Morning State News Roundup: Wisconsin's problem in attracting new jobs goes deeper than most of us think

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Wisconsin’s problem in attracting new jobs goes deeper than most of us think. A new report from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance blames an aging population, and an apparent reluctance to take risks in starting new businesses.

It used to be that Wisconsin consistently attracted larger percentages of new jobs than the national average. But that was back in the 1980’s-and-early-‘90’s. Since ‘96, Wisconsin’s annual percentage of job growth exceeded the national rate only 27-percent of the time. And from mid-2010 until last June, Wisconsin gained one-half percent fewer jobs than the national average. Politicians point fingers when they hear numbers like these – and Tax Alliance president Todd Berry says both parties are “missing the forest for the trees.” He said the graying population and a lack of new businesses add up to a state which does not have enough working-age adults, and enough new companies to maintain the growth rates seen elsewhere. Instead of luring out-of-state firms with tax breaks, Berry says the state should take bold steps to retain its younger workers and make sure they’re educated. He suggested more apprenticeships, more competitive college tuition, and more high-speed Internet service so professionals can work from anywhere in the state – even rural areas.

The Tax Alliance says Wisconsin’s working age population grew by one-third less than the national average from 2002-to-2011 – which means that other states find it easier to fill job openings. Also, Wisconsin had the nation’s second-lowest rate of new business start-ups since 2002, ahead of only neighboring Iowa. Berry says the immigrants who settled here took fewer chances with their money – and throughout history, Wisconsinites have shown that they’re less likely to take the risks which are necessary to start new businesses.

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A Madison economist says immigration reform could be a good thing for the state’s business climate in the long run. David Ward of Northstar Economics in Madison says Wisconsin’s total workforce is reaching its peak – and he expects it to hold steady or even shrink in the coming years. For that reason, Ward tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that immigration reform could be more of an opportunity to the Badger State than a threat. And Wisconsin Taxpayers’ Alliance president Todd Berry says it’s worth considering as President Obama and Congress are about to tackle the immigration issue. The Tax Alliance has issued a critical report explaining why Wisconsin’s job growth has lagged behind the nation as a whole since the mid-1990’s. The state’s job growth has out-paced the country only about a quarter of the time. The Tax Alliance says it’s because the growth of working age adults in Wisconsin is only a-third of what it’s been nationally – and the Badger State has the country’s second-smallest growth in new businesses. Berry says that latter fact is most likely because the state has a history of people who are reluctant to take risks.

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Not all the news was bad in a Wisconsin Taxpayers’ Alliance report which showed that Wisconsin’s workforce and business start-ups are growing slower than the national norms. One positive nugget reveals the long-term success rate of businesses which get their start here. Of those started in 1997, 45-percent are still operating in Wisconsin – much higher than the national average of 34-percent. And the fastest-growing business sectors are those which normally pay the most – like manufacturing, professional firms, and business services. Lower-paid jobs grew at a smaller pace – including retail and service posts in common places like restaurants and hotels.

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Wisconsin’s public employees will not invest their pension funds in new high-tech businesses to help them get rolling. The State Investment Board said no today to a request for $200-million from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Governor Scott Walker created the WEDC to help businesses grow and create jobs. Walker is also trying to find ways to provide venture capital to start-up businesses in the Badger State. But the Investment Board said today that the use of employee pension money for economic development quote, “does not meet our fiduciary duty.” Corporation director Reed Hall made the request late last year, when he was the agency’s interim director. He was since named the permanent director. The state pension fund provides retirement money for state-and-local government and public school employees except in those in the city-and-county of Milwaukee, which have their own pension plans.

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The Republican Party majority in the state legislature will announced changes yesterday to the proposed mining bill. Four sponsors of the package will announce amendments. It remains to be seen how far the GOP will go to try-and-satisfy Democrats who want assurances that the environment would not be hurt by mining – and that opponents can still challenge what the DNR decides. The current bill has changes to wetlands and water standards as proposed by Gogebic Taconite, the company that plans to open an iron ore mine in far northern Wisconsin if the firm can get what it wants from lawmakers. The bill also removes the ability to challenge DNR mining decisions. And it sets a 420-day deadline for the DNR to act on a mining application. Th state Assembly and Senate mining panels are scheduled to vote Wednesday on the legislation. The measure would then go to the full Legislature.

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The Wisconsin Hospital Association says Governor Scott Walker should agree to expand Medicaid under the Obama health care reform act. The U-S Supreme Court gave states the option of expanding Medicaid to cover adults who not currently eligible for things like Badger-Care-Plus. The Republican Walker will announce his decision later this month, when he unveils his proposed state budget for the next two years. Hospital Association president Steve Brenton said hospitals are looking for stability, especially in covering the most vulnerable persons. Brenton said the debate will have valid opinions on both sides but quote, “In this time of uncertainty, we cannot have fewer people with coverage, and more uncompensated care” – in which hospitals cover the tab for those who can’t afford to pay. Walker’s health secretary Dennis Smith has said the math doesn’t add up – and despite increased federal funding, Smith has said it might cost Wisconsin more to take the government’s Medicaid offer. Washington would cover the full expansion cost through 2016, and the federal share would eventually drop to 90-percent. Under the federal care act, Medicaid would be expanded to include low-income Wisconsin adults who no children under-19.

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A bat in northwest Wisconsin was recently diagnosed as being rabid – and that has state health officials warning folks about possible exposure to rabies. State veterinarian Jim Kazmierczak says it’s not common to find a rabid bat this time of year. But a few have been spotted in previous Januaries. Twenty-nine rabid bats were confirmed in Wisconsin last year. Officials say the bats can transmit rabies if they have physical contact with someone. Most bats are considered to be inactive during the winter – but some find shelters indoors, where they can touch people and pets. A week-and-a-half ago, a Marquette University men’s basketball game was interrupted when a bat swooped down to the floor in Milwaukee – and players had to duck to get out of the way. The bat hid after that, but was found and released a couple days later.

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Funeral services will be held tomorrow near Phoenix for a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper editor in Milwaukee. 81-year-old George Lockwood died last Thursday from ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Lockwood was a long-time editor at the old Milwaukee Journal. He led a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of stories on water pollution in Wisconsin. The series was called “Pollution, the Spreading Menace,” and it won journalism’s top national newspaper award in 1967 for meritorious public service. It resulted in tighter regulations on the industrial waste that goes into Wisconsin waters, especially from paper companies. Lockwood joined the Journal in 1956 as a night-time police reporter, and he held a variety of positions at the paper over three decades. He retired in 1986 as a managing editor for features. Lockwood later taught journalism at Louisiana State University and other schools, and became the chief editor of a newspaper in Saint Joseph, Missouri. In recent years, he and his wife spent their winters in Phoenix.

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Kenosha County authorities said alcohol was apparently a factor in a one-vehicle crash that killed a Burlington man. Sheriff’s deputies are still looking into the mishap in which 28-year-old John Engbert died. Officers said he drove off a county road in the town of Wheatland and hit a utility pole. Deputies asked to have a medical helicopter fly Engberg to a hospital – but the weather conditions would not allow it, an ambulance took the victim to the Burlington hospital where he was pronounced dead. Officials said alcohol was suspected as a cause even though the roads were snowy. The driver was the only person in the vehicle.

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State Supreme Court challenger Vince Megna asked his two opponents today to turn down any campaign donations from outside Wisconsin. Brandon Scholz of Justice Pat Roggensack’s campaign called the request a “personal attack from candidates who can’t raise money for their own campaign.” Megna and the third hopeful in the race, Ed Fallone, are using their mostly their own money. About a quarter of Roggensack’s funding since last September has come from out-of-state. She filed a state finance report last week showing that she raised $55,000 by the end of 2012. But the liberal group One Wisconsin Now said the Fund for Parent Choice gave her just over 20-thousand which was not included in her state report. The third candidate in the race, Marquette law professor Ed Fallone, said Roggensack should have included the school choice donation. Fallone campaign manager Nate Schwantes said justices should stand up to special interests, not take their money and tried to hide it from voters. Scholz said the campaign did not receive the donations until January second – and they’ll be listed on Roggensack’s next finance report due next Monday. Roggensack, Megna, and Fallone will square off in a February 19th primary.

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The high-speed Amtrak train from Milwaukee-to-Chicago has set another passenger record. The state DOT said today that 832,500 people rode the Hiawatha line last year. That’s almost 400 more people than 2011, when the line’s ridership surpassed 800,000 for the first time. Wisconsin and Illinois help contribute toward the Amtrak service. The Milwaukee-to-Chicago started in 1989, and it provides multiple round-trips each day between the two big cities with only limited stops at Sturtevant near Racine, and the Chicago suburb of Glenview. Amtrak says the Hiawatha is the agency’s most popular corridor in the Midwest – and it’s the sixth busiest in the nation.

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Even though women have been flying in the U.S. Army for nearly 40 years, history is being made in a Wisconsin National Guard Black Hawk helicopter. Women make up the entire crew on that chopper. Captain Leulla Dooley-Menet says it has been great to make the historic flight with the other women. The 90-minute training flight carried the captain, Chief Warrant Officer Rachel Simeth, and Sergeant Cassandra Weiss. The crew and their helicopter will be first responders to disaster areas.

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Yesterday's batch of light snow covered much of the state. One-to-four inches fell in about the southern half of the Badger State. Metro Milwaukee had numerous spin-outs and minor accidents during this morning’s rush hour – but no deaths or serious injuries have been reported. Meanwhile, another batch of snow is due in tonight and tomorrow, as another low pressure system moves in from the west. One-to-three more inches are predicted statewide until that storm clears out late tomorrow afternoon. And yet another low-pressure system is due in Wednesday night and Thursday – and we could see both snow-and-rain from that batch. That’s because it’s supposed to get warmer as the week goes on, and temperatures above freezing are possible on Wednesday and beyond.

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New foreclosure cases in January were the lowest for the month in six years in southeast Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel counted 720 new filings last month against those behind on their mortgages. That’s 29-percent lower than the previous January. And it’s the lowest for the month since 2007, when 699 foreclosure cases were filed in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and Walworth counties. Area foreclosures have dropped on an annual basis in each of the last three years. Economist Brian Jacobsen says it’s quote, “a nice trend” which shows how much the housing market has improved.

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