Contact:
Ethnie Groves, Office of the Governor, 608-261-2156
Governor Jim Doyle released the following statement today regarding the release of the report Measuring Success: Benchmarks for a Competitive Wisconsin, 2004.
“This report shows Wisconsin is making solid progress in growing our economy, and in continuing create good, family-supporting jobs. On per capita personal income, Wisconsin is improving significantly compared to the national average. Our per capita income grew more than 17 percent over the last five years – a rate tying us with Minnesota as the best in the upper Midwest.
“As part of our strategic focus on economic development, we made a choice to compete at the high end by producing the best products, with the most highly skilled and educated workforce anywhere in the world. It’s paying off. Wisconsin’s quality of life is evident from this report – we have more people with health insurance, a lower cost of living, and a declining crime rate compared to other states.
“The report also identifies challenges for us, including growing our ‘new economy.’ Under my Biotechnology Initiative, we are investing $750 million in public and private funds over the next several years to projects across the state – including a new Wisconsin Institute for Discovery on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus – so that we will continue to lead the world in scientific breakthroughs and job creation. Finally, the report shows that we made the right choice two years ago to not raise taxes. We must continue to be fiscally responsible by passing a balanced budget that doesn’t raise taxes. We will continue to make targeted investments to grow our economy so that everyone in Wisconsin can enjoy all our state has to offer.”
The report is issued annually by Competitive Wisconsin, Inc., a nonpartisan coalition of state leaders in agriculture, business, education, and labor.
More information on the report can be found at: http://www.wistax.org/news_releases/2005/benchmarks2004.html.
