A $100-million loan fund would help to create jobs and grow the green economy.
It’s being called the Green to Gold bill. It would combine existing state resources with federal dollars to create a low-interest revolving loan fund for Wisconsin manufacturers. The fund would ensure that small and medium-sized manufacturers have the capital needed to achieve their goals for supporting a green economy.
“So this is really a win-win-win for Wisconsin. We’re gonna make manufacturers more competitive, we’re gonna put people back to work retrofitting those facilities, and we’re gonna to increase demand for the excellent supplies that are being manufactured right here in Wisconsin that go into the green economy.”
Representative Cory Mason, a Democrat from Racine, cosponsored the legislation. He explains, the bill creates a one-stop shop for manufacturers by streamlining 55 million dollars in federal funds, along with existing and future state resources, to make them more globally competitive and profitable.
“The difference is we’re gonna allow commerce to sort of coordinate all of that work instead of it being in sort of different locations within different parts of state government, to really streamline all of that…”
Mason says by creating this fund now, it increases Wisconsin’s chances of securing new federal dollars for the program in the future. The initiative was originally proposed by Governor Doyle in his recent State of the State Address.
Cosponsor Senator Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) and Mason introduced the measure in both houses of the Legislature Thursday; the bills will now be assigned to committees and the authors expect public hearings to be held soon.
Jackie Johnson report 1:36