Since taking office in 2003, Governor Doyle has led Wisconsin forward.

In his first term, Governor Doyle:

• Solved the worst fiscal crisis in our state’s history, balancing a $3.2 billion deficit without raising taxes.
• Cut taxes for veterans, businesses, and manufacturers, and held the line on property taxes while still investing in our schools.
• Protected health care for more than 90,000 seniors.
• Created more than 170,000 new jobs.
• Cut wasteful government spending, cutting $670 million in state overhead, auctioning off 1,000 state cars, even selling eight state airplanes.

But Governor Doyle knows there’s more work to be done. Too many middle class and working families are feeling squeezed.

And Governor Doyle has a plan to do something about it. His Affordability Agenda will make living in Wisconsin more affordable for middle class and working families.

Governor Doyle’s Affordability Agenda will:

Make health care more affordable for middle class and working families, for kids, seniors and small businesses.

• Reduce the cost of heating your home while increasing Wisconsin’s energy independence from foreign oil.
• Create good jobs by expanding markets for our manufacturing businesses locally and across the globe, and by continuing to lead the nation in stem cell research and the burgeoning market for stem cell products.
• Make college tuition more affordable through a new covenant with Wisconsin parents and kids—the Wisconsin Covenant.
• Governor Doyle knows that Wisconsin's middle class and working families don't expect government to solve all their problems. But they do want to know that state government is on their side.

And they want to know that they’ll always be able to afford to live and raise a family in the place they love—Wisconsin.

That’s what Governor Doyle’s Affordability Agenda is all about.

Making Health Care Affordable

Seniors: Save SeniorCare and Expand FamilyCare Statewide

FamilyCare is a terrific program that lets seniors and people with disabilities receive the long term care they need in their neighborhood and in their home—instead of a nursing home. Currently, FamilyCare is only available in certain parts of the state. Governor Doyle will expand FamilyCare statewide. Not only is long term home health care the kind of care seniors want, it costs less than nursing home care. That’s good news for Wisconsin taxpayers and for working families.

And Governor Doyle saved SeniorCare – Wisconsin's ground breaking prescription drug program that helps more than 93,000 Wisconsin seniors afford lifesaving medications. SeniorCare is less complicated and more affordable for the vast majority of Wisconsin seniors than the overly complicated federal Medicare Part D prescription drug program.

Working Families and Small Businesses: the Healthy Wisconsin Initiative

The spiraling costs of catastrophic care are driving up everyone’s health care costs. In Wisconsin, 5% of our residents account for 50% of our health care costs. Catastrophic care insurance is important—it protects your savings from the expense of treating serious injuries and illnesses.

Under Governor Doyle's Healthy Wisconsin initiative, employers and individuals will be able to band together to purchase catastrophic coverage, giving them the pooled purchasing power needed to negotiate lower rates. This effort should help lower health care costs for Wisconsin families across the board.

Children: BadgerCare Plus

Under Governor Doyle's BadgerCare Plus initiative, every parent, regardless of income, will have the opportunity to join a state health care plan with affordable, comprehensive coverage for their kids. That means every kid in Wisconsin will have access to the health care they need. And to make sure every child in Wisconsin is born healthy, BadgerCare Plus provides access to health care for pregnant women making less than $48,000 a year.

Deadly Diseases: Lead the Way on Stem Cell Research

Governor Doyle has led the way in ensuring that Wisconsin remains the world leader in stem cell research – so that cures can be found to our deadliest diseases. In fact, Governor Doyle vetoed an attempt by the Republican Legislature to restrict stem cell research. Allowing this life-saving research to continue isn’t about being liberal or conservative – it’s about being compassionate and saving lives.

Click for Governor Doyle's record of accomplishment on health care

Making Energy Affordable

Home Heating: More Help for Middle Class and Working Families

This winter, Governor Doyle made 40,000 more middle class and working families eligible for state aid to help pay for their skyrocketing home heating bills. Last fall, the Governor doubled the state’s commitment to heating assistance for low income families too. In addition, heeding the Governor’s call, Wisconsin utilities and private businesses contributed more than $12 million for weatherization and low income heating assistance.

Gasoline Prices: Fighting Big Oil

Under Governor Doyle’s leadership, Wisconsin became the first state in the nation to subpoena executives from the big oil companies to come and explain how they could justify sky high gas prices and billions of dollars in profits in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Governor called on Congress and President Bush to force the big oil companies to give a refund to American consumers.

Energy Independence: Reducing Wisconsin’s Dependence on Foreign Oil

Governor Doyle issued an Executive Order expanding Wisconsin's commitment to renewable fuels and real energy independence by requiring all state agencies to use ethanol and reduce the use of petroleum-based gas in their automobiles.

Governor Doyle signed his proposal for the state to get 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2015. He is fighting passage of legislation to increase the use of ethanol gasoline.

Governor Doyle's Conserve Wisconsin agenda includes a provision to follow "Green Building" standards in all new state buildings – a measure that will reduce energy costs and provide safe, comfortable working environments.

Click for Governor Doyle's record of achievement on affordable energy

Creating Good-Paying Jobs

Good Paying Jobs: Grow Wisconsin

Governor Doyle's Grow Wisconsin plan has created more than 140,000 good jobs since he took office in 2003. And the plan eliminated the tax on job creation, modernized our financial system, and resulted in the most sweeping regulatory reform in the Midwest.

Governor Doyle has also revamped the use of Enterprise Development Zones to help create more good-paying jobs.

And Governor Doyle’s Administration is beginning to invest $65 million in start-up companies through the use of angel and venture investor tax credits—leveraging at least $260 million in new investments—to encourage innovation, and attract new, cutting edge jobs to the state.

Good Paying Jobs: Manufacturing

Governor Doyle is fighting to keep more manufacturing jobs in Wisconsin by helping small and medium sized manufacturers become more efficient and expand into new markets both locally and globally. Since the Governor took office, exports have increased by more than 40 percent, with manufacturing leading the way.

To help this important industry remain financially strong, the Governor repealed the sales tax on energy used by manufacturers.

And Governor Doyle has invested more than $2 million in worker training to ensure that as our manufacturers ramp up their workplaces to compete in a 21st century market place, Wisconsin workers have the skills to ramp up with them.

Good Paying Jobs: Stem Cell

Governor Doyle is committed to keeping Wisconsin the stem cell research leader – an exploding high tech industry that promises to bring millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to Wisconsin. The Governor has set a goal for Wisconsin to capture 10 percent of the stem cell market – which could create 100,000 jobs and generate $10 billion – by 2015.

Good Jobs: Living Wage Tax Credit

To help working families, Governor Doyle has proposed a Living Wage Tax Credit that would help 9,000 families who are working full-time be lifted out of poverty.

Click for Governor Doyle's record of achievement on economic development

Making Education Affordable

Making College More Affordable: the Wisconsin Covenant

Governor Doyle has proposed an innovative new program called the Wisconsin Covenant that will make sure that any kid who works hard, does well, and plays by the rules can afford to go to college. Students who sign up for the Covenant in the 8th grade, and who maintain a B average in high school, complete a core curriculum, and apply for state and federal financial aid, are guaranteed to receive from the state a financial aid package that meets their financial needs for tuition at any University of Wisconsin system school, Wisconsin's Technical Colleges, and Wisconsin's private colleges and universities.

Governor Doyle has also doubled funding for financial aid for University of Wisconsin students over the last four years – increasing from $21.8 million to nearly $44 million. He also increased the maximum UW-WHEG grant from $2,500 to $3,000. And when the Republican Legislature tried to gut Governor Doyle's proposed 2005-07 state budget for the UW and financial aid, the Governor used his veto pen to restore $34.5 million in funding for the university and $8 million for financial aid.

Standing with Parents and Teachers: Fighting for Our Public Schools

The Student Achievement Guarantee in Education, or SAGE, program helps schools lower class sizes in K-3. Governor Doyle has fought to expand SAGE throughout the state. This winter, he secured $25 million for SAGE, to give all of our kids a better chance to learn.

And Governor Doyle vetoed Republican efforts to cut funding across the board to our public schools by hundreds of millions of dollars – cuts that would have cost thousands of teachers their jobs, raised class sizes, and ended many after school, music and athletic programs.

Click for Governor Doyle's record of achievement on affordable, quality education