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The past week in Madison was
a busy one; Tuesday was the Governor’s State of the State speech, along with
two very busy floor sessions.
Both nationally and at the state level, the economy continues to be the most
pressing issue that legislators are dealing with. The encouraging news that
the national economy experienced a 5.7% growth rate is tempered by the
continuing high unemployment numbers, although Wisconsin is faring better
than the nation as a whole.
Continuing to improve and develop Wisconsin’s economy and assisting in the
creation of good, family supporting jobs continues to be a priority in the
legislature. I want to talk about a couple of very important economic
development bills that were just passed in the Assembly. AB 532 was passed
to allow the Department of Commerce to award grants to the Wisconsin
Business Development Finance Corporation for the purpose of funding programs
that encourage lending to small and medium sized businesses and local
non-profit agencies. The primary purpose of the program is to promote
community development in areas that are experiencing economic distress. This
bill passed unanimously 96-0, demonstrating that we are working hard to
create a good bi-partisan atmosphere in the Assembly.
I was also very happy to support and vote for SB 440. We were able to pass
this bill on a bi-partisan 90-6 vote in the Assembly. This act will allow
Wisconsin communities to pool their bonding power to authorize local job
creation projects. The bonding reallocation costs the State nothing, but has
great potential to generate jobs and economic growth.
Right now, with the exception of Pierce County, all of the counties that I
represent have access to less than 1 million dollars of bonding authority.
Currently Trempealeau County has access to just $650,000 in bonding
authority, Buffalo County $585,000, Jackson $677,000, and Pepin just
$336,000. This is in comparison to 12 million dollars of bonding authority
in Dane County alone. With such limited resources, it becomes difficult to
offer really good incentives to businesses looking to grow or expand in the
area. This legislation levels the playing field allowing every community a
chance at more jobs, robust businesses and a stronger economic future. As a
result of this legislation, all of our area now has access to a pool of 238
million dollars in bonding authority, again at no cost to the State of
Wisconsin.
As an example of what these changes will mean, Wisconsin Rapids based Energy
Composites Corporation is expanding with the use of funds secured through
this bonding reallocation. The company is ready to break ground on a project
that will create 600 permanent full time jobs, with the potential to add a
total of 1,000 new jobs over the next five years.
In creating this bonding pool, we are also giving counties in Western
Wisconsin the power to attract new businesses and grow existing ones - this
will stabilize and strengthen Wisconsin’s economy in the long run. These two
bills are just a part of the continuing actions many of us in the Assembly
have taken to grow Wisconsin’s economy and continue to move Wisconsin
forward economically.
By the time you are reading this I will have completed a series of listening
sessions in the Eastern part of the 91st Assembly District. If you missed
one close to your home, I will be in the Western part of the district
February 8-9. Feel free to contact my office for times and locations.
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