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Doyle to do list: jobs, RTA & MPS

January 26, 2010 By
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Governor Jim Doyle arrives to Assembly chambers (Photo: Jackie Johnson)

During his last State of the State address, Governor Jim Doyle says his top priority for the rest of his term will be to create jobs, but he also made an impassioned plea for reform of Wisconsin’s largest school district. 

Doyle pushed for his green jobs agenda Tuesday night, which he said could fuel creation of thousands of new jobs. “This is not some pie in the sky,” the Democratic governor said of his Clean Energy Jobs Act. “Anyone who says they’re aren’t jobs in the green economy had better open their eyes,” he said, urging quick passage of the package. Doyle also announced creation of a $100 million “Wisconsin Green to Gold Fund,” a revolving loan fund which he said will allow manufacturers to reduce their energy costs, something he says many firms in the state are already doing. [Read more...]

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GOP calls Doyle’s job speech hypocritical

January 26, 2010 By
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Governor Jim Doyle delivers his final state of the state address (Photo: Jackie Johnson)

In his speech, Governor Jim Doyle says his top priority in 2010 is to create jobs and help struggling families. Republican Senator Scott Fitzgerald from Juneau calls the governor’s job initiative “hypocritical.”

“That the governor stood up there tonight and talked about all the job creation that happened when you have 163,000 jobs lost just in the last year … it’s amazing to me that he could have stood up there with a straight face.”

The Senate Minority Leader says if Democrats in the Legislature follow the Governor’s path, there will be even more jobs lost.

However, Democrat Senator Russ Decker of Schofield — the Senate Majority Leader — is optimistic about the governor’s job creation priority in the remaining months of his governorship.

“The biggest thing that I think he talked about, which I’m glad he did, was jobs. And I think that’s the focus where we need to go.”

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate for December was up to 8.7-percent.

Jackie Johnson 1:07

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Filed Under: Politics & Government

Reaction to Doyle’s speech

January 26, 2010 By
SOSAssembly

Assembly chambers during Governor Doyle's state of the state address (Photo: Jackie Johnson)

Republican Senator Scott Fitzgerald from Juneau calls it a disappointing speech. The Senate Minority Leader says mayoral control of Milwaukee Public Schools is dead on arrival, yet Governor Jim Doyle continues to push for it.

“He actually said it’s a partisan issue but it’s not partisan at all. This is a civil war among the Democrats in the city of Milwaukee.”

Democrat Senator Russ Decker of Schofield compliments the governor on his “top priority” — job creation. But what does the Senate Majority Leader think about MPS?

“The MPS thing is nothing secretive around here. There are opposing sides and we need to work out a compromise.”

Fitzgerald says a global warming package and the regional transit authority (RTA) tax in Milwaukee aren’t getting much support, either. He says the governor’s incentive packages are just political cover.

Jackie Johnson 1:04

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Filed Under: Politics & Government

Sportsmen lobby legislators on DNR control

January 26, 2010 By

Sportsmen and environmentalists converged on the Capitol Tuesday, urging legislators to override Governor Doyle’s veto of a bill that would return control of the DNR to a citizens board.

Politics plays too much of a role in decisions by the DNR these days. That’s according to Kerry Schumann, Director of the Wisconsin League of Conservation voters. “We’re really trying to get politics out of natural resources decision making, and make sure that it’s based on science. And to do that, the Department of Natural Resources secretary really needs to be independent of political influence,” says Schumann. They’re urging lawmakers to override Governor Jim Doyle’s veto of a bill which takes away the governors’s ability to control the agency. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Politics & Government

Senate passes BPA baby bottle ban

January 26, 2010 By

The state Senate has passed a bill banning a widely used chemical from use in baby bottles. The bill, which has also passed in a state Assembly committee, would ban Bisphenol A, or BPA, from use in products used by kids five and younger. The legislation coincides with the latest Food and Drug Administration action regarding the chemical. Earlier this months the federal agency declared BPA, a “chemical of concern.”

An American Chemical Council representative recently testified to a legislative panel that thousands of studies have looked at the chemical, and they’ve lead most governments around the world to conclude it’s not dangerous. Meanwhile some manufacturers of products like sippy cups have voluntarily stopped using the chemical. The Senate passed the bill on a unanimous vote.

Filed Under: Children & Families, Health & Medicine, Legislature
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