LARSON Weekly Report - March 15, 2012

Dear Friend,

The Legislature has closed its 2011-2012 Session, which failed to get our state moving forward with the rest of the country in job creation and economic development.

As usual, please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns or opinions you may have about our community or our state.

Sincerely,

Chris Larson
State Senator, District 7
=========================


Job Creation Delayed in Wisconsin
The Wisconsin State Senate concluded the 2011-2012 Legislative Session today. At a great cost to family, friends, and neighbors, this botched Republican-run session will go down in our state history books as the most divisive and dishonest legislative session ever.

Although Governor Walker and Republican legislators promised to focus on jobs this session, they have utterly failed to follow through. The numbers do not lie. While the nation has added jobs every month for 17 straight months and neighboring states all posted job gains this past year, Wisconsin has fallen tragically behind under Governor Walker's leadership. A new nationwide report released by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Wisconsin lost 12,500 jobs from January 2011 to January 2012, more than any other state over the past year. In fact, Wisconsin is one of only six states to lose jobs in the past year, and our job losses are more than three times higher than the next state on that unfortunate list.

Click here to view the report and a chart showing the state-by-state breakdown.

Despite hearing from people across Wisconsin who are in desperate need of jobs, Governor Walker and Republican legislators put partisanship above progress by leaving many Democratic employee training and jobs proposals untouched. Below is a list of just some of these proposals that Republicans refused to act on to get Wisconsin moving on job creation:
--Expand the Workforce Advancement Training Program and create grants to assist local businesses with expanding and diversifying (SB 316/AB 431)

--Create grants for technical colleges to provide additional training in advanced manufacturing skills (SB 40/AB 97)

--Direct the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to develop, implement, and fund a program to link businesses that need more qualified workers with Wisconsin's technical colleges so they can provide the necessary training for those businesses to grow (AB 575)

--Give the Wisconsin Economic Development the authority to award grants to Wisconsinites trying to qualify for income and franchise tax credits to improve or expand their business (AB 90)

--Increase the amount of tax credits available for dairies to continue modernizing facilities and employ workers for these projects (SB 120/AB 186)

Unfortunately, this session has also been about picking winners and losers. In order to help the big corporations and special interests further their backwards agenda, Governor Walker and Republican legislators have sacrificed Wisconsin’s jobless, children, and women. To provide big corporations with $2.3 billion in tax giveaways, Governor Walker cut $1.6 billion from neighborhood schools that educate our children. Governor Walker also chose to create a $196 million slush fund with little oversight, while making over $1 billion in cuts to our health safety net being used by children, displaced workers, and the elderly. Then, to make up for increasing spending by over $1 billion in his budget compared to the previous one, Governor Walker cut funding for basic women's health care, shared revenue for local governments, public transit, and recycling and stewardship programs.

We need to get Wisconsin moving in the right direction with the rest of the nation. Unfortunately, the job-killing policies implemented by Governor Walker and Republican legislators this legislative session will do nothing to help our state out of this crisis.
===================

Victory for Quality Education
Students, parents, and teachers in Wisconsin have had little to cheer about over the course of the past year. Our neighborhood schools have faced staggering budget cuts and staff losses after Governor Walker chopped their funds by $1.6 billion in his budget. Therefore, I am happy to update you on two positive education developments that happened this week during the legislative session wrap-up.

Bill to Close the Voucher Loophole Passes
This week, the Assembly reluctantly answered calls to make good on their promise and passed Senate Bill 174, legislation to close the voucher loophole. The voucher loophole was created over eight months ago when Republicans inserted an overly broad provision in the budget. This established criteria for school districts that, if met, would allow private and religious schools to siphon off up to $6,500 in taxpayer dollars per student from our neighborhood schools. Republican legislators indicated that their intention with this budget provision was to expand the voucher program only to Racine. However, hasty action on the budget created a loophole that would apply this provision to communities across Wisconsin.

Had the Legislature not passed Senate Bill 174, the voucher loophole would have forced other schools that meet the criteria established to implement their own voucher program without allowing for debate in the affected community. Fortunately for our state, this loophole has now been closed thanks to continued efforts by education advocates, local communities, Wisconsinites, and Democratic legislators.
Click here to view a copy of Senate Bill 174.



Bill to Reverse Walker's FamilyCare Cap Passes
After receiving pressure from Democratic lawmakers, advocacy groups, and neighbors across Wisconsin that depend on vital health safety net programs, Assembly Republicans finally passed legislation to remove the cap on FamilyCare and other such programs.

Senate Bill 380, legislation to remove the cap placed on FamilyCare, of which I am a co-sponsor, received unanimous approval in the Senate on February 14, 2012. Assembly Republicans had been refusing to act on the bill until this past Tuesday. Unfortunately, an amendment was adopted in the Assembly and concurred in the Senate that will prevent expansion of FamilyCare and other health safety net programs without the approval of the Joint Finance Committee. While this will not have a direct impact on Milwaukee County, it will have serious consequences for our family and friends across Wisconsin that have been hoping to establish better safety net programs in their community.

History of the Cap on Familycare
As you may know, Governor Walker’s 2011-2013 Biennial Budget instituted a cap on the FamilyCare program. During the budget debate, my Democratic colleagues and I expressed our concerns about how family, friends and neighbors would suffer by being denied these life-saving services. Unfortunately, voices from across Wisconsin were once again ignored and the cap went into effect on July 1, 2011.

This past December, the federal government stepped in, ordering Governor Walker and the Wisconsin Legislature to pass legislation immediately in order to lift the caps on FamilyCare. As a result, Senate Bill 380 was introduced. If the Legislature had failed to pass Senate Bill 380, Wisconsin would have had to forfeit the $1.75 billion it receives in matching federal funds for our Medicaid programs, including FamilyCare.

Click here to view a copy of Senate Bill 380, legislation to remove the cap.
==================

Office Phone: (608) 266-7505
Toll-free Phone: (800) 361-5487

Email: Sen.Larson@legis.wi.gov

Mailing Address:
State Capitol
P.O. Box 7882
Madison, WI 53707

Web Site:
SenatorChrisLarson.com