Progressive Thinking

This week Sen. Vinehout writes about broadband access and the frustrations of people that live in rural areas that are not served or the service is very poor. This impacts not only people’s homes but also businesses. The way territories are carved out and companies have exclusive territories makes what one person describes as “little pockets of nowhere”.

LA CROSSE, WI - “It’s pedal to the metal on broadband policy—for both consumers and competitors,” said Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler at a recent address to the Brookings Institute as reported on a Brookings website.

Internet in rural Wisconsin is closer to Pony Express than “pedal to the metal.”

That’s the general consensus of folks at the Pierce County Fair.

“AT&T is the largest carrier in the world and they won’t come to my house,” Tammy Tollefson told me. AT&T provided phone service to her rural Pierce County residence but not broadband. “We are literally the last mile,” she said.

The family has tried everything: dial up, hot spots, “ISBN” a system that used two phone lines, “Nextera” wireless, satellite. Nothing provided the service Tammy needed for her job – working for a nonprofit based out of her home. “We use Sococo, a virtual office where you can go into someone’s office and have a private conversation or set up a meeting in a virtual conference room.”

Tammy is not alone. Many people in rural Wisconsin work from their homes. They deal with the frustrations of broadband – or lack thereof – every day. My next-door neighbor left rural Alma because he didn’t have Internet speeds to run his furniture design business. He ended up moving to South Africa.

When Tammy heard I was interested in finding a solution, she put together a map of Pierce County and asked fairgoers to mark their location on the map with sticky stars of different colors depending on their Internet satisfaction.

What we learned was striking. Folks in River Falls had excellent service. But right outside River Falls – in a rural stretch of land heading toward Hudson – folks had AT&T cables running near them but could not get broadband.

“I’ve got AT &T cables running through my front yard,” a father of young children told me, “but they won’t serve me. My Internet service is really bad.”

Whole areas in the county appeared to be completely unserved. For example, the entire area around Beldenville was filled with red and orange stars – signifying poor or no Internet service.

I spoke with two county board members who were working the booth next to me. One of them said, “It’s like electricity territories. The FCC set up where telephone companies originally put their lines and that company totally controls that territory.” These territories don’t follow any natural or political subdivision borders – different companies could serve people in the same township. I learned that seven different companies serve Pierce County. Tammy described this piecemeal system as creating “little pockets of nowhere.”

Why do phone companies that control a certain territory not provide Internet service to their customers? The county board members told me, “AT&T has no interest in expanding.”

Problems are so great that a year ago University of Wisconsin - River Falls teamed with local economic development folks to do a survey of Internet service. The survey results showed half of the respondents were unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with their current Internet provider. Half of businesses surveyed did not have broadband service. The vast majority of these businesses were interested in obtaining fiber optic access. The UWRF team estimated about 13% of households and 16% of businesses responded to the survey.

I learned the town of Troy used stimulus money to lay fiber optic cable to every house in the Township. A recent FCC ruling may allow municipalities to cross the “walls” marking territory and build out into neighboring territory.

Broadband service isn’t the only modern convenience lacking in Wisconsin. Our fair booth Internet map was so popular, we ran out of material. Just calling Tammy to ask for more supplies was one “Can you hear me now?” after another as I moved around the fairgrounds in Ellsworth to get a cell phone signal.

The folks watching me laughed as I planted myself to deliver a few sentences. “Maybe you need a cell phone map too,” one of them said.

“God bless you for trying to solve this problem,” Tammy told me. “Of all the modern conveniences – we are so far behind other countries all over Europe, South America, even Korea of all places.”

Supposed plan is a thinly veiled excuse to go backwards and to legalize discrimination.

MILWAUKEE - In an issue paper posted late last night and to be formally announced today in a speech in Minnesota, Scott Walker offers up a “bait and switch” health care plan that will immediately force millions Americans off of their health care coverage without providing any viable alternative. Walker’s ceaseless efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act (ACA) fly in the face of the public’s desire to move the discussion beyond repeal to actually improving health care, lowering costs, and saving lives.

Walker’s choice of Minnesota of all places to release his plan to go backwards on health reform is a major miscalculation. Citizen Action of Wisconsin research has shown that health insurance costs for individuals and small businesses are much lower in Minnesota than Wisconsin in part because state leaders there have been working to implement and improve the health care law. Wisconsin’s health premiums are higher in part because of Walker’s efforts to sabotage health reform.

Walker’s supposed plan is so rife with internal contradictions and fuzzy math that it will never become law. It is a campaign document not serious public policy. It repeals all funding for health care reform while promising large new subsidies with no identified source of revenue. If enacted, Walker’s plan would dramatically constrict the freedom of the American people to access affordable coverage and control their own medical decisions.

The low lights of Walker’s Health Plan include:

• Repeal of the federal guarantee that no American can be denied coverage or charged higher premiums by insurance companies because they have pre-existing medical conditions.

• Repeal of the federal requirement that insurance companies allow young adults to stay on their parents health policies.

• Gutting Medicaid health programs for moderate income Americans (like BadgerCare) by block granting federal funds without any indexing for inflation, and limiting required state matching contributions. This will likely result in millions of moderate income Americans losing their affordable health coverage.

• Repeal income-based tax subsidies which make health coverage affordable for low and middle income Americans. The plan promises new subsidies, but simultaneously repeals the funding. The plan shifts from a progressive and targeted approach to health care subsidies based on the ability to pay to an approach that would if enacted funnel millions of dollars to the wealthy who do not need help to afford coverage.

• Shifting to a flat age-based subsidy system which will dramatically raise premiums for many Americans who rely on the federal marketplace for their health coverage. For example, 60 year old in Milwaukee, making $20,000 per year, would lose $4,474 per year in tax credits designed to mitigate the cost of their healthcare. Other medical costs would also increase because Walker also repeals caps on out-of-pocket medical costs. See more examples of cost increases for individual health consumers HERE.

• Legalizing sale of substandard skimpy health plans which leave people vulnerable to bankruptcy and without needed care when they have a major illness.

• Dramatically increasing health insurance premiums by creating incentives for healthier and younger Americans not to buy insurance until they are already sick, making the insurance risk pool less healthy and more expensive.

“Walker’s supposed plan is not serious health policy. It is a campaign document which provides nothing more than window dressing for a massive roll-back of the freedom to access quality affordable health care,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “The American people are tired of the constant efforts to undermine health care reform. It’s time to recognize that the health care law is here to stay. Rather than going backwards, we need to work together to make the law better and lower costs.”

As Citizen Action of Wisconsin has extensively documented, Walker’s efforts to sabotage health care reform in Wisconsin has increased costs both to consumers and government, left tens of thousands of families needlessly without life saving coverage, and saddled consumers with dangerous substandard health insurance plans.

STATEWIDE - Today Citizen Action of Wisconsin announced strong support for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) outsourcing accountability bills authored by Senator Dave Hansen, Rep. Debra Kolste, and Rep. Andy Jorgensen.

The bills ban companies who receive public economic development money and then outsource jobs from state aid for a period of five years. The bills are AB 340 in the Assembly and SB 211 in the Senate.

The bills follow revelations by WKOW TV Madison that a multinational corporation receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in state economic development support has twice outsourced Wisconsin jobs to Mexico. WEDC has thus far failed to take any action against the company, and has yet to close loopholes that allow companies to both take public economic development dollars and outsource jobs that Citizen Action of Wisconsin identified last year.

Citizen Action has repeatedly called on Governor Walker and lawmakers to fix the loopholes that allow public economic development dollars to go to companies engaged in outsourcing jobs. Citizen Action also continues to call on the Legislature to disband WEDC and create a fully accountable public agency to head up the state’s vital job creation efforts.

“It is clear that the Walker Administration is continuing its destructive policy of doling out tax credits and other economic assistance to large corporations engaged in selling out Wisconsin workers,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “The best way to protect precious state economic development dollars, and make sure they are only available to companies creating more family supporting jobs here in Wisconsin, is a strict policy against giving public money to firms engaged in outsourcing.”

Research shows Wisconsin most gerrymandered state in the country and system for drawing legislative district lines is broken beyond repair. Gerrymandering districts thwart the will of the voters.

MADISON - Responding to recent research showing Wisconsin to be the most gerrymandered state in the nation, State Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) called on the Legislature to pass his non-partisan redistricting bill to restore fairness in Wisconsin elections.

“Recently conducted research shows beyond a doubt that Wisconsin’s system for drawing legislative district lines is broken beyond repair,” said Hansen. “Regardless of which party is responsible gerrymandering districts to thwart the will of the voters is counter to fair elections and a cancer on our democracy.”

In 2011 the Republicans assumed total control of state government and set in motion a partisan redistricting process which was designed to protect their members in the State Assembly and Senate and preserve their majorities in both houses for years to come regardless of the overall popular statewide vote.

An example of the advantage Republicans gave themselves is reflected in the 2012 election results in which Democrats received 53.5% of the vote statewide but less than 40% of the seats in the State Assembly.

“Gerrymandering has existed for decades, but the kind that has occurred in Wisconsin under the republican majority is gerrymandering on steroids. It has corrupted our elections and state policy as the Governor and legislative Republicans have pursued an agenda that is far outside the mainstream with no fear of being held accountable at the ballot box.”

The study conducted by Professor Simon Jackman of Stanford University is being used to bolster nationwide challenges to partisan redistricting by both parties shows that Wisconsin’s districts are gerrymandered significantly more than states like Illinois and Texas, states that are commonly viewed has having long histories of corruption in both their elections and their governments. On the other side, Democrats in Rhode Island have gerrymandered their state’s legislative districts to freeze out the voices of Republican voters.

“In a democracy “one person-one vote” is supposed to matter. But here in Wisconsin there are thousands of voters whose voices have been frozen out of the ballot box and in turn their government because the elections have been rigged to the point their legislative votes don’t matter. It is time to begin the process of restoring people’s faith in their government and it starts with passing legislation to end partisan election rigging.”

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Link to redistricting study here.

This week Sen. Kathleen Vinehout writes about the WEDC and problems plaguing this entity. The Legislative Joint Audit Committee will be meeting to discuss the latest LAB audit findings which show WEDC still has work to do to improve.

MADISON - Imagine how private firms do business with the State of Wisconsin. The companies provide something of value for taxpayers and, in return, receive state money.

This happens all the time in state government: private companies build roads, computer systems, pay Medicaid bills, and even educate children.

What if the sole reason tax dollars went to a company was to create jobs?

Recognizing that taxpayers would want to know companies were actually creating jobs, lawmakers wrote state law requiring verification of information sent by businesses applying for tax dollars. Not really a whole lot different than making sure road builders actually poured the required amount of concrete on our roads.

But the public accountability is a lot less when it comes to job creation.

In 2011, Governor Walker established the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), which administers 29 economic development programs funded almost entirely with state money.

WEDC’s name is misleading – it is not a corporation. It is a state ‘authority’ and is – or should be – accountable to taxpayers for dollars it spends. That’s why the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) has been auditing WEDC since its creation.

Findings from the LAB May 2015 audit revealed that WEDC awarded grants and loans to companies to create or retain jobs, but WEDC staff did not require those companies to submit payroll or other records showing that jobs were actually created or retained.

WEDC staff wrote off some loans not collected, deferred payments due and forgave loans. Program reports did not contain clear, accurate or complete information on outcomes. In some cases, the WEDC Board actually created policies in direct conflict with state law.

Evidence in several audits show WEDC broke state and federal laws. Illegal action in approving Community Development Block Grants led to fines that are still being paid by taxpayers.

During its first three and one half years, WEDC staff didn’t independently verify the job creation or retention information by annually reviewing a sample of grant and loan recipients, as required by state law. They allocated tax credits to projects that started before the company actually contracted with WEDC to start the project. WEDC staff did not consistently collect companies’ verified financial statements for recipients of certain grants and loans.

So, what is the answer to questions about job creation or if the 29 programs were successful? The answer is “We don’t know.” Early in WEDC’s existence, zero jobs were independently verified – which was in direct conflict with state law.

The May 2015 audit is the fourth in two years reporting similar findings.

If a program in any other part of state government failed to follow state laws and failed to deliver goods and services bought with state tax dollars, the public and the press would hound lawmakers until they shut down the program or made massive changes.

It is not so with WEDC. Only recently, after pressure from legislators did the Joint Legislative Audit Committee Co-Chairs schedule a public hearing on the May audit. During this public hearing, scheduled for September 2nd, I expect WEDC officials to try to discredit the stellar work of the nonpartisan LAB.

Two concepts are important to remember in reading any news account of the upcoming hearing. What does it mean to verify or make sure jobs were actually created? Is WEDC required to follow state law on when and how to award state tax dollars?

WEDC officials claim that asking a company to sign a “progress report” form is measure enough the company has created the jobs. They also argue laws were not broken even though auditors reported numerous instances when contracts were written or amended and even board policies were created in violation of state law.

In any other part of state government executives would be fired and programs eliminated with the type of negative results found in just one audit – not four audits in two years.

WEDC officials claim they created a ‘business friendly’ environment and placing too many restrictions on businesses receiving state money might discourage the business from applying for grants or tax credits in the first place.

But, if we can’t ensure taxpayer dollars are well spent, why do we have these programs?