Is conservatism driving millennials out of Wisconsin?

74 percent of young people disapprove of Scott Walker's performance as governor

Are millennials leaving Wisconsin because of the conservative policies put in place in recent years? That’s a good question worth looking into.

A recent letter to the editor in the Stevens Point Journal demonstrated a real concern about whether Gov. Scott Walker’s policies were driving young people out of the state.

Millennials and younger voters are likely not in sync with Walker’s and Republicans’ policies privatizing our public lands, whether for hunting, fishing, or recreational pursuits. ...

Voters of all ages continue to witness Republicans and the governor limiting their right to vote and their access to polling sites. Do the businesses, chambers of commerce and media elites of central Wisconsin support this public assault upon people’s voting rights, including those of veterans?

(It’s worth reading the whole letter if you have the time, and I suggest you do so by clicking the link above!)

There are many issues that young people in the state want addressed. Broadly put, millennials want assurances that their leaders are going to back them up, helping them and the state itself when times get tough.

When the economic conditions of the state fail to provide a good life for people, it’s up to political leaders to try and change those conditions through various policies that shape the landscape overall. It’s impractical for politicians to create jobs on their own -- they can’t just legislate companies to hire -- but they can pass laws to make burdens on workers and small businesses less cumbersome.

Yet millennials are not seeing that from this governor or his legislative allies. Instead, Gov. Walker and Republicans are shifting whatever resources were available in the past toward help for a less deserving cause -- their political donor base.

This isn’t opinion; this is fact. There’s direct evidence that shows legislators and the governor have crafted bills designed to suit the specific circumstances of their constituents. Rep. Joel Kleefisch helping a wealthy divorced dad to avoid paying child support, or Scott Walker urging his corporate friends to donate vast sums of money to third party groups (and then passing legislation favorable to those same corporations), are just a couple of examples that come to mind.

Meanwhile, small businesses (which are more responsible for creating jobs than corporate giants) and start-ups are struggling.

That’s discouraging, for the state as a whole but also for millennials, and it’s partly why Gov. Walker is seeing such low approval ratings. Indeed, according to the November 2015 Marquette Law School poll, more than 74 percent of millennials ages 18-29 disapprove of the governor’s performance, the highest disapproval rating among all age groups.

So let’s go back to the original question: are millennials leaving the state because of the Republicans? We can’t say for certain that they are. But if they were, who could blame them?