Governor Evers is urging lawmakers to put politics aside and work toward solutions.
He gave his first State of the State speech Tuesday night at the Capitol.
Evers says his priorities include health care, improving water quality, and fixing the transportation system.
Evers plans to invest money in kids, saying it will pay dividends for generations. He’s pledging to restore the state’s two-thirds funding of public schools. He says he also work to close the achievement gap.
Evers says he’ll push for a five-fold increase in mental health programs for students across the state.
Calling it a “real opportunity,” Governor Evers urged Majority Republicans to expand Medicaid.
He says under the federal health care reform law, an additional 76,000 people in the state would receive coverage. He says the state would also save hundreds of millions of dollars, and that money could be used for other critical programs.
Evers told Republican leaders in the Legislature that it shouldn’t be a partisan issue. He says GOP-controlled states like Kentucky, Idaho, and Nebraska have expanded Medicaid.
He says he also directed Attorney General Josh Kaul to withdraw from a lawsuit challenging the federal reform law.
