LARSON Weekly Report - January 26, 2012

Dear Friend,

This week we review the policies laid out in Governor Walker's state of the state address by examining not only what was said, but also what was ignored.

As usual, please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns or opinions you may have about our community or our state.

Sincerely,

Chris Larson
State Senator, District 7
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The State of the State is Divided
A pivotal opportunity was missed in the governor's State of the State address delivered this past Wednesday to honestly speak to the problems plaguing Wisconsin and admit that the divisive policies that have been pursued have failed. Unfortunately, instead of taking responsibility for dragging our state in the wrong direction, Governor Walker's speech reinforced that he is clearly out of touch with the reality most Wisconsinites are experiencing and has every intention of continuing to create division in our state through his extreme ideological agenda.

While the governor may continue painting the picture that everything is rosy in the state of Wisconsin, the numbers do not lie. If you have any doubt that Wisconsin is headed down a dangerous path, just take a look at our monthly job losses. Wisconsin has experienced six consecutive months of job loss for a total loss of over 35,000 jobs, while neighboring states that have worked in less divisive ways have seen job gains.

In his address, Governor Walker promised to double down on his failed divisive policies that pit neighbor against neighbor. In response, Democrats asked the governor to instead bet on reprioritizing, upholding promises, and focusing on truly bipartisan action.

Listed below is what we need from our governor in order to get our state moving forward:

-- Instead of just talking about prioritizing education, we need to prove it is valuable by investing real resources in our schools. Wisconsin cannot afford Governor Walker's choice to cut our children's education funding in order to pay $2.3 billion for corporate tax breaks and special interest giveaways.

-- Instead of just talking about bipartisanship through citing a sparse handful of examples where Democrats crossed the partisan line to vote for Republican proposals, we need to prove it is a priority by forming 50/50 bipartisan action committees empowered to tackle crisis issues, including education, housing, health care, and most importantly building family-supporting jobs in Wisconsin to turn our economy around.

-- Instead of just talking about waste, fraud and abuse in state government, we need to prove we are serious about taking real steps to increase accountability and transparency to end this administrations culture of secrecy and public exclusion.
The state of the state is divided. Wisconsin deserves better. Traditionally, it has been the Wisconsin way to put our partisanship aside in troubled times to get things done. We need our governor to join us in reviving this tradition.
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Contact
Office Phone: (608) 266-7505
Toll-free Phone: (800) 361-5487

Email: Sen.Larson@legis.wi.gov

Mailing Address:
State Capitol
P.O. Box 7882
Madison, WI 53707

Web Site:
SenatorChrisLarson.com