Republican legislators announced Tuesday the creation of the Wisconsin Jobs Now task force designed to use business owners’ input to help create and maintain jobs throughout the state.
The task force will travel to three major cities in Wisconsin and host forums with local business owners to determine what business owners think the state should do to help the private sector. It will then issue a report to the Legislature about the best ways to facilitate economic growth in Wisconsin.
Republicans say the task force was created after the Democratic lawmakers passed the recent state economic repair bill, which only took 48 hours after the bill was introduced to be passed.
Jim Bender, spokesperson for Assembly Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said businesses were allowed no time to comment on how the bill would affect them, and some businesses are only beginning to realize that the bill was passed at all.
“A lot of businesses called and said they wanted to testify and asked when the hearings were,” Bender said. “There wasn’t a public hearing. If there’s no public hearing, then we can’t hear from the businesses and find out how it’s affecting them.”
Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond Du Lac, and Rep. Rich Zipperer, R-Pewaukee, will head the task force. Business owners from Milwaukee, Green Bay and Eau Claire, the major cities the task force will visit on their tour of the state, are included as well.
Business owners from each area will participate in a roundtable discussion on how to strengthen and support business growth and development. Businesses can also to submit their input in writing if they are unable to attend.
Currently, no Democrats are involved. Kimberly Liedl, spokesperson for Minority Senate Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said that while Democrats would be welcome to sit in on the meetings, the task force has no intention of working with them at this time.
“A lot of this came about because the Democrats pushed the budget repair bill within 48 hours, and so they didn’t have any interest in seeing how this would impact jobs and employers,” Liedl said. “We want to hear from these businesses and see how it affects them.”
Rebekah Sweeney, spokesperson for Assembly Leader Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, defended the Democrats’ passage of the stimulus bill, saying it was necessary to pass it as quickly as possible.
According to both Sweeney and Assembly Majority Leader Tom Nelson, D-Kaukauna, bills recently passed by the Legislature, including the American Jobs Act and Buy Wisconsin First, are designed to help businesses as well bring needed money and jobs back into the state economy.
Buy Wisconsin First requires businesses to use at least 20 percent of their money to buy products and services made in Wisconsin. The American Job Act also requires businesses to look for workers in America before shipping jobs overseas.
“From day one, it has been our top priority to bring and keep good paying jobs in our communities,” Nelson said.
The task force will hold its first roundtable discussion in Green Bay on March 10.
