Governor, Wisconsin
Contact Information
Jim Doyle
Office of the Governor 115 East State Capitol
Madison, Wisconsin 53702
(608) 266-1212
wisgov@gov.state.wi.ushttp://www.wisgov.state.wi.us
Home Town: Madison, WI
Bio
Jim Doyle was sworn in as the 44th Governor of
Wisconsin on January 6, 2003. He is the first
Democratic Governor of Wisconsin in more than
16 years. Governor Doyle has proven to be a
strong leader, working in a bipartisan way to
get Wisconsin back on track.
When he took office, Governor Doyle inherited
a $3.2 billion deficit – the largest deficit in
Wisconsin’s history. Governor Doyle faced the
challenge head on and balanced the budget while
holding the line on taxes. As a result, state
taxes as a percentage of income are now the
lowest in 34 years
Now Governor Doyle is working to move
Wisconsin forward – creating jobs, expanding
access to health care, and most importantly,
investing in Wisconsin’s future, our kids.
"As a prosecutor and as Attorney General, I
saw what happens when this state under-invests
in children, particularly when they are young.
I promised myself if I ever became Governor, I
would make Wisconsin’s children my number one
priority," Governor Doyle has said. Even in
difficult financial times for the state,
Governor Doyle has worked hard to put the
interests of children first.
In his first six months in office -- despite
inheriting the largest deficit in Wisconsin
history -- Governor Doyle found a way to
provide an additional $189 million for
Wisconsin public schools, one of the only areas
in the budget that received an increase in
funding. He also protected four-year-old
kindergarten and our SAGE small class size
initiative from legislative attempts to
eliminate or weaken the programs. A graduate
and strong supporter of the University of
Wisconsin, he also enacted the largest increase
in financial aid in state history.
In his second year as Governor, Doyle launched
the "KidsFirst" plan – a comprehensive agenda
to invest in Wisconsin’s children, starting
with the early years of life. The plan includes
efforts to improve the quality of child care,
expand access to four-year-old kindergarten and
school breakfast, strengthen our foster care
and child welfare system, improve children’s
health, and offer parent education home visits
to every new parent in Wisconsin.
When Governor Doyle took office, the national
economy was deep in recession and Wisconsin was
no exception. Through his "Grow Wisconsin"
agenda, Governor Doyle has worked hard to put
our state in the position to create jobs
again.
Governor Doyle has now signed into law
virtually every major piece of legislation
called for under "Grow Wisconsin" – including
financial modernization legislation, tax
reforms to help manufacturers pay the rising
costs of energy, a bill to increase venture
capital available to Wisconsin’s entrepreneurs,
the single sales factor tax reform bill which
repealed the tax penalty on companies that
create jobs, and the most aggressive regulatory
reform in the Midwest.
From funding the BioStar initiative to
expanding access to technology zone tax
credits, Governor Doyle is capitalizing on
Wisconsin’s leadership in research,
biotechnology, and stem cells, and laying the
foundation for a vast expansion in high tech
jobs.
From day one, Governor Doyle has made
protecting health care a major priority. At a
time when other states were cutting hundreds of
thousands of people off of health care,
Governor Doyle protected eligibility and
benefits for SeniorCare, BadgerCare, and
Medical Assistance. Governor Doyle also created
a pharmaceutical purchasing pool that will help
reduce the cost of prescription drug purchases
for state employees and will be expanded to
allow companies to share in the savings
generated from the buying power of the state.
Governor Doyle has also been a national leader
in the fight to give Americans access to safe,
affordable prescription drugs from Canada.
Under his leadership, Wisconsin became the
second state in the country to create a website
– drugsavings.wi.gov -- that allows citizens to
purchase lower price prescription drugs from
companies that the state has visited and found
to be safe, reputable and reliable.
Governor Doyle signed a health care co-op bill
that will help farm families lower health care
costs by creating five regional health care
purchasing alliances to negotiate better
coverage, lower premiums for farmers, and
improve health care delivery for farmers and
others who are underinsured. He also signed
legislation to require all universities and
colleges in the state to provide students with
information on meningitis, and on the
availability and effectiveness of vaccines.
Born on November 23, 1945, to James E. Doyle
Sr. and Ruth Bachhuber Doyle, Governor Doyle
and his three sisters grew up in Madison.
Governor Doyle is married to Jessica Laird
Doyle and they have two adult sons, Gus and
Gabe.
Governor Doyle’s parents were founding members
of the modern Democratic Party in Wisconsin and
he credits them for instilling in him the
belief that politics and government are
honorable professions, and that public service
is a way to improve people’s lives.
Governor Doyle attended Stanford University
for three years, then finished his senior year
at UW-Madison. He is a 1972 graduate of Harvard
Law School.
Inspired by John F. Kennedy’s call to public
service, after college the Governor and First
Lady worked for two years as teachers in
Tunisia, Africa in the Peace Corps. After he
graduated from law school, the Governor and
First Lady moved to the Navajo Indian
Reservation in Chinle, Arizona to work as an
attorney and teacher, respectively.
In 1975, Governor Doyle was elected Dane
County District Attorney and served three terms
from 1977-82. When he left that office, he
spent eight years building his own private law
practice until he was elected Wisconsin
Attorney General in 1990. Governor Doyle was
reelected as Attorney General in 1994 and 1998.
