Lena C. Taylor
(MADISON) – Senator Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) released the following statement regarding Republican State legislators press conference proposals aimed at addressing the issue of homelessness.
“I guess we are in a kinder, gentler time. The problem is that my Republican colleagues have been able to walk out of the doors of the Capitol and step over sleeping homeless residents for years. They stood silently by while the Walker administration ran homeless residents out of the Capitol basement, where they could escape the cold or extreme heat, at least during the business hours of the building. They were complicit in many of the policy decisions that have made it harder for Wisconsin residents to break the cycle of poverty. They have vigorously fought measures to add additional funding and initiatives that were brought up by me and my colleagues in finance motions and legislation offered over the years. However, even in those discussions many of my Republican colleagues acknowledged that they saw possibilities in the proposals and models that were suggested.
I am glad this is on their radar. I am encouraged that some of their plans include similar language or concepts to those we have suggested in the past. We need real dollars and not cosmetic funding to tackle this problem. We lag behind so many other states in the money, programing and necessary legislative commitment to change homelessness in this state. I look forward to finding common ground and action on these issues.”