January 23, 2019

By Ola Lisowski

Last night, Governor Tony Evers made his first State of the State Address. 

Traditionally, the State of the State Address is where the Governor takes stock of where Wisconsin stands and how the people of the Badger State are faring in their everyday lives. It is also an opportunity for our Governor to speak directly to the people of Wisconsin and share his or her vision for the future of the Badger State.

The State of the State takes on even greater importance for a newly-elected Governor. This was Governor Evers’ first major speech, broadcast in prime time, given before both houses of the Legislature, members of the Supreme Court, the press corps and other political dignitaries. 

This was an important night for Gov. Evers.

While the speech covered a wide range of subjects, policy prescriptions and carefully-selected anecdotal evidence, we must remember that all politicians craft their message to construct a reality that fits their purpose.

To that end, we have assembled key metrics to help you decide for yourself where Wisconsin stands and to measure our progress across a whole host of important areas – the economy, education, poverty and liberty to name just a few. 

We present Our Wisconsin, the MacIver Institute’s scorecards to measure Wisconsin’s progress.

We hope our scorecards will keep the debate and conversation grounded in reality. We hope our scorecards will help you cut through the fog of hyperbole and rhetoric. We hope these scorecards help you decide for yourself – what is the true state of our great state?

Don’t take Gov. Evers’ word for it or any other politician for that matter. Don’t let the media tell you what you should think. Decide for yourself. 

Forward, Wisconsin.