Walker Tells Cabinet That Second Term Provides Chance To Rethink State Agencies

Gov. Scott Walker told his cabinet secretaries on Wednesday that his re-election will give them a chance to rethink their agencies as they help craft Wisconsin’s next state budget.

Walker received an approximately five-minute-long standing ovation from his cabinet secretaries as he met them in his conference room at the state Capitol. Walker worked his way around the room to hug each one of them.

Walker credited his cabinet with helping him win a second term, saying voters said consistently that he got things done. The governor also said bigger Republican majorities in the state Legislature would help his administration do more next year.

“One of the things I want to (impart) to all of you in the cabinet today, is for us, as we look at working not only with our budget team and putting the budget together, is we’re going to be even more aggressive now. Because I think we’ve got an even stronger ally in the Legislature,” said Walker.

Walker said that as cabinet secretaries put together their pieces of the state budget, they should re-examine their agencies as though they were looking at them for the first time.

“Let’s take the time to look agency by agency, division by division, employee by employee, and really say, ‘What do we do well, what do we need to keep doing, what do we need to do better, and what maybe do we need not be doing at all,’” said Walker.

Governors typically introduce their budgets in February. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Republicans were prepared to move quickly on the budget once it’s in the Legislature’s hands.