Gov. Radio Address - Plan to Invest Federal American Rescue Plan Funds Print
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Written by GOV Press Wisconsin   
Friday, 02 April 2021 10:38

covid-19-restaurant-emptyMADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today delivered the Democratic Radio Address on his plan to invest the $3.2 billion in federal funding Wisconsin received from the American Rescue Plan Funds into small businesses, families, and communities.

Audio file of Radio Address

Hello, Governor Tony Evers here.

tony-eversI was excited to announce this week our plan to use $3.2 billion in federal funding from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan to help our state bounce back from this pandemic.

We know we have work to do to make sure our economy can recover from this pandemic. And that’s why we’re going to invest $2.5 billion into economic recovery and well-being, including $600 million to support our small businesses and $50 million to support our tourism industry.

Finally, we’re also going to invest $500 million into our state’s continued pandemic response and $200 million into building infrastructure, including a significant investment in broadband so families and communities can learn, work, and get connected.

Just like last year with our CARES dollars, we’re going to be working to get these funds out the door as quickly as we can. We know these American Rescue Plan funds will be critical to making sure our state can bounce back and better than we were before this pandemic hit. And time is of the essence to get support to folks who need it.

So, that’s why I vetoed Senate Bill 183 this week, which would have given Republicans in the Legislature approval over how we used these funds, potentially preventing us from getting this money out the door quickly to folks who need it.

At the end of the day, these funds don’t belong to me or any member of the Legislature—it’s your money, folks. We need to put people before politics and we can’t afford to waste time on all the political back-and-forth.

We’re going to keep working quickly to get these resources out the door to families, businesses, and farmers who need it so we can get through this pandemic and bounce back together.

Thank you.