Wisconsin Jobs Now Task Force

This coming Monday in Brown Deer Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature will be holding a Wisconsin Jobs Now Task Force meeting. The task force, being hosted by State Senator Randy Hopper and State Representative Rich Zipperer, will feature business leaders from around the Milwaukee metro area eager to discuss the business and tax climate in Southeastern Wisconsin. Please join them and have your voice heard.

Date: Monday, March 23, 2009
Time: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Location: BioResearch, Inc. 9275 N. 49th Street Suite 150, Brown Deer, WI

For more information feel free to visit the Wisconsin Jobs now Task Force at: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/senate/src/wisconsinjobsnow/

Check out my recent interview on Milwaukee Public Radio

Please take a few minutes and listen to my recent appearance on Milwaukee Public Radio. The show aired Sunday night and featured several guests discussing issues in the State Capitol. My part of the show begins in the 27th minute (27:45).

http://www.wuwm.com/programs/lake_effect/view_le.php?articleid=668#

Conservative Insurgency

Wow...what a great evening last night. Forty people in a living room joining forces to push a real change agenda! Many thanks to Clark and Darlene for hosting. I'm looking forward to watching this group flourish.

Wisconsin Arts Day and the Creative Economy

Wisconsin Arts Day and the Creative Economy

Yesterday I had the pleasure of participating in the opening festivities for Wisconsin Arts Day in Madison. This year's theme, "art is not a frill," reflects the sober seriousness of our state's creative coalition and their efforts to protect a very delicate growth industry in Wisconsin. Jobs in the creative economy - in graphic arts, acting, film-making and others - are not lifetime-secure employment. They are frequently short-term, project-based opportunities that draw on the skills and passion of Wisconsinites.

In order to keep our creative economy alive, and especially if we aim to grow it for future generations, Wisconsin needs to foster creativity and lure those projects to our state.
The Wisconsin Film Bill did just that. Since it was was enacted in 2007, the film bill has been attracting creative jobs into our state. While direct job creation was a big success, the projects we attracted also boosted business for our hotels, caterers, and other sectors. If you asked me how I judge the success of economic policy, I'd ask you if we created jobs and boosted commerce as a result. In this case, we did both. Yet somehow the Governor's budget would railroad the film bill and future opportunities it would create. Governor Doyle's backward-looking effort, as you can imagine, has been met by confusion and outright disappointment.
During my brief remarks to attendees at Wisconsin Arts Day it really hit me. The people who are counting on us to foster these opportunities aren't Hollywood producers or big-name stars (contrary to the Doyle Administration's wrong-headed assertions). The people who are counting on us live in Waukesha and Green Bay and Sheboygan. Unless we keep Wisconsin a friendly place to do business, our creative coalition will watch opportunities pass right by on their way someplace else. So will our small business owners. Rest assured, I'm not going to let those people down.

I noticed today that a theatrical trailer has been released for the new Johnny Depp film "Public Enemies." Congratulations to all the Wisconsinites involved in the making and support of that film. Your creativity and hard work are a real tribute to our state.

Run your government like your home...

I just did my afternoon check of the Journal-Sentinel's website and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed below 7,000 this afternoon for the first time since 1997. To refresh everyone's memory, in October 2007 the Dow reached it's all-time record high of 14,087 amid beliefs that the American economy would continue its fast-paced expansion. What a difference 16 months can make. I don't know about you, but my wife and I won't even look at our retirement accounts anymore. Why bother?

Families across Wisconsin and the country are having this same exact conversation. What lessons do you take away from the situation we're in? How do you protect the financial stability of your family in light of the wild fluctuations we see in every aspect of the global economy? With college tuition to plan for and normal, run-of-the-mill expenses, this is just one of those moments that requires careful, thoughtful discussion about how to move forward. For the Kanavas family, that means spending less and planning better. It means finding recipes to take advantage of leftovers. It means buying the store brand and looking for the best prices at the gas pump. It means cutting back on big purchases, but in extreme cases waiting for them to go on sale before we pay cash to buy (I want to see dust build up on my credit card).

That's the conversation I'm having as a husband and father.

As a member of the Wisconsin Legislature, that's the same conversation I want to be having about state government. My friends in the Democratic Party like to suggest that Republicans sound like a broken record because we keep arguing that tax cuts work. But what they miss is that our preoccupation with scaling back government spending and working to eliminate public debt is simply a page out of the Kanavas family playbook. We share it with thousands of families across Wisconsin and it's about time state government joins us.

Ronald Reagan Day

Last week, on February 6, citizens across Wisconsin and this entire country celebrated one of America's strongest presidents. As you may know, in 2007 I sponsored Senate Joint Resolution 4 that recognized February 6 as Ronald Reagan Day in Wisconsin.

President Reagan's legacy in 2009 continues to grow in meaning and stature. Of all the things I have taken from years admiring this good man, perhaps the most timely is the sunny optimism and faith in America that President Reagan brought to every challenge that faced his administration. Large majorities of Americans supported him, voted for him and embraced his policies not because he convinced them of dire consequences for failing to do so, but because they embraced his vision for our country that would result from them. Leaders in both political parties could learn much from that example.

President Reagan could also work with members of both political parties without sacrificing the core principles that drove his time in public life. He believed in setting an appropriate tone for the public dialogue, and that disagreement need not necessitate less love for or interest in America. He was a strong leader, a great (exceptional) communicator and a loving family man. For generations to come in politics and public service, President Reagan will remain a figure for emulation. For the generations of Americans to come in life, Ronald Reagan will forever be a man to admire.

If you didn't realize that February 6th was a day to honor our 40th President, I hope you will take a moment to do so today.

Federal stimulus funding: the right way forward for Wisconsin

Governor Doyle will deliver his annual State of the State address tonight before a packed Assembly chamber here in Madison. Already this week the Governor and his aides have hinted that his address will be a somber, straightforward discussion of the state’s dire economic and fiscal landscape.

Republicans and Democrats will listen intently to the Governor’s speech and should, in a manner reflective of this serious challenge, respond with bi-partisan vigor to bring the Wisconsin economy back. I doubt anyone will disagree with these sentiments.

However, as our time tested system of government requires, bi partisanship will not preclude a substantive and passionate debate over how best to move forward. Anyone who knows me and has followed my career knows that I believe in and readily engage in the legislative debate on big issues. Speaking of big issues, here’s one to start with.

As expected, Democrats in the United States House of Representatives introduced a new economic stimulus package on January 15th. Their legislation would allocate billions of dollars to each state for, among other purposes, infrastructure projects that will require the creation of new jobs. While the precise amount is still the subject of speculation, Wisconsin stands to receive a substantial portion of these funds. The question remains: how will we use it.

Governor Doyle has recently named a good man, Gary Wolter, to lead a new state Office of Recovery and Reinvestment. The new office will, in Mr. Wolter’s words, lay the groundwork for smart, quick decisions by the Governor, his administration and the Wisconsin Legislature. Pressed on respecting the proper role of the legislature, Mr. Wolter and his new deputy, Alan Fish, agreed repeatedly that the legislature will have a proper role. Rest assured that I intend to hold the administration to that commitment.

The process for determining how to spend these funds can’t be properly managed in the Governor’s conference room. Governor Doyle and his team should identify a series of projects and forward those recommendations to the Wisconsin Legislature for a prompt, fair and open debate. My colleagues in the Senate and the Assembly have a unique and important perspective about how certain projects can affect our sagging economy. Skipping our vote – and ignoring that perspective – would be a huge and costly mistake.

Here are two additional principles we should adhere to.

First, while the federal government is effectively borrowing the money for this stimulus package, Wisconsin must avoid passing along any debt down the road to our kids and grandkids. Taxpayers across this state are trimming their credit card accounts and paying cash whenever they can. State government needs to follow that lead and use the federal funding for projects that can accept our cash payment and get started immediately.

Second, the legislature and Governor Doyle should agree that these funds should be focused on projects that have the greatest established need and the best potential economic impact. What are the long-term implications of these projects? How are we helping to create new jobs? These are the important questions. We should resist any temptation to play politics or grandstand at this crucial moment in Wisconsin’s economy.

Accepting new funding from Congress is rarely free or straightforward. Accordingly, the Governor and the legislature must handle these funds with great care and transparency.