State Representative Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) and Senator Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) Co-Chairs of the Joint Committee on Finance(JFC), released the following statement regarding the committee’s plan to hold a public hearing and executive session on 11 bills related to the legislature’s plan to re-invest one-time, Federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to state priorities:
“We are on the starting line of the legislature’s work on the state budget, but we do not know how – or when – the Governor will allocate the massive amount of Federal funding available to Wisconsin in the most recent stimulus plan,” Sen. Marklein said. “Our legislation provides specific plans based on the real priorities of citizens statewide. We need to dedicate these funds in a meaningful way that will support the people of our state who are working to recover and move forward after the last unprecedented year.”
“We cannot ask state taxpayers to foot the bill if there is Federal cash available to us that could pay for our priorities. These are all tax dollars, paid for by tax payers. We need to spend them wisely,” Sen. Marklein said. “The Responsible Stimulus plan does that. It invests in people. It pays for infrastructure like local roads and broadband to help us recover. It will boost our economy.”
“The people of Wisconsin deserve to have their voices heard through their elected Representatives and Senators on how all of this federal money is spent,” said Rep. Born. “As I’ve said before, this money should not be unilaterally allocated by one person. Republicans in the legislature have put together a package of bills that truly reflect the priorities of the people of Wisconsin and the Governor should work with us to make these bills a reality.”