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Bold new plans focus on Wisconsin's economic future
Published January 13, 2009 - BizTimes Daily
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Two bold new plans intended to help Wisconsin weather the recession and restore its economy were unveiled today.
Citing a unique opportunity for reform in the face of difficult
economic circumstances, Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and
Minnesota Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty today announced a
nation-leading, bipartisan effort to identify potential shared services
between their states.
At ceremonies in Madison and St. Paul and today, Doyle and Pawlenty
signed executive orders directing their state agency commissioners and
secretaries to identify possible cooperative service agreements between
the state agencies of both Wisconsin and Minnesota'.
Both states are facing multi-billion dollar budget shortfalls and
similar challenges in meeting demands for state services with limited
revenues.
"The people of our states are used to seeing neighbors cooperate to get
through challenging times," Doyle said. "This is a common sense way to
cut government spending while protecting essential services during a
tough economic time for our country."
"We're not proposing to merge the Vikings and the Packers, but we are
going to seek out every area where we can save money and improve
services by working together across state lines," Pawlenty
said. "This is an historic agreement between our two states that
can serve as a model for the rest of the country."
The governors said services to be explored for sharing between the two
states will include: procurement (i.e. road salt, heavy equipment,
institutional food and software); facilities and vehicles (i.e.
specialized vehicles, patrol boats, aircraft and warehouse space); and
cooperative functions (i.e. call centers, collection operations,
licensing functions and prison industries).
Wisconsin and Minnesota's commissioners and secretaries will report
back to their governors by Feb. 27. Each report must identify the
specific activities, programs and services currently provided by their
state's agency that could be met through a cooperative service
arrangement with the other state. To view a copy of the executive
orders, visit www.wisgov.state.wi.us/journal_media_detail.asp?locid=19&prid=3893.
Meanwhile, in a separate announcement in Madison, a broad new
coalition of leaders in government, labor and environmental
organizations unveiled a "Blueprint for Wisconsin's Green Economy."
The Blueprint provides a vision and principles for how the federal
economic recovery money could be used, and more than $2 billion in
examples of immediate, job-creating projects that could increase the
state's energy independence, build public transit systems, provide
clean water and rebuild crumbling urban infrastructure.
The coalition said the proposals could create an estimated 30,000 jobs in Wisconsin.
"Every week we hear about a plant closing somewhere in Wisconsin that
puts thousands of skilled workers on the street," said Chuck Geiger of
the Blue Green Alliance. "We need to provide these people with good,
family supporting, green jobs as well as a pathway to get there.
Every displaced worker says to themselves 'now what?' We need to
answer that question."
"The Blueprint provides an answer by showing how investing economic
recovery money in this way can both remedy the immediate economic
crisis, and build the basis for a high wage, environmentally
sustainable, 21st century Wisconsin economy," said Melissa Scanlan,
founder and senior counsel of Midwest Environmental Advocates.
"We're at a critical point where we can jumpstart our economy with
targeted investments that build Wisconsin's 21st century green
economy. Investing in public transit will not only create
thousands of jobs, but will promote smart development and reduced
climate change emissions," said Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz.
"The Amalgamated Transit Union-Local 998 eagerly supports the
Blueprint because by investing in mass transit we can put people to
work on vital infrastructure that connects people to jobs," said
Richard Riley, president of the union.
"We can put people to work in a very short time frame if we're able to
get additional funding for major clean water and flood management
projects," said Kevin Shafer, executive director of the Milwaukee
Metropolitan Sewerage District. "Our investments have an immediate
impact on the economy and benefit the waterways of this region for
decades."
Cheryl Nenn of Milwaukee's Riverkeeper said, "With new green jobs we
can clean our rivers and Great Lakes, protect the drinking water
supply, restore wildlife habitat, and improve our quality of life."
"With Wisconsin hemorrhaging family supporting manufacturing jobs over
the past decade, it makes sense to invest economic recovery money in a
way that can both remedy the immediate economic crisis and start to
build the basis for a new high wage economy," said Robert Kraig,
program director for Citizen Action of Wisconsin.
To see the full Blueprint for Wisconsin's Green Economy, visit www.midwestadvocates.org.
