Republican Political Games

Republican politicians in Madison are playing political games, holding hostage funding to address the real and immediate challenges facing our communities, and Wisconsinites are suffering because of it.

 Republican politicians are using the Legislature’s powerful Joint Finance Committee to play political games with resources Wisconsinites are counting on. Opioid treatment, keeping rural hospitals open, cleaning cancer-causing pollutants from our water—Republicans have obstructed funding for all of these critical priorities.

 An anonymous politician on the Joint Finance Committee currently has a “shadow hold” on $36 million that would help local communities, law enforcement, and health providers combat the opioid epidemic statewide.This $36 million in funding is coming to Wisconsin as a result of legal settlements with opioid manufacturers—and without Scott Walker’s lame duck law, it’s money that would already be on its way to helping Wisconsin families.

 We should all be able to drink the water from our tap and know it’s clean and safe. In the last state budget, Gov. Evers approved $125 million to help Wisconsin communities address pollution from PFAS chemicals in our water. Republican politicians on the Joint Finance Committee are blocking this critically-needed funding for clean water to make it easier for corporate polluters to escape accountability.

 After two hospitals and 19 rural clinics in the Eau Claire area announced plans to close their doors, Gov. Evers approved $15 million to stabilize care in western Wisconsin. Republicans have held this funding for rural health care hostage—for no good reason—forcing Wisconsinites to wait hours for care, endure longer wait times, or even forgo treatment altogether.

 Wisconsin Republicans can no longer hide from their failures behind gerrymandered district lines.

Assembly District #30 Representative Shannon Zimmerman (Represents a large part of St. Croix County) sits on the current Joint Finance Committee. Mr. Zimmerman and his Republican colleagues have prioritized politics over clean water leaving the already approved and earmarked $125 million untouched while communities in Wisconsin grapple with prevention and mitigation of polluted drinking water.

 True accountability for their obstruction and political games is coming at the ballot box this November.