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Madison—Today Governor Walker delivered the weekly radio address that is titled “People Before Politics”
Transcript below:
Hi. I'm Scott Walker.
Take a moment to look at our state flag. On the seal, there are two people. One is a miner. 
On the shield, one of the sections has a shovel and a pick ax for mining.
And on the top of the seal there is a badger. We are the badger state because our ancestors came here to mine and were called badgers because of how they dug into the side of the areas where they mined for their piece of the American dream.
If there is any state in our country that should be able to add certainty to the process for safe and environmentally sound mining - shouldn't it be the badger state?
A mining company wanted to invest $1.5 billion into the Wisconsin economy. That could have led up to 2,300 new jobs.
In return, the mining company merely wanted some certainty in the process. That process would have continued to provide for clean air, land, and water.
The mining company and the state Assembly made compromises all throughout the process. All told, they made over 20 changes to the original legislation in order to bring Democrats and others on board. Despite repeated efforts at compromise, 17 state senators put politics before putting our people back to work; costing our state thousands of jobs. Now, the company has said that the actions of these 17 state Senators make them feel unwelcome in Wisconsin.
It is a shame that 17 Senators refused to compromise and prevented thousands of jobs and over a billion dollars of investment.
While our unemployment rate is below 7% for the first time since 2008, we still need more people working.
That’s why passing a mining bill in order to say you passed a bill isn’t good enough. I stand ready to call a special session if and when 17 state Senators are ready to set aside politics and pass a bill that ultimately leads to more Wisconsin jobs. I hope they can join the rest of us in compromising and putting people before politics.
The state has partnered with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association to produce and distribute brief radio address once a week. Audio files and a written transcript of this radio address can be accessed on http://www.wi-broadcasters.org and http://walker.wi.gov/Weekly-Radio-Addresses. To download an mp3 file you can visit, right click the radio address link and click “save link as.”
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