Friday, March 2, 2012
After moving into a new facility in the Grandview Business Park, Racine Metal-Fab is adding jobs. Gov. Walker says with manufacturing solid and growing in Wisconsin, he needs our help promoting the possibilities to young people.
Update, 10 am March 4: Wages at Racine Metal-Fab are higher than the minimum requirements under the tax credit program. According to Dean Popek, chief financial officer at Racine Metal-Fab (RMF), wages for new employees hired under the tax credit program must start at a minimum of $10.85 per hour, which is 1-1/2 times the current minimum wage. Hourly wages at Racine Metal-Fab are higher than the $10.85, depending on the position and current skill set of the individual employee. "Starting pay at RMF is dependent upon the position and skills required," he told Patch via email. "Our starting wage is higher than this rate but, again, it depends upon the position and skills required." RMF sets its wages to be competitive with similar-sized …
Saturday, February 25, 2012
In this week's radio address, Governor Scott Walker talks about how regulations for small businesses need to be smarter to help entrepreneurs succeed.
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Saturday, February 25, 2012
The state has partnered with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association to produce and distribute brief radio address once a week. Audio files and a written transcript of this radio address can be accessed on http://www.wi-broadcasters.org and http://walker.wi.gov/Weekly-Radio-Addresses. To download an mp3 file you can visit, right click the radio address link and click “save link as.” Hi. I'm Scott Walker. Touring the state and talking to small business owners, one thing has become crystal clear to me: government regulations need to be science based, predictable and practical. All too often I hear about how government is standing in the way of those who want to grow jobs in our state. This is why I just signed Executive Order 61, which …
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine) and Rep. Tamara Grigsby (D-Milwaukee) say they want money to go to homeowners and not to plug a hole in the state budget.
Saying the entire pot of $140 million national foreclosure funds should go to Wisconsin homeowners and not to help plug a hole in the state budget, state Democratic Representatives Cory Mason and Tamara Grigsby introduced legislation to make it happen. Called the FAIR Act (Foreclosure Aid, Integrity, and Relief), the bill would force Governor Scott Walker to use some $25.6 million to help homeowners across the state. According to a story on Forbes.com, Wisconsin's share of a $25 billion settlement with five of the largest banks that participated in illegal mortgage practices will be $140 million. $31 million of that money is marked for the state to help fund "future law enforcement efforts, providing additional relief to borrowers, paying …
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Walker wants residents to know that he's working to grow Wisconsin's economy and get people back to work.
We are turning things around. We are heading in the right direction. We are moving Wisconsin forward. In 2011, we added thousands of private sector jobs and the unemployment rate is down from a year ago. In fact, it’s the lowest it has been since 2008. In the past, 150,000 of our fellow citizens lost their jobs in the private sector. Two years ago, a mere 10% of our employers thought that Wisconsin was headed in the right direction. In contrast, we created a better environment for job creation in our state over the past year. Now, 94% of our employers say Wisconsin is headed in the right direction. A majority of those employers say that they plan on growing in 2012. To help small businesses continue to grow, our Wisconsin Working…
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Gov. Walker says the state is moving in the right direction. Patch has reaction from our area representatives.
Update, 11 am, Jan. 26: We have added comments from Rep. Bob Turner (D-Racine) into the body of the story. Saying his initiatives are helping the state now for the years to come, Governor Walker delivered his State of the State address on Jan. 25. Focusing big on how the state's unemployment rate is the lowest in years and how the state budget is balanced without raising taxes or massive layoffs, Walker recounted what he sees as victories for all residents. The Small Business Regulatory Review Board and the Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Elimination Task Force, Act 10 and the coming mining legislation are all ways Walker said he and his administration, in partnership with the state legislature, work to help citizens not just for the present but …
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Today it was announced that over one million signatures were turned over to the GAB to force an election recall of Governor Walker. But I am not ready to celebrate just yet.
One million. Well. Even I was surprised. I thought maybe closer to 750,000 would be the final recall total…but ONE MILLION??!! Wow. There are, no doubt, a lot of ecstatic people in Wisconsin right now. Thousands of them are in Madison as I type. Ed Schultz is reporting from there this afternoon and tonight. And a march to the GAB office is about to begin. Quite a celebration indeed. Regardless, I am not doing flips and cartwheels quite yet. And not just because that would probably land me in the hospital. I cannot find it in me to rejoice in this monumental number because I know the rocky road ahead of us. I want to cheer and bust open some champagne like my friends at the Capitol, but I still harbor a great deal of apprehension and fear. …
Friday, January 13, 2012
A group of Wisconsin Democrats is asking the DOJ to take a closer look at the new law.
Saying the new Wisconsin Voter ID bill violates the rights of some state residents, a group of Democratic lawmakers is asking the US Department of Justice to review the new law. In a letter sent Fri., Jan. 13, 22 Democratic members of the legislature said the new Voter ID Bill - which requires residents to show an approved form of photo identification in order to vote - restricts minorities, seniors, students and the poor from exercising their constitutional right to vote. US Attorney General Eric Holder got a similar letter last summer from the Wisconsin State Bar Civil Rights Division. The League of Women Voters filed suit in October 2011, saying the law creates a separate class of American citizen - those who cannot vote - which is …
Interested applicants have until Feb. 27, 2012 to apply.
Racine County needs a new District Attorney now that Michael Nieskes sits on the Circuit Court bench here. Governor Scott Walker appointed Nieskes on Dec. 13 to fill the vacancy created when Judge Dennis Barry died in August 2011. At the time, Nieskes said he fully expected Deputy District Attorny Richard Chiapete to apply for the job with Nieskes' full support. For interested parties, here's how to apply from the press release issued by Walker's office: Governor Scott Walker announced today that he is seeking applicants for appointment as the Racine County District Attorney. The new appointee will replace outgoing Racine County District Attorney Michael Nieskes, who was recently appointed to the Racine County Circuit Court. Please …
Thursday, January 12, 2012
The Government Accountability Board also needs $100,000 in software upgrades, an off-site facility and temp workers.
Wisconsin recall elections seem like a pretty sure thing, and to be sure the integrity of the process is preserved, the Government Accountability Board is asking for an extension to review petition signatures. State statute gives the agency 30 days to conduct a review, but the GAB is asking for 60 days or more, according to an Associated Press story. Government Accountability Board Director Kevin Kennedy said the court-ordered, more stringent process is driving the timeline. Completing the verifications in 60 days plus a primary for the gubernatorial race means a May election. Further court challenges or other delays could mean pushing the election(s) to June or later. While 540,000 signatures are required to spark a recall election, state…
Friday, January 6, 2012
All 72 counties responded to a survey that helped the Government Accountability Board compile its numbers.
A recall election for Gov. Scott Walker would cost just more than $9 million without a primary and $17 million with a primary, according to numbers released Friday. The Government Accountability Board reached those estimates after receiving information from the state's 72 counties. The work was done after Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester) made a request for the information. "The costs are significant," said Vos. "We asked for these figures, hoping that if people knew the cost, they would think twice." After learning the recall elections in summer 2011 cost over $2 million, Vos wanted to know what a statewide recall would run. In a letter to the GAB back in October, Vos asked for an estimate, saying he wanted voters informed before petitions …
Walker
9:39 am on Monday, March 5, 2012
"If you had any education in economics, you would understand that after a recession, especially a deep one like we just had," Still doesn't explain why Wisconsin is at the bottom while the rest of the US seems to be dealing with the recession also. It seems like Wisconsin's downward spiral started in June, 2011. Coincidence that's when walker's policies went into affect? more ›