Walker Defends Budget Vetoes In Green Bay

Governor Scott Walker is defending his budget vetoes the day after he signed the two-year spending plan.

Walker kicked off a statewide tour in Green Bay, where he told reporters why he would not support a provision in the state budget that would have allowed some counties to expand the taxpayer-funded voucher program: “I hope the one thing people in the state know is, whether they love me or hate me, I keep my word.”

One of Walker’s other vetoes regarded the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (WCIJ), housed on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. A provision in the budget aimed to oust the center. WCIJ sometimes works with staff from Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television.

Instead, Walker has directed the UW’s Board of Regents to examine all of its public-private relationships.

On a non-budgetary issue, Walker says he would like to be president (of sorts): “Someday I’d love to be president … of Harley Davidson. Let’s leave it at that.”