Governor Tony Evers continued his call for state leaders to compromise on Wednesday, speaking at the Wisconsin Bankers Association’s Economic Forecast Luncheon.
He hopes to find common ground with the legislature on issues of healthcare, transportation and education. These three priorities are important to keep a healthy economy, he said.
Evers emphasized that a strong education system creates a good workforce for employers across the state.
“We’ve been working actually with institutions all across the state to build these multiple career pathways so that young people can see where the on-ramps and off-ramps of those are to make sure that they are doing the right things to be good citizens in our society but also good workers to create good products and a good economy in the state of Wisconsin,” he said.
One of Evers’ top priorities is to restore funding to higher education.
“We also need a strong investment in the UW system. I think over the past few years, that has not happened, and I believe the UW system and our vocational technical college systems are the 2 main drivers of making sure that we have a strong economy in this state,” he said.
Evers also emphasized the importance of creating more jobs with higher wages, to help those who are still struggling.
“I know we have a strong economy in this state, I get it. I know we only have 3 percent unemployment in the state, I get it. But when a nonprofit…shows that we have 870,000 families, that’s a bunch of people that are still struggling in this economy,” he said.