Wisconsin students in our schools have some of the highest ACT scores and some of the best graduation rates in the United States. We just invested more actual dollars into K-12 education in history – an extra $200 for every student in every school in every part of the state this year and another $204 increase for every next year. The reforms we passed have allowed school leaders to staff based on merit and pay based on performance. That means schools can put the best and the brightest into the classroom.
To make college more affordable for students and working families, we froze University of Wisconsin tuition for all undergraduates from our state for six years in a row. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates the average student saved more than $6,300 over four years thanks to the freeze.
We’re partnering with financial institutions to help graduates refinance student loans. Financial assistance for students in need is at an all-time high, making higher education possible for thousands of students at colleges and universities across the state.
According to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, both property and income taxes will be lower in 2018 than they were in 2010. We eliminated the state property tax for the first time since 1931. The overall state and local tax burden in Wisconsin, once one of the highest in the country, is now below the national average Health care systems in our state rank number one in the nation for quality, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Everyone living in poverty is now covered under BadgerCare for the first time in the history of the state. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of people with access to health coverage in Wisconsin is one of the best in the nation.
No state in the nation provides more benefits for veterans than Wisconsin. We offer 23 benefits for our veterans. Our veterans can attend college tuition free, and we expanded eligibility so more of our veterans’ spouses and families can, too.
Eight years ago, in January of 2010, the unemployment rate was 9.2 percent. Today, the unemployment rate is down to 3.0 percent. That is well below the national rate of 4.1 percent. It is tied for the lowest unemployment rate in the history of Wisconsin!
More people are working in Wisconsin than ever before.
Eight years ago, according to Chief Executive Magazine, Wisconsin ranked 41st for business. Today, for the first time in the history of the survey, Wisconsin ranks in the top ten states for business.
Eight years ago, the state government created a $3.6 billion budget deficit. Wisconsin ended the last fiscal year with about a half-a-billion-dollar surplus.
Our pension is fully-funded, and the rainy-day fund has grown to $322 million.
Wisconsin’s long-term outstanding debt is one of the best in the United States. We are paying off our obligations faster than we take on debt. Three national agencies upgraded our bond rating in 2017, for Moody’s this is the first time since 1973 and for Fitch and Kroll, it’s the first time ever.
We invested more than $6 billion into the transportation system in our recent state budget – which brings our total investment to $24 billion over eight years.
We invested $41.5 million, an increase of $35.5 million, to connect communities across the state to high speed internet connections, as well as give schools access to the latest technology and training. Our goal is to connect every part of the State of Wisconsin over the next two years.
In 2007, the economic impact of agriculture was estimated at $59.2 billion by UW-Extension, today they estimates that agriculture has an $88 billion impact on the Wisconsin economy.
