Wisconsin

It’s working in Wisconsin: Gov. Walker signs ed reform legislation

By Chris Andriesen
04/03/2012
by Michael Wille Yesterday, Gov. Scott Walker signed the “Read to Lead” legislation into law aimed at improving education for Wisconsin students. Starting in Kindergarten, children will now be tested on literacy to set a benchmark of their skills and better understand what interventions are required to ensure reading capabilities are strengthened by third grade. In addition...

Gov. Walker’s reforms are working

11/16/2011
by Michael Wille Earlier this year, the Wisconsin legislature passed the Budget Repair Act, a bill that, among other things, limits the collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin teachers. In the most contentious battle regarding public sector unions the state has ever seen, hundreds of thousands of people descended upon the statehouse to protest the actions...

How to stop pushing jobs out of Illinois

10/27/2011
by Emily Dietrich “If we repeal this law, these jobs will come back to Illinois,” said Brian Littleton, founder and CEO of ShareASale, at a press conference announcing the introduction of legislation to repeal Illinois’ affiliate nexus law, sometimes referred to as the “Amazon tax.” Wednesday’s press conference focused on the thousands of Illinois businesses...

Reforms in Wisconsin save millions

10/27/2011
by Mark Cavers Earlier this year, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker ushered in a set of reforms to his state’s budget and personnel system. At the time, opponents said the reforms would be catastrophic. This month, the governor launched a website showing what the reforms have actually meant for local governments and taxpayers. According to Gov. Walker, local...

ObamaCare makes it harder for the poor to find work

By Chris Andriesen
10/21/2011
by Jonathan Ingram As we reported yesterday, ObamaCare is going to bust Illinois’ budget and hurt the most vulnerable among us. But did you know it’s also going to drastically raise the costs of hiring new workers? ObamaCare requires most employer-sponsored insurance coverage to provide a minimum level of benefits, which ultimately drives the cost of labor...

Balanced Budgets vs. Mass Layoffs

09/06/2011
by Kristina Rasmussen Two headlines caught my attention this morning. Headline #1: Wood County [Wisconsin] budget starts with surplus For the first time in 10 years, Wood County will enter the budget process with a surplus. The state’s budget repair bill enacted this year requires public employee contributions of 5.8 percent to retirement plans. … Looks like...

Where Are the Jobs? Not in Illinois

By Chris Andriesen
08/23/2011
For most Illinois families, the price of the January 2011 state income tax hike is an additional week’s wages lost to state coffers. But for some, the cost has been much higher as jobs disappear altogether. Between January and June 2011, 56,223 fewer Illinoisans were employed* – a performance worse than any other neighboring state....

Illinois Gets a ‘C’ in Factory Ranking

06/21/2011
by Sameer Warraich Last week, Crain’s Chicago Business reported the results of recent research on the manufacturing performance of all 50 states. The study, by Ball State’s Center for Business and Economic Research, gave each state a grade based on criteria including manufacturing and logistics health, human capital, cost of benefits, global position and diversification of industries,...

Amazon Tax, Short-lived?

06/07/2011
by Mark Cavers The Amazon tax, which became law in January, is bad for businesses, workers, and families. Last week, Performance Marketing Associates brought a lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Revenuechallenging the constitutionality of the law. As far back as last year, executive vice president, Kristina Rasmussen warned that if the bill passed companies would flee Illinois. The day...