Democratic Gov. Tony Evers called on Wisconsin lawmakers to pass stricter gun safety laws and invest hundreds of millions of dollars in school meal programs and student mental health initiatives on Wednesday in his seventh annual State of the State Address, declaring 2025 the Year of the Kid.The governor also decried Republican immigration policies and vowed to protect reproductive rights and the Affordable Care Act as President Donald Trump takes executive action on those issues early in his second term.Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the states top Republican, blasted the address as liberal wishes, empty promises, and a whole lot of things that are not going to happen in Wisconsin.We heard billions of dollars of spending, which results in billions of dollars of taxes, Vos said.Spending plansEvers announced that his budget will propose devoting more than $500 million to making child care more affordable for Wisconsin families. A vast majority of that money would go towards continuing Child Care Counts, which provides funding to child care providers and was created using one-time federal pandemic relief money.The governors budget would also invest more than $300 million in student mental health programs and more than $150 million in school meal programs. Other Evers proposals would address the high costs of health care and prescription drugs.Evers priorities face an uphill battle as the Republican-controlled Legislature looks towards writing a new state budget later this year.The governor is set to unveil his full budget proposal on Feb. 18. His plan then goes to Legislature, where Republicans who control the powerful budget-writing committee typically scrap Evers ideas and write their own budget from scratch. Evers can then amend the Legislatures draft using his partial veto power or veto it outright, sending it back to lawmakers to be rewritten.Watch: Evers calls on Republicans to act on gun safety, invest in kids Evers calls on Republicans to act on gun safety, invest in kids in State of the State AddressGun safetyCiting a deadly school shooting in Madison last month, Evers called on Republican lawmakers to pass red flag laws, require universal background checks and restore a 48-hour waiting period when purchasing a firearm.Democratic lawmakers have criticized the GOP majority for not making gun safety legislation a top priority in the new legislative session.We can do better than doing nothing. This Legislature must do better than doing nothing, Evers said.Republicans have backed a proposal that would exempt gun safes from the states sales tax, but GOP leaders said Wednesday that Evers other gun safety proposals arent going to happen.Were not doing that, Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August said. These are ideas that have been proposed over and over and over, and the governor needs to remember that he took an oath to the entire U.S. Constitution, not just the parts that he likes.Pushing back on Trumps plansAs Trump kicks off his second term in the White House with a flood of executive orders, Evers sought to reassure Wisconsinites who may be negatively affected by those policies.A lot has happened in Washington in the last 72 hours, and I know there is a lot of angst about what may happen in the days, months and years ahead, Evers said.The governor highlighted Wisconsins immigrant history and denounced anti-immigrant rhetoric as spreading a distorted and dishonest history. He also vowed to fight for the Affordable Care Act and defend reproductive rights, LGBTQ residents and the transition to clean energy.Hes clearly pushing back against the president. Hes lashing out because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were resoundly rejected not only by the American people but the people of the state of Wisconsin, August said.Republicans said they plan to introduce legislation at the state level next week to address concerns about illegal immigration.Its about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for TMJ4 on your device.Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.Report a typo or error