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Governor’s new agenda at forefront of 2006 address

Amid party friends and political foes, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle delivered his 2006 State of the State address at the State Capitol Tuesday, officially unveiling an "affordability agenda" intended to keep Wisconsin moving forward.

Doyle — who is up for reelection this year — spoke of the tremendous progress the state has made since the beginning of his term as governor in 2002.

"We cut spending and solved the worst fiscal crisis in our history — without raising taxes," Doyle said, adding his affordability agenda would continue to put middle-class families ahead of corporate interests.

The affordability agenda includes initiatives intended to help working families by growing Wisconsin's economy and making health care and education more fiscally accessible.

Republicans, however, said while the governor's agenda may theoretically provide financial relief to Wisconsin citizens, it may put the state in the red.

"I think there ultimately needed to be an accountability agenda to counter Jim Doyle's affordability agenda, because so much of what he says just doesn't match up with reality," 2006 gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker said.

The governor's plan aims to launch new social programs, including "Healthy Wisconsin," an initiative to make catastrophic health care costs more affordable, and "BadgerCare Plus," a measure to provide all children access to health care coverage.

Additionally, Doyle pushed for legislation banning healthcare "dumping" by large companies like Wal-Mart.

"I want to make this very clear to Wal-Mart and any other company that might be thinking of shifting its health care responsibility to taxpayers: BadgerCare is intended to help working families, not multibillion dollar corporations," Doyle said.

The governor also put forward a proposal designed to reduce the cost of college for deserving students. The "Wisconsin Covenant" program would guarantee UW System financial aid packages to eighth-grade students who maintain a B-average in high school and fulfill other academic requirements.

The University of Wisconsin voiced support for the financial aid program, characterizing the governor's agenda as a benefit to students.

"The idea for a program like the Wisconsin Covenant is consistent with what the UW System has been saying for more than two years — increasing access to the state's public university system for students from all income levels must be one of the state's top priorities," UW System President Kevin Reilly said in a statement.

Doyle additionally proposed a set of energy initiatives, including legislative measures to increase the use of ethanol and renewable sources.

According to Doyle, the most important piece of his affordability agenda is its focus on promoting job growth by protecting the manufacturing and technology industries.

"Americans see a lot of products that say 'Made in China.' But from Beijing to Tokyo to Warsaw to Mexico City, I want to see the 'Made in Wisconsin' label all over the world," Doyle said.

A key component of promoting the economy includes boosting the state's stem-cell research, creating thousands of jobs while making efforts to cure diseases like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Juvenile Diabetes, Doyle said.

Though state Democrats met many of the governor's initiatives with standing ovations, Republicans continued to express budgetary concerns over the costs of his affordability agenda.

"I think many of the goals [Doyle] has are noble, but as usual it shows [they are] authored without … any way to pay for [them]," Walker said. "[J]ust like his promises in the past, it's likely he's not going to be able to fulfill them."

Democratic Party leaders, however, don't view the projected costs — which reach more than $63 million — to be the monolithic financial crisis Republicans make it out to be.

"It's pretty amazing that the best the Republican Party can do is say that we don't have the money," Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Joe Wineke said. "[$]60 million over two years … is a lot of money, but, in the realm of an overall state budget, is chump change."