Excerpts of Governor Walker's Balanced Budget Signing Remarks

Press Release

Governor Scott Walker's this morning released excerpts of his prepared balanced budget signing remarks. The Governor will sign Wisconsin's balanced budget at 2 p.m. in Green Bay. The 2011-13 budget balances a $3.6 billion deficit without raising taxes and continues to support critical services, while promoting job growth and investing in education.

Excerpts as Prepared for Delivery

A few weeks ago, I received a remarkable note from Tom in Oak Creek. He said, "I'm 56 years old, my wife is 55. We have no children. But worry every day about the kids of our future and what kind of a mess we are putting them in."

Our state's kids deserve better and we must find a way to move forward together to work for the people of this state. Together, we must get back to the Wisconsin way.

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The tough choices we have made together produced a responsible, stable budget that will build a platform for future budgets and a stronger Wisconsin in the years ahead. Just as any parent would dread leaving their kids in debt, it is the dream of every mother and father to leave their children a little better off, and that's what our budget will do. For the first time in a long time, we leave our children with more than we had.

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Our budget prioritizes the spending necessary to move our state forward by providing the critical services our citizens require today and investing in tools to grow our economy and create new jobs.

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Over the next two years, nearly all new revenue that the state receives will go to the Department of Health Services to ensure that families who rely on these programs will continue to receive the medical care they need. That includes cancer screenings for low income women through the state's Well Woman Program which is fully funded under this budget. In the last year alone, nearly 9,000 women benefited from these life-saving screenings. Because we made the tough choices, this critical service will continue.

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Wisconsin families have met the challenges of today's economy and now your government has to do the same. We're doing it by respecting the taxpayers of this state and not asking you to pay anymore.

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