Making Wisconsin More Affordable for Middle Class Families
February 14, 2006

In my State of the State last month, I unveiled my Affordability Agenda – a plan to make Wisconsin a more affordable place to live for middle class and working families. I want Wisconsin ’s middle class families – who are worried that they won’t be able to afford to live where they love – to know that I am doing everything I can to end the middle class squeeze.

Health Care: My Affordability Agenda includes initiatives designed to reduce the rising costs of health care, education, and energy for middle class Wisconsin families.  On health care, I proposed a statewide expansion of FamilyCare so that Wisconsin seniors and individuals with disabilities can remain in their own home.  My BadgerCare Plus initiative will ensure that every child in Wisconsin has access to affordable health care. And my Healthy Wisconsin initiative reduces health care costs by making catastrophic care more affordable for families and businesses. 

Good Jobs : To reward hard work and help families across Wisconsin who are working full-time escape the grasp of poverty, I proposed a Living Wage Tax Credit . To help create good-paying jobs , I unveiled a proposal to help manufacturers compete, including a new initiative to help upgrade over 100 small and medium-sized manufacturers.

Affordable Energy: To help make energy more affordable, I called the Legislature into special session to act on my proposal to provide an additional $6 million in home heating assistance for Wisconsin ’s working middle class families. The average Wisconsin family is struggling to pay their heating bill right now – and will pay an additional 30 to 50 percent more in home heating costs this year.

My proposal – which would cover a Wisconsin family of four earning up to $40,000 a year – will help about 30,000 Wisconsin families struggling to make ends meet and aren’t getting help from anywhere else.

Education: I unveiled the Wisconsin Covenant to encourage college enrollment and raise achievement in elementary and secondary education. The program – open to any eighth-grade student who signs an agreement to maintain a B average in high school, complete a specified core curriculum, and apply for state and federal financial aid – will receive a financial aid package that meets their full financial need for tuition to any University of Wisconsin system school that they are accepted into.

Wisconsin is moving forward. We’ve raised the minimum wage to help Wisconsin ’s working families. We’ve protected more than 55,000 acres of our pristine land under the Stewardship Fund since I took office. And our economy is growing, new businesses are opening, home values are up, incomes are up, exports are way up, the gas tax is going down, our budget is balanced, and our schools remain the envy of the nation.

As Governor, I will continue to fight for Wisconsin ’s middle class families to make life in our great state more affordable.

Sincerely,
Governor Jim Doyle