Wisconsin: Questions Arise about State Money for Job Creation - State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout
State Senator Kathleen Vinehout writes in Uppity Wisconsin.
(note: "Eagan" refers to Eagan, Minnesota. Hudson refers to Hudson, Wisconsin.)
“Why is Wisconsin giving money to apparently profitable companies?” the reporter asked me. “Why are we apparently paying companies to move jobs 30 miles east so a bunch of Eagan residents can work in Hudson?” he wondered.
The journalist also wanted to know about nearly $240,000 in gubernatorial campaign contributions made by owners of a company expanding in western Wisconsin. He wondered about what appeared to be a less than random relationship between contributions and tax credits.
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The audit showed all state agencies are not tracking the accomplishments of all companies. Almost 90% of the state’s 139 economic development programs did not report both the expected and the actual number of jobs created.
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I found the lack of information astonishing; particularly after an earlier audit showed similar problems. To remedy the lack of information, my colleagues and I crafted a new law to make public how job creation money was spent and what actual jobs were created. In apparent defiance of the law, state agencies were not collecting all required information and could not answer questions about actual job creation numbers.
Good on Kathleen for trying to hold these scoundrels accountable. Good on the reporter for bringing this issue to her attention.
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