Not His Vision Of Hell

Brett Davis sends along his newsletter. It would appear that Wisconsin is doing better than WMC and the Lakeside chatterers would have us believe. It would also appear that spending money to keep the UW and Tech Schools strong brings in more than it costs. You know? Like an investment in the future. From the letter:



Wisconsin Economy Continues to Grow Amidst National Concerns
As we embark upon a new year, 2008 promises to be exciting with events ranging from the presidential elections to a possible Super Bowl run by Favre and the Packers. In addition, I expect the State Assembly to accomplish a great deal in 2008 to improve our quality of life in Wisconsin.


One of the most important issues facing our families is the state of the economy. Due to the housing market slump and rising oil prices, the national economy has been in a weakened state. However, there is good news on the horizon according to a December report on the state's economy by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR).


Below is an excerpt from the report, which provides a positive outlook for 2008:
The Wisconsin economy is still expanding despite the housing market slowdown, credit crunch and high oil prices. Wisconsin personal income rose 5.3% in 2006 and is expected to maintain steady growth. Personal income is forecast to grow 5.2% in 2007 and 4.0% in 2008 as the national downturn in the housing sector continues to put pressure on the credit market and high oil prices persist. The Wisconsin economy will recover a healthy growth path expanding 4.7% in 2009 and 5.1% in 2010. Wisconsin Employment grew 0.7% in 2006, and is expected to close 2007 with annual growth of 0.5%. However, Wisconsin will add 25,200 jobs in 2008 resulting in an annual growth rate of 0.9% and is expected to grow above 1% the following two years, posting growth rates of 1.1% in 2009 and 1.3% in 2010. Wisconsin total employment grew 0.7% in 2006 and is expected to grow 0.5% in 2007.


In an effort to strengthen our economy the 2007-2009 state budget not only increased funding to the University of Wisconsin System, but also included $3 million in new funding for worker training grants. The worker training grants, which are administered by Wisconsin Technical College System, are designed to help employers with training and continuing education for their workforce. The budget also created a Dairy Manufacturing Facility Investment Tax Credit, which is designed to strengthen our state's vital dairy industry.


I look forward to working with both sides of aisle over the next year to ensure we are doing everything possible to create jobs and grow our economy.