Gov. Jim Doyle signed an executive order Friday creating a new office to advise officials on how to spend the potentially billions in federal stimulus money the state is expected to receive from President Barack Obama’s administration in the coming months.
The Office of Recovery and Reinvestment is designed to help the government spend the money quickly and wisely by identifying potential spending obstacles and working with schools and local governments, according to Doyle spokesperson Carla Vigue.
One of the goals is to jumpstart the economy through job growth in a variety of different sectors, including University of Wisconsin System projects, Vigue added.
“Part of the stimulus money is going towards projects that are instantly ready to go, (and) university projects, like buildings that need new roofs and labs that need updating,” Vigue said. “The governor believes that some of these programs that are going to create jobs right away will benefit the university system.”
Vigue added UW Associate Vice Chancellor Alan Fish, who will serve as the office’s deputy director, was brought in to help stimulus money get directed toward those university projects.
Even some programs that will not happen directly on university campuses may also benefit university students, including a variety of infrastructure projects that would take place throughout the state.
“The governor is looking at ways he can connect the rail system from Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison, so students have flexibility of not just driving, but also using rail,” Vigue said.
Reaction from Wisconsin legislators has been mixed. Assembly Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, was nervous about how quickly the money was going to be spent, according to his spokesperson, Jim Bender.
“It should focus on spending the money properly, as opposed to spending the money rapidly,” Bender said. “The biggest problem is that we spend more money than we take in — if we just take the money and fill in the deficit, and not reduce government spending — you’re going to have a bigger hole next time.”
However, Assembly Majority Leader Tom Nelson, D-Kaukauna, was excited about the office’s purposes.
“They key thing here is that the office is intended to be a mechanism to help us oversee the spending of the stimulus package, a very important step to ensure fiscal prudence,” Nelson said.
Nelson was also excited about the office’s potential to create a variety of jobs in various areas, including programs in education.
Presently, no final figures regarding the amount of money Wisconsin will receive in a federal stimulus package have been released, although there has been a wide range of speculation.
The office will employ 15 people, mostly state employees who will be reassigned to the new office from their present positions. Fish, however, will serve in the office on loan from the university and will keep his university salary.
According to Vigue, the office is expected to begin work immediately and will be open for around six months, although a lot depends on how quickly Congress acts.