Friday, December 7, 2018

Good news! WI GOP lame ducks axe stupid job creating legal proof

WI GOP lame duck legislators finally hit a home run and just might hit for the cycle.

They finally removed the pesky requirement that businesses getting state subsidies for job creation needed to supply annual verifications of the jobs created, according to fine print just discovered by non-partisan state analysts after the GOP's 'End the Verification Tyranny' bill had passed.
This is good news for several reasons.

First, because GOP Legislative fact-checkers and campaign contribution bean counters finally realized that the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, or WEDC, doesn't have the words "jobs" or "creating" in its name.

So Walker and the Legislature, being of and reasonable will not force the WEDC to do something that's not in its title, a) mainly because, "duh!"

And also because, b) The FitzWalkerVos Trio has expected WEDC to produce according to the maxim, 'Don't beat a dead horse and then lead him to water and make him drink.'

And, not to mention, c) WEDC had pretty much treated so-called 'best practices' as about as irrelevantly foreign as the UN's Declaration of Universal Rights, I discussed in 2015:
As the Journal Sentinel said in a summary of some of WEDC's flaws:
The nonpartisan legislative audit contradicts the repeated assertions of state officials that they had strengthened the weak financial controls at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. and represented a surprise reversal for the Republican governor and all but certain White House candidate.  
The audit found some companies receiving state help were not required to submit records to verify job creation; contracts with companies did not always include requirements contained in state law; WEDC didn't verify the accuracy of information submitted by companies on jobs created; and the agency waived fees for five companies even though WEDC policies at the time didn't allow that.
Or look at these lines from The Capital Times:
The Legislative Audit Bureau looked at more than 100 grants, loans and tax credits WEDC handled in the year that ended July 1. 
Auditors said that award recipients weren't required to submit any information to WEDC showing they actually added or saved jobs. The audit also said tax credit recipients generally submitted information to WEDC but found no evidence the agency ever checked the data before awarding the credits.
With now two audits noting that WEDC broke state laws, lost track of public funds, passed out funding inappropriately, gave aid to a firm, twice, that sent jobs to Mexico, and made grants to Walker donors that raised pay-to-play allegations, it's time that law enforcement took a look at how and why WEDC has been managed.
The Legislature's long-overdue removal of these pesky requirements paves the way for removing other onerous obstacles to the enjoyment of Wisconsin residency.

* For example, deer hunters should no longer have to submit paperwork to register a deer season kill other than a paw print from a hunting dog which witnessed it, or who respond to "good girl," or "here, boy."

* Any Wisconsin resident - - not you, Minnnesotans or Bear fans - - arrested for OWI should be allowed to substitute for a breathalyzer test an affidavit provided within 72 hours attesting to the sobriety of the person arrested from that guy at the bar named Ralphie who said he thinks he was in your cousin's P.E. class.

* And anyone alleged to have fallen behind on child support can submit proof of payment signed by a current or ex-boyfriend/girl friend or in a Facebook friend's private message accompanied by at least of two of these three 👍✋😏 emoji representations of trustworthiness.

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