Gov. Scott Walker is calling for sweeping changes at WEDC, including phasing out a loan program that has faced heavy criticism.
The proposed changes come on the heels of a state audit that found WEDC has failed to consistently comply with statutory requirements and its own policies in tracking loans and grants to companies. The audit also found the economic development organization has faltered in providing complete information on the “numbers of jobs created and retained as a result of awards it made.”
Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha and Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, said the changes proposed Friday don’t go far enough.
“The proposal …is inadequate to the serious problems the audit found at WEDC,” Barca said. “Governor Walker still doesn’t get it – WEDC needs more than spuriously developed ideas for reform; it needs a complete overhaul.”
Lassa questioned the timing of the proposal.
“We just met as a board about two weeks ago and Governor Walker as chairman of the board did not present any of these ideas,” Lassa said. “What is the point of having a private-sector board if you are not going to consult with them?”
Walker, in a Friday news release, asked the Legislature to enact “reform.” That would include shifting money for loans to performance-based tax incentives that can be more easily tracked and combining two tax credit programs into one to make the program easier to use and administer.
Over the weekend at the state GOP convention in La Crosse, Walker defended his vision for WEDC.
The guv said concerns with state loans stretched back to his predecessor Jim Doyle and the old Commerce Department. Walker also defended WEDC, saying the business community has expressed happiness working with the agency’s front-line employees.
“The broader vision is actually very successful,” he said.
