Browsing: News & Analysis

Priorities should include tax reform, corrections, professional licensure and tolling

Funding regulations hamper districts and don’t improve education, local officials say in survey

Several regulations removed from the books, freeing professionals from onerous and unneeded requirements

Paperwork takes staff away from daily responsibilities and educating kids, officials say.
By Julie Grace
November 13, 2017

Hordes of Wisconsin government workers are employed to ‘check boxes’ for the feds

Many taxpayers in the Badger State could take a hit under changes proposed in House Republican tax bill.
By Jay Miller
November 8, 2017

Effort to scrap popular Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is a case study in how difficult it is to reduce spending

U.S. education secretary also plans to give them more say over federal school dollars

ESSA could offer opportunities for state to involve districts in decision-making

School officials make decisions they wouldn’t make otherwise to comply with funding requirements.
By Julie Grace and Dan Benson
September 12, 2017

The announcement of Foxconn’s $10 billion planned investment in Wisconsin with up to 13,000 new jobs was broadly hailed as “transformational.”

When Taiwan-based Foxconn, manufacturer of iPhones and iPads for Apple, announced it wanted to build a $10 billion LCD panel plant in Wisconsin by 2020, it seemed like the timing couldn’t be better.

The potential for the Foxconn deal to provide a boost to Wisconsin’s economy and the excitement provided by media coverage make it difficult to think objectively about the deal.

Much of the discussion thus far about Foxconn Technology Group bringing an LCD screen manufacturing plant to southeastern Wisconsin has focused on the deal itself and the money that could flow out of — and eventually into — our state Capitol. 

The denizens of southeastern Wisconsin are understandably excited about the announcement that Foxconn Technology Group plans to build and operate a $10 billion LCD manufacturing plant there.

In London, American swimmer Katie Ledecky won an Olympic gold medal at the age of 15.

There’s a reason our legislators can’t get it in gear when it comes to transportation funding. The few realistic short-term options are pretty much akin to sucking a little more exhaust out of a tailpipe.

“It would more or less put in-state wineries and breweries out of business,” one winery owner says

It’s budget time in Madison. Get out your wallet.

Claiming to have a workforce strategy without a real strategy to attract and retain people makes little sense.
By Tom Hefty
June 28, 2017