"I am grateful to Governor Evers for listening carefully to my advocacy and requests this budget cycle and for consistently putting the children and families of this state first," says Stubbs.

MADISON, WI – On February 18, 2025, Governor Tony Evers delivered his budget address in the Assembly Chambers, outlining the provisions in his newly released 2025-2027 Executive Budget. Representative Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) released the following statement: 

“I applaud Governor Evers for once again prioritizing Wisconsinites with his Executive Budget. The Governor has taken this opportunity to make historic investments in education, criminal justice reform, public safety, natural resource management, and so much more.

Governor Evers has declared that 2025 is the Year of the Kid, and with his 2025-2027 Budget, he is ensuring everyone in our state has access to quality education, affordable healthcare and childcare, and clean, safe drinking water. Governor Evers has also dedicated portions of his budget to keeping our communities free from violence and keeping costs low for working families.

I am proud to stand beside Governor Evers and support a budget that works for Wisconsin. During the budget development process, I made several requests of Governor Evers that he has included in the budget we have before us today.

This budget cycle, I advocated for measures that will promote healthy mothers and babies, prevent violence and crime in our communities, champion environmental justice and equity, and reform our criminal justice system.

In Governor Evers’ budget, he has included funding for sales and use tax exemption on breastfeeding equipment, eliminating birth cost recovery, postpartum home visits, and coverage for postpartum care, all provisions that I have advocated for through the Birth Equity Act package that I introduced in 2021.

Governor Evers has also allocated in his budget for a Safe Gun Storage Tax Credit, a 48-Hour Waiting Period for the purchase of handguns, Universal Background Checks on Firearms, and the creation of an Office of Violence Prevention, all bills that I have previously introduced to help keep our communities safe. Governor Evers’ budget will also fund a Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls Task Force, for which I have diligently advocated since 2021.

Additionally, Governor Evers has set aside funding to create statutory requirements for safety measures around stormwater ponds in populous areas, potentially lifesaving policy that I introduced last session after the tragic drowning of two children in my community.

Finally, Governor Evers has made huge investments in his budget for improvements to our corrections and criminal justice systems, including measures that I have introduced such as the statewide establishment of community reentry centers, removing criminal penalties for the recreational use of marijuana, expansion of the earned release program, and funds to help law enforcement manage behavioral health crises.

I am grateful to Governor Evers for listening carefully to my advocacy and requests this budget cycle and for consistently putting the children and families of this state first. I hope to see the State of Wisconsin pass a budget that contains all of these provisions and that ensures that every person in our state has the resources they need to live, grow, and thrive.”