that some might hope from a state of the state address.

But at the same time, Tony Evers is very much a very popular, comes into this speech as a very popular governor in the state of Wisconsin.

We had all of the polling throughout the 2024 election cycle that talked about the favorability of various candidates and politicians.

you know, Charles Franklin of the Marquette University Law School poll routinely said that Tony Evers polled as perhaps the most popular.

individual politician in the state of Wisconsin and so he comes into this speech writing a level of support.

I do wonder if you know there is an aspect of this speech given that is coming two days after the inauguration of Donald Trump as the being sworn in as the 47th president if he will make any any comments particularly pointed comments about the Trump administration we saw yesterday he and Attorney General Josh Call joined a lawsuit challenging

the president's order on birthright citizenship.

So I do wonder if there's going to be any elements of that.

You know, it's been a pretty quiet week for a lot of Wisconsin Democrats.

Here's an opportunity to say something about the new administration in Washington.

Governor Evers has been introduced by the Sergeant of Arms, making his way down, shaking hands on both sides of the aisle, Republican and Democratic, in the Assembly, shaking hands with state senators as he comes in as well.

Now, kind of starting to approach the dais.

Pat Crightlow, quickly, there may be political implications as well as the Governor

ponders a third term.

Well, sure.

I mean, look, there are parlors, literal parlors in the legislature.

There's the Assembly Parlor in the back of the chamber.

There's the Senate parlor behind the front of the chamber, and that's the origin of these parlor games.

Will he or will he not run for a third term?

It doesn't matter at this point.

Let's figure out the substance of this budget first.

Here now, the governor of the state of Wisconsin, Tony Evers.

Good evening, Wisconsinites.

Honorable Supreme Court justices, tribal nation leaders, constitutional officers, Edgerton General May.

members of the Wisconsin National Guard and active and retired members of our armed forces, cabinet members, legislators, distinguished guests, and Wisconsinites from wherever you're joining us tonight.

Thank you for being here with us.

I'm Tony Evers and I'm so grateful and proud to be the 46th governor of the great state of Wisconsin.

Thank

you.

Thank you.

I see her up there my former, forever, forever.

Prom date, Kathy is up in the gallery of it as well.

Kathleen Francis.

Kathleen Francis.

Kathleen Francis, you are the cream to fill my cream buff.

And I love you more every day.

Thank you so much, Kathy.

We began a new year.

We began a new year with a new legislature elected under new fair maps.

For the first time in a generation, this legislature was not elected under some of the most gerrymandered maps in America.

I am hopeful this will mean more collaboration, more partnership, a little less ranker, and a renewed commitment to do the right thing for the people of Wisconsin.

And that's great news.

It means we can work together to make bipartisan progress on critical priorities like reforming our justice system,

Fixing our roads, funding our public schools and expanding access to affordable housing.

You know, it's no secret that sometimes people in this building disagree and share some differences.

Never with me, of course.

But we begin this year with, I believe, an urgent need and a mandate to find common ground.

So let's get to work.

Wisconsinites... Wisconsinites, I begin tonight with good news.

Thanks to our work cutting taxes, Wisconsinites are keeping more of your hard-earned income today than any point in the last 50 years.

A new Wisconsin.

I'll get this.

A new Wisconsin policy forum report says Wisconsin state and local tax burden dropped to a record low in 2024.

The state and local taxes Wisconsinites pay as a share of your income is the lowest it's been in over half of a century.

Think about that.

Just two decades ago, Wisconsin was in the top five states for our tax burden and the taxes Wisconsinites paid as a share of their income.

Today, Wisconsin is at the bottom of 16 states in the country.

We have seen the largest drop in our tax burden of any state over the last 20 years.

Cutting taxes has been a bipartisan priority for over the last six years I have proposed a middle-class tax cuts on every budget I've been introduced as governor and the Legislature sent me back some proposals I agreed with including one of the largest tax cuts in states history all told through the though through the income tax cuts I've signed in the law the most

of Wisconsinites have seen a 15% income tax cut or more.

And the folks will see a $1.5 billion in tax relief each year, primarily targeted to the middle class.

And we've been able to provide real, responsible relief while still paying down our state's debt, saving where we can, and working across the aisle to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.

After 30 consecutive years of our state's checking account running a deficit, we have ended all five fiscal years that have been governor with a positive balance.

In Wisconsin, our workforce has never been stronger.

I declared 2024 the year of the worker in Wisconsin because we wanted to address the workforce challenges that have plagued our state for generations to make it a top priority.

And here are the results so far.

In 2024, we reported nine counties with the lowest rates of unemployment on record.

We had historically low unemployment and Wisconsin ended the last year.

It was seven consecutive months of record high employment.

Wisconsinites are hard workers by nature and more Wisconsinites are working than ever before.

And we want Wisconsin workers to be ready for the 21st century.

For the second consecutive year, we hit an all-time high of nearly 10,000 youth apprentices and had record high employer participation.

And we had the highest enrollment ever in our registered apprenticeships programs a hundred year history for the third year in a row.

We launched the first-ever teacher apprenticeship program to retain new teachers and bolster education workforce.

We created new youth apprenticeship pathways from law enforcement and fire prevention to early childhood education.

And we're partnering with over 20 bipartisan states through the U.S.

Climate Alliance to train one million new registered apprentices nationwide with a focus on climate and clean energy fields over the next decade.

And we're making sure our economy is built for the 21st century, too.

In 2024, we launched the largest public private investment in Wisconsin startups and entrepreneurs in the state history.

We also welcomed billions of dollars in investments from global companies, including Microsoft, Eli Lilly and company, and Kecomon, among others, that will create thousands of jobs here in Wisconsin.

Businesses partnering with our administration last year committed to more than $2 billion in capital investments the highest level ever in the last decade.

We're also working to make Wisconsin a global leader in health and medical field advances, from developing new technologies to discovering cures and strategies to improve treatment outcomes.

We worked with Senator Baldwin to secure Wisconsin's designation as a U.S.

Regional Tech Hub.

Our tech hub is projected to create over 100,000 jobs and $9 billion worth of economic development in Wisconsin over the next decade alone.

And Wisconsinites, thanks to our hard work, state government is working smarter and faster than ever before.

We've been able to modernize and improve programs that can help improve your daily lives.

It's about making sure government works and works better for you.

We expedited community infrastructure projects for drinking water by cutting the review time for engineering plans in half.

We partnered with the technical colleges to streamline licensing for students, helping make sure they could join our strapped healthcare workforce as soon as possible.

We also created the first ever interactive mapping tool for producers to be able to monitor animal diseases outbreaks across Wisconsin.

After I directed investments to bring our state's licensing system into the 21st century, folks can now apply for or renew their professional licenses online and get this.

Wisconsinites no longer will have to use a fax machine to send in some of their materials.

For those of you who are wondering what the heck a fax machine is, folks, that's the point.

We created a new system to help professionals respond to drug overdoses, identifying dangerous trends in our communities, and getting information out quicker to folks that need it.

We made it possible to purchase state trail passes online so folks no longer have to carry a paper pass on the trails.

And we launched a new app for our state-run veterans homes so that loved ones can stay up to speed on their veterans' medical care.

And Wisconsinites were also saving your tax dollars along the way by shrinking our bottom line.

We're working to consolidate building space across state government.

And by downsizing and expanding remote work options, we've made it even easier for Wisconsinites to join our state workforce, regardless of where you live.

Our plan is projected to save taxpayers over $7 million every year by delivering

another half a billion dollars in savings from deferred maintenance costs.

Wisconsin we accomplished a lot this last year.

We have shown that we can get a lot of good things done when politics stay out of our way.

There is, as always, more work to do.

and our work together continues here tonight.

I will soon introduce our next state budget, laying out our state's top policy priorities for the next two years.

Every budget I have ever built began first by doing what's best for our kids, and this one will be no different.

So I will again propose historic investments in K-12 education.

And I will again ask Republicans and Democrats to join me in doing what's best for our kids by making meaningful investments in public education at every level, from early childhood to our UW system and our technical colleges.

The good news is that the legislature need not wait until I introduce my budget to get to work.

Republican lawmakers can start today by releasing the $50 million we approved with bipartisan support nearly two years ago.

These funds were already approved.

They are available now, and they should not still be sitting in Madison.

Folks, folks.

Folks, our kids and their future are too important for politics.

Republicans, please release this investment so that we can get the work improving readings outcomes statewide.

We have to do more to improve outcomes for our kids.

And yes, that means making meaningful investments in our public schools.

But our kids' outcomes are as much a reflection of what happens within our schools as they are, importantly, a reflection of what happens beyond them.

And that's a simple matter of math.

The average Wisconsin elementary student, for example, spends less than 12% of their year receiving direct instruction in the classroom.

That means that they probably spend, give or take about 80% of their time of the year outside of our schools.

So I have to recognize that our schools and educators cannot single-handedly fix our kids' circumstances beyond the school doors that nevertheless impact learning and success in the classroom every day.

Folks, the obligation to help address the challenges our kids are facing in this 80% of the time they're not in school

falls squarely at the feet of elected officials, including myself in this building.

So tonight I'm declaring 2025 the year of the kid in Wisconsin because I want everyone here to start talking or taking that important responsibility seriously.

I will keep saying this until the folks in this building finally hear me.

If we want to improve our kids' outcomes, then we have to shorten the odds.

If we want our educators and schools to be able to do their very best work and the hours our kids are with them, we have to set them up for success.

And we have to start by making sure our kids can bring their full and best selves to our classrooms.

Kids in class should be focused on learning, not wondering when and whether they'll eat next.

Our kids should never go hungry, period, but especially not at school.

In the year of the kid, the budget I will introduce next month will again include my Healthy Meals Healthy Kids Initiative.

Let's end school meal debt and make sure every kid has a healthy breakfast and lunch at school with no stigma at no cost.

Let's start treating our state's mental health crisis with the urgency it requires.

Yes, for everyone of every age, but especially for our kids.

The state of our kids' mental health continues to be a concerning for me as governor and also as a grandfather.

A kid in crisis may be distracted or disengaged, may not be able to focus on their studies if they are able to get to school at all.

I fought hard to secure

to secure $30 million in our last state budget to support school-based mental health services in schools across Wisconsin.

That was just a fraction of what I asked the legislature to approve.

Tonight, I'm announcing my budget proposal will invest nearly $300 million to provide comprehensive mental health services and schools statewide, including support for peer-to-peer suicide prevention programs and expanded mental health training.

Making sure our kids are healthy, physically and mentally is a crucial part of improving outcomes in our classrooms.

But we have to connect the dots between school achievement and the challenges our kids are facing at home and in our communities.

Take lack of access to clean and safe drinking water as an example.

There's no safe level of lead exposure for kids.

According to the CDC, even the smallest exposure can lead to

It can have serious long-term consequences and can even, quote, reduce a child's learning capacity, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement, end quote.

A 2019 study of kids over several early grade levels found that even low level led exposure.

during early childhood can affect kids' achievement, including reading and math scores.

It also showed that even additional schooling and physically maturing, quote, are not sufficient to offset the damage caused by early childhood exposure, end quote.

My healthy meals, healthy kids' plan will also help modernize bubblers, we call them bubblers in Wisconsin.

at schools across Wisconsin to remove harmful contaminants.

And as we kick off the year of the kid, I'm also announcing we're going to invest over $6 million in our biennial budget to support lead poisoning intervention and response.

And I'm announcing this week that I'll approve a Department of Health Services emergency rule strengthening Wisconsin's lead standards.

So more kids and more families will be eligible for these critical resources.

With each day of inaction addressing harmful contaminants and our water grows more and even more expensive So I'm announcing tonight that I've directed an additional five million dollars to continue our work getting harmful contaminants out of water wells in 2025 the year of the kid It's about doing what's best for our kids and families simple as that

If we want our kids to bring their best and full selves to our classrooms, elected officials have to start acknowledging how policy decisions and investments are lack thereof.

Here in this building affect kids, families, schools, and communities across Wisconsin every day.

Whether or not kids and families have access to safe, reliable housing affects kids at school.

Whether or not kids and families have a way to safely and efficiently travel to and from home and work affects kids at school.

Living in a traumatic or unsafe home environment affects kids at school.

Lack of access to preventive health care and dental care and eye care affects kids at school.

The state cannot continue to assure responsibility for the 80% of time our kids are not in our classrooms.

That 80%

falls on us.

So folks that means we have work to do we can start with the basics making sure our kids are safe at home at school in our communities is an area where we have much room for improvement.

Last week I created our new Wisconsin Office for Violence Prevention.

We're going to work across law enforcement agencies and local governments with school districts, nonprofits, and firearm dealers to help keep our kids, families, and communities safe.

I also announced my budget will include sustainable ongoing funding to make the Wisconsin Office for Violence Prevention permanent.

so that we can take a statewide approach to preventing crime and violence across our state.

I will again be proposing significant investments in our next state budget to expand access to mental and behavioral health services across our state.

Those investments should receive bipartisan support.

We also have to make sure crime victims, survivors, and their families have the support they need to recover.

I directed millions of dollars to keep the victims of crime act providers afloat when the federal funds were cut.

Tonight, I'm investing $66 million to support services for crime victims in our next state budget.

But these actions alone cannot be our only effort to reduce crime and violence and keep our kids, families, and communities safe.

Addressing gun violence must be part of our work, folks.

In recent years, Wisconsin has seen about a 21% decrease in homicide, a nearly 30% decrease in burglary, and almost a 50% decrease in motor vehicle theft.

Major categories of violent crime are going down statewide.

And yet the rate of gun deaths in Wisconsin is trending in the opposite direction.

According to every town for gun safety, the rate of gun deaths increased in Wisconsin by 54% between 2014 and 2023 compared to a 34% increase nationwide over that same time period.

37 days ago,

a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, took the lives of Aaron and Ruby, a student and an educator who woke up, went to school that morning, will never return home.

Six others were injured and countless lives will never be the same.

Folks, Wisconsinites sent us here to see big problems and fix them.

We cannot let common sense get lost in debates over whether

Basic policies could have prevented the most recent shooting, or the one before that, or the one before that.

We aren't here in Madison Equible about the semantics of the last shooting.

We are here to do everything we can to prevent the next one.

So we can do better than doing nothing this legislature must do better than doing nothing This is was this is Wisconsin I get it we hunt we fish we trap and generations have grown up learning to appreciate our traditions No one wants to change this proud part of our heritage and we won't but we

do not have to choose between respecting the Second Amendment or keeping kids, schools, and streets and communities safe.

We can do both.

And the truth is this, the vast majority of Wisconsinites, including gun owners, agree.

So let's start with two basic policies we already know Wisconsinites support.

We can take easy, simple steps to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

Let's ask everyone to play by the same set of rules.

Let's close the loophole so that everyone goes through a background check, no matter what kind of firearm they are buying or where they are buying it.

And the second thing we can do is pass a red flag law to give law enforcement and loved ones the tools they need to get guns out of the home when someone is a dangerous risk to themselves or others.

Just last month, we saw how crucial red flag laws can be to prevent tragedy.

Shortly after the shooting at Abundant Life, law enforcement discovered the shooter had potentially plotted with a man in another state who was allegedly planning

his own mass shooting.

Because he lives in a state with a red flag law, law enforcement was able to get an emergency protective order requiring him to surrender his firearms before he could move forward with his plan.

Their quick work almost certainly saved lives.

Without red flag laws law enforcement in Wisconsin are often unable to intervene unless a crime has already been committed.

At that point, sometimes it's too late.

We have to change that.

So let's do what an overwhelmingly majority of Wisconsinites, including our gun owners, believe we should.

Let's give law enforcement and loved ones the tools they need by passing a red flag law here in Wisconsin.

And there are other easy steps we can take to keep our kids and our communities safe and keep guns off the streets.

We can keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.

We can help make sure that guns in homes where there are kids or someone prohibited from possessing a firearm are locked away or have a trigger lock engaged.

We can help make sure that firearms that retailers are secured when their business is unattended.

We can help make sure that if a firearm is lost or stolen,

law enforcement is immediately notified.

We should be able to get this common self-stuff done with bipartisan support folks.

A lot of our work is not just to prevent people from hurting others, but to make sure people are safe from hurting themselves.

These next two policies are personal for me, as I know they are for folks who are here and tuning in at home.

Please know that if you or someone you know is struggling, help is always available.

You can call or text 988 or visit 988 lifeline.org to get free confidential help.

any time 24-7.

Just three years ago, as I delivered my State of the State address, State Representative Jonathan Brostoff sit right there in one of these seats.

Jonathan had a heart of service.

He was always working to make someone else's life just a little bit better.

As a fierce and advocate as Jonathan was,

He was still always eager to learn about and understand others in order to bridge divides.

At the end of last year, Jonathan died by suicide.

We are so deeply saddened that he is no longer with us.

Jonathan's wife Diana and his parents, Phyllis and Alan, are here with us in the gallery tonight.

Please stand and join me in recognizing them.

For too many Wisconsinites, even if they did not know Jonathan, the story of losing him is their story too.

Kathy and I share that story.

The families, friends and co-workers, the veterans, farmers, construction workers and law enforcement officers and so many others share that story.

Kids, classmates, parents, grandparents, loved ones and friends in every corner of our state, they share that story.

This heartache has become far too often.

Wisconsin in 2022 reported 932 deaths by suicide according to Department of Health Services report nearly 60% of which involved a firearm.

These are statistics we cannot change because those are souls we cannot bring back.

But there is more we can do today to save lives tomorrow.

If you talk to someone

who loved, whose loved one died by suicide, many will tell you that their loss was not a foregone conclusion.

That maybe, just maybe, if the person they loved had just made it through one more dark night to see with certainty that the sun would rise again, things could have ended up differently.

Tonight, I am asking this legislature to give the family and the next one

and the family after that hope for that same opportunity.

Studies show that the time between when someone decides to take their life and attempts to do so is often left less than 24 hours and for about half less than 10 minutes.

The window for intervention is really short.

Being able to purchase and possess a gun in minutes significantly increases the risk of firearm suicide and firearm homicide as well.

A decade ago today, Wisconsin had a waiting period law requiring time between when a person purchased a firearm and took possession of it.

That policy was repealed.

It's time for Wisconsin to return that common sense to that common sense policy.

Tonight I'm announcing I will be asking the legislature to restore the 48 hour waiting period in Wisconsin in our next state budget.

I am also announcing tonight a new self-assigned firearm exclusion program or SAFE to help reduce suicide by firearm.

We can help make sure folks have a plan to keep themselves safe when they are in a crisis.

Our SAFE program will allow Wisconsinites to temporarily and voluntarily register to prevent themselves from purchasing a firearm.

Registering SAFE could make a real difference and even save someone's life.

Let's get this done.

Folks, the legislature must start doing its part to take gun violence seriously in the state.

People don't expect us to be perfect in this building, but they do expect us to be pragmatic.

People don't expect us to acquiesce to each concept of every policy put before us, but they do expect us to at least have the courage to engage in a conversation.

People don't expect us to agree with each other 100% of the time, but they do expect us to have the guts to give reasonable policies a vote.

Let's do better for Wisconsin than doing nothing.

Kathy and I raised three kids, including twins.

We know that for parents, nothing is more important than our kids' safety no matter where they are.

So keeping our kids, families, schools, and communities safe by reducing crime and gun violence should be a top priority for us in this year of a kid.

Kathy and I also remember working to make ends meet so that our kids were not just safe but had food on the table, a warm bed to sleep in, and clothes on their back.

So a critical part of our work, doing what's best for our kids in the year of the kid, must be supporting the parents and families who raise them.

There are a lot of ways we can lower everyday out of pocket costs to make sure Wisconsinites and working families can afford basic needs.

So I have good news.

The plan I am announcing tonight will support our economy and our workforce lower out of pocket costs.

for working families in Wisconsinites and help give folks a little breathing room in their household budgets.

No surprise, childcare is too darn expensive.

We have to make childcare more affordable and accessible.

This is as much about doing what's best for our kids as it's doing what's best for parents in our workforce and in our economy too.

After years of proposing similar efforts, I was proud last year to sign a bipartisan bill to expand our child and dependent care credit.

That bill goes into effect this year.

So parents and families, be sure to look out for that when you file your taxes.

Over 110,000 Wisconsin taxpayers will see an average benefit of over $650 per filer, totaling nearly $73 million this year alone.

That's great news for Wisconsin's working families.

But we have to do more to lower the out-of-pocket costs working families are paying for child care every day.

A 2023 report showed child care costs in Wisconsin can consume 18 to 36 percent of a family's household income.

Those parents are under 25 and have two kids in child care is closer to 70 percent.

The cost of putting two young kids in childcare costs more than the average rent or mortgage in Wisconsin and exceeds the annual cost of tuition to send two students to the University of Wisconsin Madison.

And even if folks can find and afford care, families may be wait-listed for months.

Childcare providers across Wisconsin surveyed last fall had 48,000 kids on wait-lists with nearly 60% of providers.

having unutilized capacity often because they needed more workers.

Childcare providers are stuck increasing costs while keeping classrooms closed and serving fewer kids as weightless girls.

Getting providers up to full capacity would mean serving another 33,000 kids.

Wisconsin's childcare crisis affects not only our kids, families, and childcare providers, but our state employers,

workforce and economy too.

I've repeatedly proposed plans to lower the cost of childcare of which Republican lawmakers rejected.

So I directed $170 million in emergency funding to keep our childcare industry afloat.

But folks, that was 15 months ago.

We must do better than nothing when it comes to making childcare more affordable.

Our state budget will once again include sustainable ongoing funding to make sure our childcare accounts program permanent, including investing over $500 million aimed at lowering childcare costs, supporting this critical industry, investing in employer-sponsored childcare.

We're looking at everyday out-of-pocket costs.

Child care is not the only thing folks are struggling to afford.

The costs of prescriptions and life-saving medication like insulin are also too darn high.

According to a 2023 national survey, more than a quarter of adults in America are having a hard time affording their prescription drugs.

I found 30% or it also found 30% of the adults aren't taking the medications prescribed due to cost.

No Wisconsinite should have to choose between paying bills and putting food on the table and getting their life-saving medication.

Accessing healthcare and picking up basic prescriptions or insulin should not break the bank, folks.

So let's work to lower the cost of prescriptions and protect consumers from price gouging and life-saving medication.

Through my less-for-RX plan, I will again ask Republicans and Democrats to work together to approve new state programs aimed at setting price ceilings for prescriptions and improving oversight of drug companies to make sure Wisconsinites are getting a fair shake.

Let's remove the sales tax on over-the-counter medications and cap the copay on insulin at $35 while we're at it.

Lowering everyday out-of-pocket costs for Wisconsinites and working families must be a priority for this session.

Making childcare and everyday prescriptions more affordable are two easy ways we can help Wisconsinites afford basic needs, help paychecks go a little further, and give parents, families, and seniors some breathing room in their household budgets.

And my plan allows us to lower costs by supporting our workforce and our economy too.

In the coming weeks, I will announce my comprehensive plan to lower costs for Wisconsinites and working families.

And this work is especially timely.

We've already seen steps taken in Washington.

In recent days, that could significantly increase costs, hurt Wisconsinites and working families, and leave a lot of uncertainty for our economy here in Wisconsin.

A lot has happened in Washington in the last 72 hours, and I know there's a lot.

a lot of angst about what may happen in these days, months, and years ahead.

I want to talk about what it means for Wisconsin and how we move forward together.

So let's talk about immigration.

These lands were inhabited by indigenous peoples from millennia before people from France, Great Britain, Norway, Holland, Sweden,

They were here before people from France, Great Britain, Norway, Holland, like my wife's father, Sweden, Germany, and regions the world over.

It came and settled here in a state as we now know and love it.

Wisconsin began as a land of many people, of many origins, each important and none any better than any other.

And that is still who we are, 177 years later.

The state of Wisconsin was born of immigrants.

But today, there are those who would have us forget that fact.

There are those who would have us rewrite the story of ourselves, and they would ask us to believe in a distorted and dishonest history.

They would have us abandon the values, the values, the values that made us who we are as the people whose blood, love, and labor make our state great.

We cannot and we cannot and we will not.

Wisconsinites are honest people.

We tell the truth.

So in this building, let's do the same and let's move past partisan rhetoric.

Let's agree to be honest about the fact that in this state, some of our state's largest and most important industries have companies have always welcomed the hard work of immigrants.

Let's agree to be honest.

Let's agree to be honest about the fact that the story of our state's success today is told in the labor of over three million Wisconsinites including tens of thousands of workers whose only Transgression to date was not having the good fortune of being born in this country Let's agree let's agree that we can continue

Let's agree that we can continue to be a state that enforces our laws when and if they are broken but still Embraces our shared history and all those who have helped write that our Wisconsin story from our native native nations to the generations of immigrants who came after And and let's agree let's agree

that if you work, obey the law, pay taxes, and contribute to our communities, and play by the rules just like everyone else, you should have a fair shot at coming and continuing to pursue the American dream.

Our current system.

Our current system.

is unworkable and unsustainable.

There must be bipartisan work towards a solution that builds upon the strength of our country without threatening our economy's success.

Wisconsin, we cannot allow reckless decisions in Washington to stymie our Wisconsin economic momentum.

We cannot stall our progress towards fixing the problems that have plagued our state for generations.

We cannot afford to lose the prosperity for posterity that we've worked hard to build together.

I have always been willing to work with anyone who is willing to do the right thing for the people of Wisconsin.

And that has not changed.

But I will not compromise on our Wisconsin values, treating people with kindness, dignity, empathy, and respect.

And I will continue to deliver on my promise to fight for the values and priorities that I have every day as your governor.

Protecting access to affordable health care is one of them.

The Affordable Care Act ensures coverage for millions of Wisconsinites, including folks who have pre-existing conditions.

Women are no longer charged more than men.

We no longer have annual or lifetime limits on the care patients receive.

So I promise you this, I'll fight every effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, just as I have done since day one as governor.

I fought like hell to make sure Wisconsin women have the freedom to make their own reproductive health care decisions without interference from politics.

Without interference.

Without interference from politicians in this building who know nothing about their life, their faith, or their circumstances, and I fought like hell to restore access to safe legal abortion in Wisconsin.

And on the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I'll tell you tonight that I'll fight like hell against every effort and veto any bill that makes access to abortion, birth control, infertility treatments, and any other part of reproductive hell.

care any less accessible than it is today.

And that's a promise.

Wisconsin will continue to be bold on clean energy, fight the climate crisis and create good-paying jobs and innovative industries of the future.

Because in Wisconsin we know we can't afford to choose between mitigating climate change and protecting our environment or creating jobs and economic development, we must do both.

So we will continue our work to do right by our kids by leaving a world better place and a world than the one we inherited.

And to our LGBTQ kids in Wisconsinites, you know the promise I made to you, the promise I have always been proud to keep.

I will veto any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive, and less welcoming place.

And I will never stop delivering on my promise to use every power available to me to defend you, protect your rights, and keep you safe.

My promise to the people of Wisconsin has always been to be a governor who works for all Wisconsinites who does the right thing when it matters most.

That is a promise I will continue to keep.

If everyone here is more intent on doing more for others than themselves, more focused on what we can accomplish together than what they can gain on their own and committed

to doing what's right rather than what's best for their personal politics, we will get a lot done for the people we are here to serve.

We must continue to make smart strategic investments while staying within our means.

We must continue to invest in needs, long neglected, while still finding ways to save where we can.

And we must continue to go as ever forward together.

So let's get good things done for the people of Wisconsin this year and let's get back to work.

Thank you and on Wisconsin UW marching band take it away.

And with that Governor Tony Evers concludes his seventh state of the state address

In the assembly chambers of the Wisconsin State Capitol, welcome back everyone to the World Headquarters of Civic Media here at our broadcast center, a block away from the Capitol on State Street in downtown Madison, title ball with you with our entire team of post coverage.

The University of Wisconsin marching band coming out onto the floor.

Of course, those of us like quite a little myself know that the rules are suspended because unless you're a member, you're not supposed to be on the floor, but a little pomp and circumstance at the end.

Our entire team of

of news people across the state of Wisconsin are standing by, but I want to start with the host of Up North News Radio, a former legislator himself, Pat Critello.

Pat, your initial thoughts of Governor Tony Evers' speech tonight.

Well, they're more in line with, you know, what you and I were talking about before that you would have liked to have seen a different tone from the governor, one that was more, you know, welcoming toward Republicans, trying to attract more support.

It was another Tony Evers speech, which was unabashedly democratic.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with that.

But there were no lines that were specifically designed to attract Republican shearing.

Instead, it was lined

that would make Republicans look silly by sitting there and not applauding some basic priorities, but that's because they were wrapped up in some of the same proposals that Governor Evers has made time and time again.

If you're an Evers fan, that's great.

He again promised to try to restore Roe v. Wade, veto every LGBTQ attack.

basically there wasn't anything there that was going to change the circumstance.

So any pressure on those swing district Republicans that I talked about before the speech is going to have to come organically from constituents and others.

It's not going to necessarily be an olive branch from the

governor.

To your point, Pat, I mean, some of these things such as the $5 million for cutting contaminants in wells, $66 million for victims of crime, calling on supporting hunting and trapping in the state with reasonable things like background checks and red flag laws.

I mean, to paraphrase Andre Jock's brother a little bit here, if you can't be for kids, what the heck can you be for, Pat?

oh everything that you say is true it's just that again it the governor delivers it in in a way that says you know guys come on we should be able to agree on this when at this point after this many years i think the only message that would get through would be one that is you know much more aggressive apparently you know essentially

shaming them, if you

will,

saying, how dare you allow water to still be polluted with PFAS chemicals while you sit on this money?

How dare you keep our kids from getting the money that they need to read better by holding on to that literacy money and really take it to them that way, either.

But but the approach that we've got so far is is the same tried and true Evers approach.

It's worked for him for two elections.

But I don't see that this next state budget is going to unfold any differently than the others.

The rest of our team hang on just one second.

Our great producer Aaron Zommers has given me the high sign to stay in compliance with the FCC.

As the late great Bob Euker once said, we pause now for a station identification that you're listening not to the Brewer's radio network, but Civic Media's radio network.

You're listening to WAUK Jackson Milwaukee, WMDX Columbus Madison, WGBW Green Bay, WISS Oshkosh, WZBU New Holstein, WLCX La Crosse, WLAK Amory, WBZH Hayward, WRCE Richland Center, WXCO Wasaw and WFHR Wisconsin Rapids.

Back to our post game show here of the seventh state of the state of Governor Tony Evers.

We are awaiting the Republican response, which will be given by Speaker of the Assembly Robin Voss.

We are awaiting that we will go to it at any minute But while we wait for that want to go to our political editor and founder of the Reconbibulation area Dan Schaefer.

Let's Reconbibulate a little bit on this speech Dan your thoughts these knee jerk after the conclusion of this speech

You know, I thought it was an interesting speech and I thought it

it would obviously you know broke down a lot of the typical priorities that you might hear from a democratic governor just as as pat mentioned but i think you know pulling out a couple interesting uh interesting points there he spent a lot of time talking about suicide prevention

And I thought that that is not necessarily the type of partisan issue that we really hear about in a typical political speech.

But I thought one of the most powerful moments of the speech was acknowledging the widow of the late Jonathan Brostoff, who was a state representative for a long time in Madison, also a member of the Milwaukee Common Council, who died by suicide last year.

And acknowledging that and acknowledging that this is a.

This is a major problem throughout Wisconsin, death by suicide and death by firearm suicide and introducing some new proposals and programs to address that.

Again, he's going to talk about things like reproductive rights.

He's going to talk about protecting the talk about the Affordable Care Act.

He's going to talk about a number of other democratic priorities, but I think this isn't

necessarily one of those things that we think of as a partisan issue and I think it is important that Evers is putting this front and center in a speech like this at this moment to really try to get some movement on this type of issue.

Yeah, I agree with you, Dan.

I thought it was probably, in my opinion, the most poignant moment of the speech.

We actually have that clip.

We're going to play it for you in just a minute.

Pat Critello, we want to be respectful of your time.

We know you have to be up in a matter of hours for another great edition of Up North News Radio every morning from 6 until 8.

As we prepare here to hear from Robin Voss, the Republican response, your final thoughts on that in about 30 seconds are telling me.

Just that, what we talked about again before about what

whether he would take a swipe at the Trump administration in some way or another.

And I'm sure that the immigration remarks were added at the last minute, talking about their only transgression, being the misfortune of not being born in this country.

And to be honest, we have already, we have always relied on immigrant labor and we could do better by them.

Thank you, Pat.

We'll see you at six in the morning to up north news radio and the rest of our team will get to you in just a minute.

But first of all, we want to pause now and bring you the Republican response tonight.

delivered by Speaker of the Assembly, Robin Voss.

Hello, I'm Assembly Speaker Robin Voss.

On behalf of the legislature, it's my honor to give the Republican response to tonight's State of the State address.

This week has been exciting as we watch the peaceful transfer of power in our nation's capital.

However, far too many Americans believe the only place that policies are made is in Washington, D.C.

While I'm excited for the changes President Trump's administration will make to many federal policies, inflation

Rising rents and increasing food prices have hurt our families for the last four years and elected officials in Madison must also address the state policies that have created the same challenges.

The speech tonight was Governor Evers' seventh State of the Straight Address where he largely delivered the same tired rhetoric he's presented the other six times he's given the same speech.

Year after year we hear the same lip service about wanting to work together and then unfortunately he rarely follows through.

My hope tonight is that unlike the past seven times, Governor Evers is actually serious about finding common ground with legislative Republicans.

First, let's talk about taxes.

Cutting them remains the primary objective for legislative Republicans.

We have the largest one-time surplus in state history, and instead of talking about how to return that money to working families tonight, Governor Evers prioritized adding more spending and growing the size of government.

The fact is a surplus of this size only exists because over a year ago, Governor Evers vetoed a tax cut that would have returned around $1,000 to every family in Wisconsin.

That tax cut would have helped those families as they struggled to keep up with rising costs.

Instead, he alone decided it was better for government to keep your money.

Tonight, Republicans stand united in returning that money to you, the taxpayers.

And we will give Governor Evers another chance to do the same.

We propose to return it to those who are hardworking retirees in a need of a much needed income tax exemption.

And we will also look for ways to hold down your property taxes and help struggling young families.

Next, while we heard tonight about another education plan to write a blank check to our schools, Republicans will focus on increasing standards and demanding accountability.

Right now, only 48% of students in Wisconsin are even reading at grade level.

This is absolutely unacceptable and it has to change.

Our reading crisis is not just limited to our biggest school districts, however, it exists in districts all across the state, both large and small.

According to Wisconsin's Department of Public Instruction's own data, only 37% of students were proficient in English in 2022.

There was little progress in the next year with only 39% of students testing proficient.

DPI says that we're doing better now, but it's only because they significantly lowered the standards to inflate the results.

Make no mistake, our education system is doing an enormous disservice to our students.

We will not allow the Department of Public Instruction to shortchange our students by lowering our standards.

Republicans will enact legislation to require the forward exam to be aligned with the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

This will bring our standards back to the baseline before DPI artificially inflated them.

It will also allow parents to compare the past with the present.

Recently, Governor Evers even said in a statement, quote, we need to have as high of standards as possible, unquote.

He's right.

Hopefully this will be a place where the legislature and Governor Evers can actually find common ground to come together with a solution to this growing failure in K-12 education.

Finally, we will focus on helping President Trump fix the broken immigration system.

Every state is a border state when we deal with the challenges presented by illegal immigration.

Disappointingly, even tonight, Governor Eves has already said that he will not allow our National Guard troops to help at the border, and his administration has said they will not assist with the deportation of violent criminals.

There are too many lawless bureaucrats and politicians pushing dangerous sanctuary policies that jeopardize our public safety here in Wisconsin.

This has to stop.

Our criminal justice systems and our government programs are already stretched too thin, and they need to focus resources on those who are here legally.

Surprising, there is no current statutory requirement for law enforcement to inquire with ICE when an individual's legal status cannot be verified.

In fact, some law enforcement agencies, including Dane County, the city of Beloit, and Milwaukee County have already announced they will not comply with ICE in limited circumstances.

Republicans will pass legislation requiring all law enforcement in Wisconsin to cooperate with the immigration service to deport those who commit a serious crime and are being held in our jails or our prisons.

The ideas I've just discussed in this brief

Response are common sense and have broad public support.

Everyone, whether you're a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent, should be able to rally around the idea of fighting inflation, better educational outcomes for our kids, and punishing violent criminals.

We heard from tonight, Governor Evers, a long list of things, partisan demands in a way that doesn't bring Wisconsin together.

We all know Wisconsin is such a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire.

Our commitment and our promise to you is to keep working to make it even better.

Thank you for joining me tonight.

God bless you and your family and God bless the state of Wisconsin.

The Republican response tonight by assembly speaker Robin Voss from the assembly parlor, which is right on the back side behind the assembly chamber.

So a short walk there for the speaker to get on audio and get on camera there.

Want to go back to our team, which is standing by around the state of Wisconsin.

I am here at our broadcast center in downtown Madison, a block away from the state Capitol.

We are joined by political editor and founder of Civic Media and founder of the Reconpobulation.

area Dan Schaefer.

Also, James Kelly, our Northwest Bureau Chief there for Civic Media News and Lisa Hale, the Northeast of Wisconsin Bureau Chief for Civic Media News.

James, let's start with you because I know this is one of the areas that you were watching tonight with the Republican response.

Your take on this initially after after Robert Vos got done.

Yeah, as expected, he said cutting taxes remains the primary objective for the Republican Party with the largest one-time state surplus in state history.

That is definitely something that they've put an added emphasis on in recent weeks after the budget surplus was announced at over $4.5 billion.

Again, they're looking for a tax cut of about $2 billion, whether that will happen.

Yet to be seen I also thought it was interesting that he went to actual statistics with student test scores That's been a topic of controversy in the last couple weeks here with the the level of standards that's been proposed by the Department of Public Instruction

Governor Evers has expressed a similar interest in kind of raising those standards back up again So I thought it was interesting that they might be able to find a little bit of common ground there at least that was his hope and again immigration That's a common theme for the Republican Party in the past election past elections before that I thought it was interesting that he would be proposing legislation to force local law enforcement officers to comply with ICE

Yeah, I want to ask you about that James.

I know you work for the news department and our opinion shows will get more into this I'm sure tomorrow, but I want to ask you someone who lives up in the Chippewa Valley up there It would seem to me that correctly if I'm wrong I don't know that you know un-documented folks quote-unquote illegal folks are the main cause of of of crime at least in northwest Wisconsin and also as a you know somebody a former Republican myself

It's interesting that Republicans seem to be all about state rights when it comes to letting states choose abortion laws and say, well, let's leave it to the states.

But in this one, they want it to be a federal policy.

They want it one size fits all.

It's funny you mentioned that.

If you remember when Vice President J.D.

Vance came out to Eau Claire for a visit over the election period, I did ask him.

about rural hospital access, how their administration would protect access to hospitals for people who may have to drive, say, half an hour, 45 minutes or an hour to the nearest hospital if one's like HSHS close.

And the first word out of his mouth was immigration.

We have to fix immigration because we're spending too much money on immigrants getting free health care.

That is not the case with the HSHS closures.

I spoke to Governor Evers and Lieutenant Governor Sarah Rodriguez later, who both said that Medicaid...

expansion was the true reason they just weren't getting enough in reimbursements and illegal immigration had next to nothing to do with the closures of those hospitals.

Yeah, certainly interesting, great reporting there.

And again, I know you were on the ground with this when both JD Vance and Vice President Harris were in the Chippewa Valley.

They appreciate you.

Let's go over to our Northeast Bureau Chief, Lisa Hale.

Lisa, from your watching again, legislative Democrats put forward their agenda.

Certainly heard some of those things you previewed for us before the speech in Governor Evers' State of the State address tonight.

And I think we just to unmute the mic there Lisa won't stand by one second.

We'll uh, well There

we

go.

That's all good

We did hear several things that were that were Previewed in the Democrats package the lowering costs What did they call it lowering cost improving lives package?

The reduction of prescription

costs is a big one.

Now he mentioned a $35 cap on insulin, whereas the bills that the Democrats have put forward was a $50 cap on insulin.

But that's one of the things that that we've been hearing a lot from Democrats all over even nationally, putting a cap on insulin, cap on insulin, cap on insulin, because it was so expensive for so long to get your insulin is very it's one of those things that is needed, but is also extremely expensive.

Also, the healthy meals for all.

I noticed that he mentioned that, but very briefly that he mentioned the kids eating free in schools.

I think he knows that that's a Democrat thing.

He knows that's one of those things that the Republicans are going to say, do we really want to pay for all of that when we have low test scores?

So we're watching those types of things as well.

I thought your comment about lowering insulin down to $35 of prescription, and also stopping price gouging.

That would seem to me something that plays well.

Whoever you voted for at the top of the ticket in November, lots of folks on fixed incomes, particularly seniors, it could cost hundreds of dollars a month for that.

That would seem to play well for both sides, but tonight we only saw Democrats standing up when Governor Evers mentioned that.

That is because it's a Democrat talking point.

Whenever you're talking about reducing the cost of prescriptions or putting caps on prescriptions, and you're mentioning that over and over, it's a Democrat talking point because it relates to national health.

It relates to the DHS, it relates to prescription, big pharma, all of that.

So it's a talking point, and that's why you didn't see anybody stand up and say, yes,

because it's such a talking point that has been so democratically focused.

You're listening to the postgame show, as we like to call it here on the Civic Media Radio Network, summarizing and kind of analyzing the comments of Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on his seventh state of the state address and the Republican response from Assembly Speaker Robin Voss.

I want to go back to our political editor and founder of the Reconpopulation Area, Dan Schaefer.

Dan, you brought this up earlier.

And I want to play it for people who might not have heard it because I agree.

I thought it was one of the most poignant parts of Governor Evers speech tonight.

Here is this point where the governor got very emotional and talking about Jonathan Brasov, who was a former state legislator who died by suicide.

We'll go with the shorter clip, Zomers, on this.

But here is the governor's comments talking about this incident and death by suicide and mental health in Wisconsin.

Just three years ago, as I delivered my State of the State address, State Representative Jonathan Brostoff sit right there in one of these seats.

Jonathan had a heart of service.

He was always working to make someone else's life just a little bit better.

As a fierce and advocate as Jonathan was, he was still always eager to learn about and understand others in order to bridge divides.

At the end of last year, Jonathan died by suicide.

For too many Wisconsinites, even if they did not know Jonathan, the story of losing him is their story too.

Kathy and I share that story.

The families, friends, and co-workers of veterans, farmers, construction workers, and law enforcement officers, and so many others share that story.

Kids, classmates, parents, grandparents, loved ones, and friends in every corner of our state.

they share that story.

This heartache has become far too often.

Wisconsin in 2022 reported 932 deaths by suicide according to Department of Health Services report nearly 60% of which involved a firearm.

These are statistics we cannot change because those are souls we cannot bring back.

But there is more we can do today to save lives tomorrow.

If you talk to someone who loved, whose loved one died by suicide, many will tell you that their loss was not a foregone conclusion.

That maybe, just maybe, if the person they loved had just made it through one more dark night to see with certainty that the sun would rise again, things could have ended up differently.

Tonight,

I am asking this legislature to give the family and the next one and the family after that hope for that same opportunity.

Dan Schaefer, political editor for Civic Media.

I thought it was extraordinarily poignant.

It was real, clearly emotional.

The governor brought up a couple of things.

Number one, Wisconsin had a 48 hour waiting period at one time on buying a fire arm.

He encouraged, he asked, he called for the legislature to restore that.

And secondly, again, this would seem to be an issue that we've talked about on different civic media programs.

I know Matt Nair on air, myself, I believe Maggie Dawn has talked about that our agricultural community, some of the greatest rates of death by suicide by guns is in the ag community.

It's not just an urban issue.

Again, it would seem to be if people are willing to take the opportunity and chance to come together.

Absolutely.

I think this is the type of non-political issue that I think Wisconsinites can and should come together to take action on.

And I think it is important that he emphasized the impact of firearms in these suicide deaths as well.

Like he said, 932 deaths by suicide in 2022 in Wisconsin, that's a tragic number.

And adding that nearly 60% of those

involved a firearm.

So in addition to that 48-hour waiting period, he talked about this other new program called the self-assigned firearm exclusion program.

Safe for the acronym there.

It would allow Wisconsinites to quote, temporarily and voluntarily register to prevent themselves from purchasing a firearm.

So, you know, this would be, you know, I know

This is something that former representative Rostov talked about when he was in the legislature talking about, you know, being proactive about yourself and self-aware about this as well.

And so, you know, perhaps these types of things, if implemented, could truly save lives.

I thought it was also important and notable as someone who grew up in a hunting outdoor community.

Governor Evers tonight made a point of saying, look, we in Wisconsin support hunting and trapping and outdoors on that heritage and we don't want to change that.

But again, the things that he's encouraging background checks, for instance, red flag laws, where people who may be in danger of harming themselves or others, and he gave the example of the California man that was connected tangentially to this shooting here in Madison last month, California has those red flag laws, and apparently his guns were taken out of the house.

As a hunter myself, as an outdoors guy,

A red flag law, a background check, and a 48 hour waiting period.

I don't think there's a hunter worth their salt who would say that's unreasonable.

Yeah, and this kind of goes to another point he was making on this too.

The quote that I think stuck out to me when he was talking about this, the legislature must do better than doing nothing.

And

I

think these two bills that he talked about, and closing loopholes for background checks and passing a red flag law, if you go back to Tony Evers' first term.

in 2019 the first time the gavel in gavel out approach was taken by legislative Republicans in response to a special session called by the governor was on those same two bills those same two bills on universal background checks and passing a red flag law so you know even and I think he kind of got to this point as well with this saying that you know even if the Republicans and Democrats don't exactly disagree I think it's important

to try to have these discussions and come together instead of gaveling in and gaveling out on those.

I think

it seemed like that was what he was alluding to.

And then also saying in this quote as well about the red flag laws in particular, quote, let's give law enforcement and loved ones the tools they need by passing a red flag law here in Wisconsin.

And so I think those are the types of common sense.

middle-of-the-road discussions that we can have on an issue like this one.

Pat Kretlow mentioned it before he signed off with us earlier.

The fact that perhaps the swearing in of the second term of Donald Trump and some of the things have happened in the last 48 hours may have been late additions to the governor's speech tonight.

Aaron Zomber is a great producer and I want to take the the clip of Governor Evers addressing immigration specifically and again how that may play out in the state of Wisconsin.

Let's agree to be honest about the fact that the story of our state's success today is told in the labor of over three million Wisconsinites, including tens of thousands of workers whose only transgression to date was not having the good fortune of being born in this country.

Let's agree that we can continue.

Let's agree that we can continue to be a state that enforces our laws.

when and if they are broken, but still embraces our shared history and all those who have helped write our Wisconsin story from our native nations to the generations of immigrants who came after.

And let's agree.

Let's agree.

that if you work obey the law pay taxes and contribute to our communities and play by the rules just like everyone else you should have a fair shot at coming at continuing to pursue the American dream.

About three minutes left on our broadcast everybody I want to go to both James Kelly and Lisa Hale James first you in Northwest Wisconsin again being on the ground there a lot of people whether it's in hospitality in the Chippewa Valley or agriculture we lie of both documented and undocumented immigration be interested to see how this plays out

yeah for sure there's been a lot of reporting on just how much of the state's agricultural workforce is made up of

undocumented immigrants and even legal immigrants, and the way that some of these executive orders are being written leaves a lot to interpretation for people whose documentation status may be a little shaky, may be a little unconventional.

Lisa Hale in the northeast part of the state, Green Bay area, the Fox Valley.

Again, lots of ag workers, particularly on our dairy farmers in that part of the state, out of Gammie County and the like.

How do you see folks in northeast Wisconsin listening to this message tonight from Governor Evers on immigration?

with Northeast Wisconsin is such an interesting area because we do have Green Bay and Appleton and Oshkosh and the larger cities in the Fox Valley, but we are so agriculturally leaning when it comes to the outside counties, the Ocanto, Chano.

We'll pack up and we'll share that we do have immigrants that are working, living and thriving in our areas.

And I know that they are a little bit fearful because they just don't know how they are going to be treated here in this next couple of months or years.

So we're watching that and seeing how they are.

I know a lot of people are saying protection for the immigrants and are working towards that, but we'll have to wait and see what actually happens.

Let's go back around the horn.

30 seconds each.

Your final takeaways from the speech tonight by Governor Evers and the Republican response.

James Kelly, we start with you.

It's pretty much what I expected from Assembly Speaker Robin Voss.

He wants to cut spending and he wants to give tax breaks back to the Wisconsin residents.

Obviously, there's a lot of school referendums going around over the last couple of elections and a budget surplus.

So we'll see how that plans out.

Lisa Hale.

Well, it's the Democrat talking points.

That's what we've had in this in this in this speech and also Republican talking points for the reason for the rebuttal It's just more of the same but you're the kid is kind of one of those things that's going to be hard for people to say I'm not buying into

Dan Schaefer 20 seconds.

It's yours

Yeah, he oh Governor Evers always mentions the year of the blank last year It was the year of the worker this year the year of the kid So I imagine that will be very much in focus as we look forward to a

front budget process.

On behalf of Dan Schaefer and James Kelly, Lisa Hale, we thank you and our co-anchor, Pat Critello tonight, our great producer, Aaron Zommers, and to all of the people behind the scenes making this work, we thank you.

And thank you for listening.

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