Putting Wisconsin Back to Work
Putting Wisconsin Back to Work and fixing the state’s budget mess without raising taxes or fees. Those are two things Assembly Republicans promised to do when we ran in November. Voters demanded we put Wisconsin Back to Work and our efforts are already having an effect, helping us to get off to a fantastic start.
With jobs as our main focus, we quickly passed nine bills and acted so efficiently that the Associated Press said the GOP led legislature was in “hyper-drive”. In these first few months we started the tough task of changing the environment in Wisconsin to help companies expand and encourage job creators to move here.
The tone has changed and the results are starting to come in. For the third straight month, Wisconsin has added jobs. According to the Department of Workforce Development, the state added 9,800 new jobs in March--most of them in the manufacturing sector. Since the first day of this session, the number of new jobs created has climbed to nearly 25,000 statewide.
The Capitol Times says the state is on pace to achieve the 250,000 jobs Governor Walker set as a goal in his first term. What’s more impressive, as the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel pointed out, it’s coming at a time when the nation's unemployment picture is "muddled".
I know it will be a long road to get back, but we are starting too see the signs of recovery -- specifically, “Help Wanted” signs statewide. As we continue to make more regulatory reforms, companies that have been on the fence during the recession will no doubt follow suit and expand. The number of job openings posted on the Department of Workforce Development’s site, JobCenterofWisconsin.com, has increased to nearly 30,000.
Over the next few weeks, we will be working on fulfilling another of our campaign promises. We will approve a state budget that won’t include any tax or fee increases. The tax increases we have seen in the last eight years have hit families and job creators hard. Our decision to hold the line on tax increases comes at a time when our neighbors, such as Illinois, are raising them. That has prompted firms like Illinois based Catalyst Exhibits and online company FatWallet to pack up and “Escape to Wisconsin” bringing hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in development here.
We are going through this budget process like most families, including my own, are handling their own family budgets. As we cut back on our family spending to deal with rising costs, like soaring gas prices, the same approach needs to be done at the state level. Not only will the budget we pass cut spending, it will be free of tax and fee hikes and for the first time in years it will be an “honest budget” with real reform. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been guilty of raiding segregated funds, using accounting tricks and using one-time federal aid dollars to fill budget holes. The plan we will soon pass will put our state’s fiscal house in order without those tactics.
We aren't done yet. Voters sent us a clear message in November: Wisconsin needs jobs, jobs and more jobs. Our goal will continue to be reforming government, removing barriers to private sector job creation and putting Wisconsin Back to work.
As always, if you have any questions regarding this or any other issue, please do not hesitate to contact me at P.O. Box 8952, Madison, WI 53708, or call me direct at (608) 266-2540. You can also e-mail me at Rep.Fitzgerald@legis.wisconsin.gov