Democrats in the state legislature have unveiled a package of bills they say will put people to work. Citing the state’s poor rankings on job creation, Assembly and Senate Democrats promoted bills to give tech colleges flexible funding, help small businesses access capital, and give preference to American companies.
Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca said the state can’t wait for promised mining jobs. “Obviously, it’s years before you’re going to generate any jobs from a mining bill, even under the best of circumstances,” Barca said at a Capitol press conference on Thursday. “Under this, you could put people back to work in weeks, or at least months.”
Some of the proposals were included in Governor Scott Walker’s special session agenda last year, but failed to advance. “These are bills that the business community supports, that are drafted in a fiscally responsible manner,” said state Senator Julie Lassa. “It should be relatively easy, I would hope, for our colleagues across the aisle to join us in helping to create the type of jobs that we want to see here.”
Barca said that if Walker is serious about creating 250,000 new jobs in the state, he’ll consider these proposals.
