In 2016, I criss-crossed Wisconsin with Sen. Ron Johnson and other Republican leaders and we made the people of this state a promise: If entrusted with their vote, Congress would pursue policies that would lift up this economy, expand opportunities for more Americans, strengthen our national security, and make people’s lives better.
Two years later, I am spending the final days of this campaign talking with Wisconsinites about how we’ve upheld our end of the bargain. In Washington, our Republican majority in the House has passed over 1,000 bills that are designed to make a meaningful difference. In Wisconsin, Republicans are bringing more jobs and resources back into the state, and we’re seeing our economy grow and become a more attractive place to do business.
As we approach another important election, it’s critical that our candidates are given the chance to build on the strong foundation we have laid so we can continue to move Wisconsin and the country in the right direction.
Think about how people in our state and across the country are better off because of the ideas we’ve championed. Nationally, we see unemployment below 4 percent. In Wisconsin, it’s under 3 percent.
Good-paying jobs that used to flee our state are now pouring back in and helping boost our overall economy. More people are moving into Wisconsin because they see it as a good place to build successful lives and raise families, and the number of people in our workforce is the highest in our state’s history. Young adults are no longer faced with the unenviable choice of having to move away after high school or college in order to find a job.
These positive developments are not an accident. They’re happening because the policy agenda we have implemented is helping people succeed.
Just look at how our state benefitting from tax reform. The average Badger State family will save more than $2,500 thanks to this legislation, and we doubled the standard deduction which will allow families to not pay taxes on the first $24,000 of income. We also boosted the child tax credit to put even more money back in people’s wallets.
We’ve also taken steps to overhaul career and technical education so people will have the skills they need to get the jobs they want. We expanded domestic energy production by opening up ANWR, approving the Keystone Pipeline, and repealing restrictive regulations. We rebuilt our military, cleaned up the VA, passed the most significant legislative response to combat opioid addiction, worked to stop human trafficking, and done so much more to improve people’s lives.
All of that progress and those accomplishments are on the line this Tuesday, particularly in Wisconsin. We have the choice to continue moving forward, or we can stunt the achievements we’ve seen and return to the days of higher taxes and more dysfunction.
To keep building our success, we have to re-elect America’s best Governor, Scott Walker. Since 2010, he has turned our state’s budget around and made job creation his top priority. Scott knows that to unleash our state’s full potential, we need to continue developing our workforce which is why he has cut taxes, increased funding for education, and promoted vocational training. He and Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch have earned our vote.
We also need to re-elect Attorney General Brad Schimel, who has been a leading advocate in fighting the opioid epidemic and standing up for law enforcement. Having him as our state’s top prosecutor is something we can’t afford to lose. And we need to send strong conservatives to Washington, so they can keep fighting for the best interest of Wisconsin. That means electing Leah Vukmir to the U.S. Senate, re-electing powerful voices like Glenn Grothman, Jim Sensenbrenner, Sean Duffy, and Mike Gallagher, and voting for a problem-solver like Bryan Steil so he can continue Southern Wisconsin’s tradition of working to expand opportunity for everyone.
My name is not on the ballot this Tuesday, but the causes and issues that I care about are. We need to let Republicans continue keeping our promises and building on what we’ve done to improve things for people. Our state and our nation will be better for it.
[avatar user=”Paul Ryan” size=”thumbnail” align=”left” /]
Paul Ryan is the Speaker of the House of Representatives and has represented Wisconsin’s First District in Congress since 1998. He announced that he would be retiring at the end of this year.
