Evers promises to abide by climate accord

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- The Latest on Wisconsin governor's race (all times local):

5:05 p.m.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers is promising to work with other like-minded U.S. governors to combat climate change an implement provisions of the Paris climate accord on a state level.

The agreement set voluntary greenhouse gas emission targets in an effort to reduce the impact of fossil fuels. President Donald Trump said last year the U.S. would leave the accord out of concerns about the pact's economic impact.

A number of governors have pledged to meet the accord's targets on their own.

Evers said during a Monday news conference in Madison on Monday that climate change is a fact even though Republican Gov. Scott Walker doesn't believe it. He promised to work with other governors to adopt sections of the Paris pact that apply to states and review Wisconsin's emissions levels.

Evers also to use science when making decisions for the state, unlike Walker.

The governor's campaign spokesman, Austin Altenburg, didn't immediately reply to an email.

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4:45 p.m.

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Tony Evers says Gov. Scott Walker isn't telling the truth about his desire to preserve health insurance coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.

Evers appeared at a news conference in Madison on Monday with former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

He told reporters that Walker isn't telling the truth when he says he supports guaranteeing insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions. He pointed out that Walker authorized Attorney General Brad Schimel to join a multi-state lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act, which guarantees coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Sebelius warned that Walker wants to put people with pre-existing conditions in high-risk pools.

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4:40 p.m.

Gov. Scott Walker is likening his re-election bid this year to when former Gov. Tommy Thompson's first run for governor in 1986.

Thompson joined Walker on Monday for campaign stops in Green Bay and Milwaukee.

The stops come on the same day that Walker is promising to restore two-thirds state funding for schools, something that Thompson did in the 1990s but that the state hasn't met since 2003.

Walker's Democratic opponent Tony Evers is also promising to fund schools at that level.

Walker says Evers will raise property taxes to do it, but he won't. Evers says Walker's promise "means nothing."

Thompson says now is not the time to change course. He says like good chocolate chip cookies "I know the recipe works. The recipe is Scott Walker."

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8:37 a.m.

Gov. Scott Walker is promising to increase state funding for schools to two-thirds of total costs, a proposal his Democratic opponent Tony Evers made a month ago.

Walker said on "The Jay Weber Show" on WISN-AM Monday morning that he will restore the funding commitment without raising property taxes. But he did not say how he would pay for it, saying those details would come later.

Walker and Evers are locked in a tight battle for governor with the election three weeks away. Polls have shown that education is one of the top issues in the race.

Evers has been state superintendent of schools since 2009. He proposed two-thirds funding for schools in the budget he submitted last month.

The state has not met the two-thirds funding commitment since the 2002-2003 school year.

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