Gov. Tony Evers discussed a large variety of subjects in a visit to Milwaukee Tuesday.
Gov. Tony Evers discussed Foxconn, medical marijuana legalization, juvenile justice reform and many other subjects during a visit to Milwaukee Tuesday. Evers also fired back at President Donald Trump, who recently said doctors in the state want to execute babies. "To say that doctors in the state of Wisconsin are executing babies is just a blasphemy,” Evers said Tuesday during a Milwaukee Press Club event.
During a campaign stop in Green Bay last week, Trump said that Evers vetoed a "born alive" abortion bill that he said would mean doctors could essentially kill babies after a failed abortion attempt. However, multiple media outlets, including Politifact, found this claim to be blatantly false. “This is nothing but a distraction,” Evers said about Trump's comments Tuesday.
Evers also signed into law his first bill Tuesday, a bipartisan measure that removes the term "mental retardation" from state rules and regulations. Gov. Evers celebrated his first 100 days in office last month.
Foxconn
After numerous changes and modifications to original plans for the Mount Pleasant Foxconn manufacturing plant, Evers said he still ultimately wants the Foxconn plant to be “successful.” Evers said he is meeting regularly with Foxconn and Racine area officials regarding plans for the plant, which recently changed from "Gen 10" to a "Gen 6"-size plant. “I can't stand here and say Foxconn won’t use all the land. I hope they do,” Evers said Tuesday, adding that the creation of any amount of jobs will be good for the region.
This comes after Foxconn has repeatedly revisited plans regarding the size and what will be produced at the plant—which will ultimately impact the number of jobs created for the region. Wisconsin Republicans have argued that Evers and Wisconsin Democrats do not support plans for Foxconn.
“My goal has always been to make sure taxpayers are protected and make sure environmental concerns are protected,” Evers said.
Foxconn CEO Terry Gou met with President Donald Trump Tuesday, apparently discussing the Wisconsin Foxconn plant.
Medical Marijuana
Legalizing medical marijuana has remained a goal of the Evers administration since he has been in office. However, he said Tuesday that if medical marijuana is legalized, it would be “highly regulated.” He also added that he will be looking at decriminalizing offenses for small amounts of marijuana, in hopes to depopulate prisons throughout the state. Multiple cities across Wisconsin have lowered their fines for trace amounts of marijuana, including the city of Eau Claire which recently changed their fine for first-time marijuana offenders to just $1.
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He made sure to differentiate between medical marijuana and recreational marijuana, however. “I'm not sure people are ready to jump off that cliff,” Evers said about recreational marijuana.
Juvenile Justice
Evers also discussed juvenile justice reform in the state of Wisconsin. Evers’ budget proposal increases funding for WI Act 185 from $80 million to $274 million. Act 185 essentially reorganizes criminal justice in the state, closing the troubled Lincoln Hills justice center and placing new regional juvenile justice centers across the state.
However, WI Act 185 was passed by former Gov. Scott Walker. Evers has proposed changes to the act, including indefinitely suspending the deadline for the closing of Lincoln Hills. The original deadline to close the facility was January 2021. “I think 185 was a great start,” said Evers. “I don't want to lose momentum around juvenile justice reform.”
Evers did previously announce that one state-run juvenile facility will be located in Milwaukee, at 6600 N. Teutonia Ave. “We have to make sure we believe that rehab is morally correct,” Evers said. “We have to have a new vision, and that's about rehabilitation.”
