GREEN BAY (WLUK) — Tuesday, Democratic Governor Tony Evers pushed for more money for the Universities of Wisconsin and said he was cautiously optimistic that his party would make wins in the Wisconsin State Legislature this fall.
As part of his yearly statewide back-to-school tour, Evers has been to schools and college campuses all over Wisconsin over the last few weeks. UW-Green Bay was one of his three stops on Tuesday.
“I love going back to Green Bay, especially to UW-Green Bay.” A daughter of mine graduated from this school. He said, “It’s a beautiful campus and they’re doing some really amazing things.” He praised the Rising Phoenix program and UWGB’s attempts to include everyone.
Along with a tour of the campus, the governor met with teachers to learn more about the Phoenix Innovation Park and the new Cofrin Technology & Education Center.
Before he was chosen governor in 2019, Evers was the state superintendent of schools for Wisconsin for almost ten years. Before that, he worked as a teacher and school administrator.
Besides that, he used to be a director at the University of Wisconsin. Evers said that his many years of experience as a teacher have given him a unique view of what kids and schools need.
When he talked to the reporters on Tuesday, Evers said again that he thinks the state is behind on giving the Universities of Wisconsin enough money.
The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association says that in 2021, Wisconsin had the 43rd most public four-year college spending of all 50 states. Three other Midwest states, on the other hand, are in the top 10.
The regents agreed last month to ask Evers for an extra $855 million in the state budget for 2025–2027. Officials say that the extra money will help keep tuition from going up, pay for raises, and stop more staff and teacher layoffs, branch campus closures for two years, program cuts, and school consolidations at UW schools.
“For a strong economy, we need a strong system.” It’s clear that the Universities of Wisconsin system gives young people great chances to stay in Wisconsin, work in Wisconsin, and raise families in Wisconsin. “The last thing we need is for people to think that the system is getting worse,” Evers said.
If passed, it would be the biggest rise in state funding for the UW System ever every two years. As long as the two-year spending plan stays in place and the school gets the money it asked for, President Jay Rothman of the Universities of Wisconsin has promised not to try to raise tuition.
It was also asked of Evers what he thought about Vice President Kamala Harris’s planned trip to Wisconsin. She is going to talk in Madison on Friday night.
Getting excited to see her. It’s clear that it’s a tie. It looks like she has the edge in this state, but it’s going to be very close, so I hope that all of the candidates, Republican and Democrat, spend as much time in Wisconsin as they can. “Our state is one of the ones that will make a difference in this race,” Evers said.
But the governor wants Harris to win even more. He also thinks there will be a “blue wave” in the Wisconsin State Assembly and State Senate because of new legislative maps that were made official earlier this year.
“I mean, there’s no question we were a gerrymandered state and these maps got us to a place where we’re not,” he said. We live in a purple state, and I wouldn’t say that the people in the senate right now are purple.
This one is a good representation of that.” It’s clear that Republicans run it. Being in a state where the government is true to the people is good for Wisconsin.