News of the Day

Attorney General Josh Kaul today announced that Wisconsin is joining 49 attorneys general in a multistate, bipartisan investigation of tech giant Google’s business practices in accordance with state and federal antitrust laws.

The bipartisan coalition, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, announced plans to investigate Google’s overarching control of online advertising markets and search traffic that may have led to anticompetitive behavior that harms consumers.

Legal experts from each state will work in cooperation with Federal authorities to assess competitive conditions for online services and ensure that Americans have access to free digital markets.

“The tech sector is an important part of the U.S. economy, and tech companies have access to a lot of personal information,” said Attorney General Kaul. “We must ensure that competition over technological innovation and privacy protections isn’t stifled.”

Missy Hughes will serve as the next secretary and chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Gov. Tony Evers announced Thursday.

Hughes has served as chief mission officer and general counsel for Organic Valley/CROPP cooperative since 2003, and has also served as a member of the Organic Trade Association since 2013. She has previously served on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Advisory Committee on Biotechnology & 21st Century Agriculture.

“Having worked in a high-growth business for many years, with the goal of helping farmers stay on their farms now and for the coming generations, I am excited to bring my experience to the Evers Administration, and I look forward to helping all of Wisconsin thrive,” Hughes said in the release.

“With her background helping small businesses and family farms, coupled with her experience navigating complex governmental, regulatory, trade, and business matters, Missy Hughes will be an incredible asset to our team as we work to grow an economy that works for everyone,” Evers said in the release.

“I look forward to working with Ms. Hughes as we connect the dots on economic development in a way that encourages entrepreneurship and innovation while supporting our farm economy, our manufacturers, and the Main Street businesses, start-ups, and large-scale companies that help our communities grow.”

The total value of Wisconsin exports dropped $673.2 million during the first seven months of the year, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

At almost $12.7 billion, the first seven months of 2019 are Wisconsin’s worst start to the year for exports since 2016. It is just the second time since 2012 that exports did not top $13 billion by the end of July.

Manufacturers and farmers have been hit be increasing global trade tensions, particularly between the U.S. and China. The release of detailed July data was delayed, but through June, exports to China had decreased 26.3% for the year, accounting for nearly 38% of the Wisconsin total export decline. Exports to Canada decreased 5.6% in the first six months of the year while shipments to Europe were down 2.7% and Mexico was down 1%.

Wisconsin’s year-to-date number includes a 4.6% decline in July. Nationally, U.S. exports have declined 0.66%, including a 0.47% drop in July.

While Republican lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers exceeded expectations by finalizing the state budget on time in early July, there are few signs their legislative productivity will carry through to the fall.

So far, lawmakers have signed into law just a third of the number of bills they enacted in 2017 under unified Republican control of state government, illustrating the damper that Evers has placed on Republican priorities during an era of split government.

Still, a number of actions are still possible, including Senate confirmation for Evers’ cabinet secretaries and legislation related to water quality, suicide prevention, mental health and the regulation of Wisconsin’s new hemp industry. There may also be an attempt to override some of Evers’ budget vetoes, though Republicans lack the necessary two-thirds majority.

Sen. Howard Marklein and Rep. Tony Kurtz announced the new proposal Thursday standing on North Webb Road, which was underwater a year ago. Both of their legislative districts cover Reedsburg.

“We want our communities to be prepared for a natural disaster before it happens,” Marklein said during the news conference.

The Disaster Assistance Streamlining Bill aims to make it easier and faster for cities and local municipalities to apply and receive disaster assistance money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The proposal would require the state to train all local governments on how to sign up for the System for Award Management program required to receive money from FEMA through the state. All cities would be required to create an account by June 30, 2021.

Marklein said data from the Department of Military Affairs shows for the last two disasters in the state, 32 percent of potential recipients had not registered in the program, meaning they were not eligible for disaster assistance.

The bill, which has the support of 15 Republicans and two Democrats, would require the state to issue FEMA money to cities within two weeks of the receipt of funds. It would also provide an electronic option to submit information to the state and receive reimbursements.

Yesterday, the Joint Enforcement Task Force on Payroll Fraud and Worker Misclassification held its first meeting to discuss Governor Evers’ executive order and goals for the task force, review the findings of the 2009 task force, and listen to presentations from key program experts and other stakeholders. The meeting was the first of several scheduled to be held prior to the first report being due to Governor Evers in March 2020.

“Worker misclassification results in millions of dollars in taxpayer losses due to the underpayment of wages, unemployment insurance tax contributions, worker’s compensation, and payroll taxes, and that’s why the work of Task Force on Payroll Fraud and Worker Misclassification is so critically important to our workforce and our economy,” said Gov. Evers. “Wisconsin has been a leader on so many fronts—unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation, youth and registered apprenticeship, and many others—and we’re looking forward to the Task Force getting to work so our state can be a leader on this important issue.”

The Joint Enforcement Task Force on Payroll Fraud and Worker Misclassification was created by Governor Evers through Executive Order #20 earlier this year. The task force will coordinate worker misclassification matters handled by the Departments of Revenue, Workforce Development, and Justice, as well as the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and other agencies.

“I am excited to get to work with a task force full of informed professionals, ready to tackle this important issue that is plaguing not only Wisconsin’s workforce, but employers from multiple industries,” Department of Workforce Development Secretary-designee Caleb Frostman said. “This issue is bipartisan, and I look forward to arriving at meaningful recommendations for the Governor and State Legislature to consider.”

FEMA announced that federal disaster assistance has been made available to the state of Wisconsin to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding from July 18-20, 2019.

Federal funding is available to state, tribal, eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding in Barron, Clark, Forest, La Crosse, Langlade, Menominee, Monroe, Oconto, Oneida, Outagamie, Polk, Portage, Rusk, Shawano, Vernon, Waupaca, and Wood counties; the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin; and the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures throughout the state, including tribal lands.

Wisconsin had the 11th-most local governments of any state in 2017, due in part to a tenfold increase in the last five decades in special-district governments that manage lakes, sewers, and sanitation, according to a new report by the independent, nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum.

The breakdown includes 72 counties, 1,852 municipalities (cities, villages, and  towns), and 438 school districts (422 public school districts and 16 technical college districts), the report found.

While the overall tally of counties, municipalities, and school districts has barely changed since the 1967 Census of Governments, the number of special district governments increased from 62 to 734.

The abundance of governments has made overlapping responsibilities a longstanding concern. In the early 2000s, a major state panel now known as the “Kettl Commission” (named after commission chairman Donald Kettl) argued greater clarity and cooperation was needed at the local level to boost efficiency and accountability.

The report found the number of governments in a state often depends on its history, and therefore is largely regional. The framework for European settlement of much of the Midwest was established in 1787 by the Northwest Ordinance, which created a structure for six-mile-by-six-mile towns or “townships” that remains in place today. In part because of this, states like Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, and Michigan also rank near the top of the states for number of governments.