One Note Republicans and Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce again falsely claim "tax cuts" will attract Millennial Labor to the state.

Wisconsin's labor shortage really took off during former Gov. Scott Walker's two terms, mainly because he thought a manufacturing renaissance was a good idea (before the Foxconn debacle), and because he ignored the rising tech and clean energy industries that other states gladly promoted. Pair that with the standard low minimum wage, ACT 10 vilification of teachers, the anti-union "right-to-work" law, and penalties for being unemployed, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out. 

No one will know if out-of-state job seekers found any of this out? But with a record like this, there's not a lot to brag about.  

Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce Survey sings the blues: Because Republicans have abandoned the notion of solving any of the state's biggest social and infrastructure issues, they want us to go back to 2015 and put out another bunch of "work in Wisconsin" lies.

  

On WKOW's Capital City Sunday, host AJ Bayatpour brought the issue up again with WMC's Nick Novak. Wait for it...more tax cuts. Novak seemed to think if we "tell our story," that would be a good thing? 

WMC Communications & Marketing Vice President Nick Novak said, "We have to attract more people to Wisconsin. To do that, we need to tell our story. 

Does WMC want to tell this story...

Novak said the business lobby also called on lawmakers to pursue further cuts to the state income tax rate. But the legislature has already been cutting taxes.

Skeptics have argued that if tax cuts to date haven't addressed the workforce issues, the solution cannot be more tax cuts and additional marketing.

Novak said, "Unfortunately, while we were cutting taxes here in Wisconsin, other states were doing the same thing, or more. And if you're not doing more (tax cuts) than what other states are doing, you're falling behind."

Advertising BS, Scott Walker Style: This was a disaster, and it sounded like pure bullshit too:

Gov. Scott Walker’s announcement of a $6.8 million marketing and advertising campaign aimed at Midwestern millennials, returning military veterans and alumni of the state’s public and private colleges … promote the state’s industry mix, recreation, education, arts, health care.

Walker has had only one agenda; push a manufacturing renaissance and not an “industry mix.” Just as bad, he's defunded state parks and deregulated hunting (“recreation”), cut “education” especially the “arts,” and opposes a right to “health care.”

Walker's Wisconsin's Shrinking Middle Class: This is what happened in 2015:

WSJ: Despite a new report showing Wisconsin has the fastest-shrinking middle class in the U.S., the Gov. Scott Walker administration says the state is headed in the right direction.

March 24, 2015: Wisconsin ranks worst among the 50 states in terms of a shrinking middle class, with real median household incomes here falling 14.7 percent since 2000, according to a new report. The Pew Charitable Trust report showed Wisconsin with the largest decline in the percentage of families considered "middle class."

Labor Steering Clear of Republicans Punishing Invite: In their Bizarro World vision, the following makes perfect sense. Evers vetoed everything:

Republicans say it is geared toward addressing Wisconsin’s ongoing workforce shortage by
restricting access to state unemployment benefits and forcing more people back into the labor pool. 

1. One bill would change the maximum number of weeks a claimant could receive benefits based on the state’s unemployment rate. Claimants would have received 26 weeks if the state unemployment rate was greater than 9%, while the number of weekly benefits would be reduced to as few as 14 weeks if the rate was at 3.5% or lower.

2. A bill would require the state Department of Health Services to determine a person’s Medicaid eligibility every six months.

3. Another bill will remove an individual’s Medicaid eligibility if they knowingly fail to accept an offer for legal, paid employment or an increase in paid hours

4. Another beauty would require DWD to consider reports of an individual declining a job offer or failing to attend a scheduled interview when determining a claimant’s eligibility for benefits.

5. Yet another would require DHS to enforce a federal work requirement, including drug screenings, for able-bodied adults without dependents in order to take part in the state’s FoodShare program, which helps people with limited money buy food

Raise your hand if you think that would sound mighty tempting to out-of-state job seekers concerned about what would happen if things didn't work out. 

On the other hand, Democratic Gov. Evers has an alternative:

Evers has pushed for increased spending on training and recruitment, as well as efforts to reduce employment barriers some individuals face to address workforce challenges in the state.