Gov. Walker to deliver state-of-state address on Tuesday

MADISON -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will address a joint session of the state Legislature on Tuesday, January 15th in his annual state-of-the-state address. On Monday, the state Democratic Party weighed in with a "pre-buttal." 

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate said in judging the state's progress under Gov. Walker, voters should remember his 2010 campaign promise to help create 250,000 new jobs during his first term in office, and improve the state's business climate.

The influential Forbes list of the "Best Places To Do Business" ranked Wisconsin as 42nd.

"The state-of-the-state is hampered by a governor whose policies have hurt this state. When Scott Walker ran for office, his biggest promise that he said 'judge my tenure in office on' was his pledge to create 250,000 private sector jobs, by any way of counting he's going to fail miserably in that effort," Tate said.

Gov. Walker says Wisconsin job growth has lagged because of the uncertain political climate created by the protests and the recall elections over the last two years.

"In talking to local business owners, there was a lot of uncertainty until after the recall. People were holding back deciding whether or not to expand their businesses. There's uncertainty in the federal government as well," state Sen. Leah Vukmir said.

"Scott Walker needs to stop blaming other people and take responsibility for the fact that what he's doing isn't working," Tate said.

Gov. Walker will likely focus much of his address on his budget reforms. Gov. Walker will show that because of Act 10, municipalities and school boards saved a billion dollars.

"When you think about the fact that when he came into office, he had a $3.6 billion deficit. We managed to take care of that deficit without raising taxes and without playing any gimmicks and games," Sen. Vukmir said.

One of the major pieces of legislation Gov. Walker is expected to call for is an income tax cut. Tate says education funding should be restored before that happens and a tax cut is Gov. Walker positioning himself for a presidential run.