Gov. Jim Doyle spoke to state lawmakers and Wisconsin citizens Tuesday night in his annual State of the State Address.
He focused on job growth, improving education, new health-care programs and his legacy.
Doyle pointed to manufacturing tax credits as well as research and development incentives that he said make Wisconsin a desirable place for companies.
""As a result of our work, Wisconsin now ranks 30th in business taxes—well below the national average,"" he said. ""With the help of these incentives, over the last year, many other companies have moved their operations from other states to Wisconsin,""
Doyle also promoted green energy development and technology. He urged lawmakers to pass the Clean Energy Jobs Act, a new bill mandating renewable energy usage standards for Wisconsin businesses.
State Rep. Phil Montgomery, R-Green Bay, said he is worried about the impact the new legislation may have on jobs.
""My biggest issue right now is the [energy] bill that's he is working on. My estimates are that we will lose 43,000 manufacturing jobs and have an estimated cost of over $18 billion,"" he said.
Doyle also focused on education policy. He said Wisconsin has made great progress helping students pay for higher education, and pointed to the Wisconsin Covenant program as a successful example.
""We now have $25 million a year to help Covenant Scholars pay for college. I'm proud to say that even in these tough times, we are educating more students in our university system today than at any time in our history.""
Doyle also addressed health care and said 98 percent of Wisconsin residents are covered, currently ranking the state first in the nation in health-care quality.
According to Doyle, much of that success can be attributed to BadgerCare Plus and it's subset programs, including BadgerCare Plus Core.
In his speech, Doyle outlined the BadgerCare Plus Basic plan, a recently announced self-funded plan for individuals waiting to get into the Core program.
Montgomery said the new plan will likely cost taxpayers.
""When you create these new programs you have to pay for them, and unfortunately, we are facing a multi-billion dollar deficit going into the next budget and so that's part of the legacy as well,"" he said.
