Senator Chris Larson will lead state Senate Democrats. The Milwaukee Democrat, who’s still in his first term, will take over from Senator Mark Miller. Miller briefly served as majority leader following the last round of recalls. Larson will lead his caucus when the next session of the legislature gets underway in January. Larson said he hopes to work with Republicans to bring jobs to the state. And he said restoring cuts to education will be a priority. “The huge cuts that we saw in the last session are unsustainable. I think that if we’re going to be a business friendly state, then you’ve got to be an education friendly state.”
AUDIO: Senator Larson (4:35)
“Right now we have a surplus in this state,” Larson said. “It’s something that they’re bragging about, but frankly it’s immoral, when we’ve seen this have this huge cut to education. I think everybody believes that education and our kids future is a value we hold dear. We have to address that values deficit before we start divvying off any money that we have left over.”
Larson conceded that Republicans can call the shots. “They have the votes to do whatever they want. If they decide to use that to ignore the will of people and ignore the state or Wisconsin, it’s our job to bring up their voice, and amplify it.”
Republicans, led by Senator Scott Fitzgerald, will enjoy an 18-15 majority in the Senate. Senator Dave Hansen of Green Bay will serve as assistant minority leader.