Last week, I laid out my vision for how to get our state back on track. The WI Jobs NOW package of legislation would eliminate crippling tax increases and improve the business climate in our state. If enacted, the agenda will foster economic development and job creation across Wisconsin.
However, the Democrat-controlled State Assembly has yet to pass any meaningful legislation designed to boost economic development. In fact, the only significant bills that have passed this year, despite my opposition, actually have hurt the job creation climate in our state. The budget repair and biennial state budget bills I voted against earlier this legislative session have resulted in over $3.1 billion in tax and fee hikes, $3.5 billion in borrowing, $30 million for pet projects, $1.5 billion in property tax increases, and an increase in state spending of more than 6.2 percent.
Finally though, after 131 days, the Assembly Committee on Jobs and the Economy met last week. The Office of Recovery and Reinvestment, created by the Doyle Administration, reported that it has "saved or retained" around 6,100 government jobs as a result of the $787 billion federal stimulus bill. They also noted that they believe they have created or saved another unidentified 2,184 jobs.
There are several concerns I have with this report. The top priority of this funding should have been targeted at creating private sector jobs and reducing the number of unemployed workers. Instead, the report indicates that nearly 3 out of every 4 jobs saved were government jobs at the tune of $82,000 tax dollars per job.
Now, most of the government jobs that were "saved" were indicated to be in the category of teachers and local government employees. However, the only reason these jobs needed to be saved in the first place was due to the irresponsible cuts that the Democrat-controlled legislature made in the first place.
If you recall, one of the top reasons I voted against the budget bill was due to the severe cuts to K-12 education. The budget bill actually cut state education funding by nearly $600 million, then back-filled it with one-time federal stimulus dollars. In fact, the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) reports that $2.22 billion - more than 60 percent of the stimulus dollars - was used to plug state budget holes in a variety of different areas.
Therefore, the Doyle administration and Democrats in the Legislature are patting themselves on the back for saving the jobs that they originally cut. And they're doing it all with billions of your tax dollars. The practice of using one-time money to pay for permanent, ongoing expenses is terrible budgeting policy and never should have been approved. In fact, the LFB already is projecting a state budget deficit of more than $2 billion for the next two-year budget.
At the end of the day, the Department of Workforce Development has indicated that 235,900 Wisconsinites still are out of work, which is 28 times larger than the 8,200 jobs "saved" by the federal stimulus plan. One thing is clear and the Doyle administration admitted it - there has been very little private-sector job growth. This needs to change and I will continue to push for the timely passage of the Jobs NOW agenda to reduce the tax burden and improve the job creation climate in our state.
- Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, serves the 80th Assembly District, which includes all of Green County and parts of Lafayette, Rock and Dane counties.
However, the Democrat-controlled State Assembly has yet to pass any meaningful legislation designed to boost economic development. In fact, the only significant bills that have passed this year, despite my opposition, actually have hurt the job creation climate in our state. The budget repair and biennial state budget bills I voted against earlier this legislative session have resulted in over $3.1 billion in tax and fee hikes, $3.5 billion in borrowing, $30 million for pet projects, $1.5 billion in property tax increases, and an increase in state spending of more than 6.2 percent.
Finally though, after 131 days, the Assembly Committee on Jobs and the Economy met last week. The Office of Recovery and Reinvestment, created by the Doyle Administration, reported that it has "saved or retained" around 6,100 government jobs as a result of the $787 billion federal stimulus bill. They also noted that they believe they have created or saved another unidentified 2,184 jobs.
There are several concerns I have with this report. The top priority of this funding should have been targeted at creating private sector jobs and reducing the number of unemployed workers. Instead, the report indicates that nearly 3 out of every 4 jobs saved were government jobs at the tune of $82,000 tax dollars per job.
Now, most of the government jobs that were "saved" were indicated to be in the category of teachers and local government employees. However, the only reason these jobs needed to be saved in the first place was due to the irresponsible cuts that the Democrat-controlled legislature made in the first place.
If you recall, one of the top reasons I voted against the budget bill was due to the severe cuts to K-12 education. The budget bill actually cut state education funding by nearly $600 million, then back-filled it with one-time federal stimulus dollars. In fact, the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) reports that $2.22 billion - more than 60 percent of the stimulus dollars - was used to plug state budget holes in a variety of different areas.
Therefore, the Doyle administration and Democrats in the Legislature are patting themselves on the back for saving the jobs that they originally cut. And they're doing it all with billions of your tax dollars. The practice of using one-time money to pay for permanent, ongoing expenses is terrible budgeting policy and never should have been approved. In fact, the LFB already is projecting a state budget deficit of more than $2 billion for the next two-year budget.
At the end of the day, the Department of Workforce Development has indicated that 235,900 Wisconsinites still are out of work, which is 28 times larger than the 8,200 jobs "saved" by the federal stimulus plan. One thing is clear and the Doyle administration admitted it - there has been very little private-sector job growth. This needs to change and I will continue to push for the timely passage of the Jobs NOW agenda to reduce the tax burden and improve the job creation climate in our state.
- Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, serves the 80th Assembly District, which includes all of Green County and parts of Lafayette, Rock and Dane counties.
