MADISON — Today, the Democratic members of the Joint Committee on Finance will continue their efforts to encourage the committee to be responsible stewards of the budget process by offering a motion to give the Legislature oversight of outside counsel.
The committee will vote on a number of budget items today, and all of those votes should be focused on making decisions that benefit Wisconsinites.
The four Democratic members of the Joint Committee on Finance released the following statement in anticipation of today’s executive session:
“Governor Evers’ budget made responsible investments in local Wisconsin communities, returning taxpayer dollars back to the people. He set historic benchmarks in funding for public education, child care, and local government funding. In our first executive session, Republicans gutted some of the most popular pieces of Governor Evers’ budget. Acting on these critical priorities would have set Wisconsin communities up for future success and demonstrated that we were serious about using our state’s resources to address the difficulties Wisconsinites are facing.
“Meanwhile, over the past few years, Republicans have recklessly wasted taxpayer money on unnecessary lawsuits and exorbitant attorney fees for the Gableman sham investigation. Justice Gableman was hired by Speaker Vos to appease President Trump and national Republicans. Then, after almost two years of a sham investigation and no evidence of widespread election fraud discovered, Speaker Vos changed his mind and said Gableman was an ‘embarrassment to the state.’
“Today, the Democrats on the Joint Committee on Finance will offer a measure to ensure accountability and greater transparency to prevent future runaway investigations. Wisconsinites deserve a government that invests in them and their communities.”
