Walker’s “Back to Work Wisconsin” special session slow to start
3965708MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Scott Walker’s “Back to Work Wisconsin” special session kicked off today. While it should last a few weeks, some lawmakers thought it got off to a slow start.
This is Gov. Walker’s second special session this year. Focusing job creation and keeping “Wisconsin open for business,” they’re voting on about two-dozen job-related bills in the next coming weeks. Today, the governor sounds optimistic that jobs will be created and lawmakers are going to get a lot of work done in this session.
“We went out of our way to make sure we went through every piece of legislation, anything that had to do with jobs,” said Walker. “About a third of the bills are Democrat-sponsored and about a third of the bills are Republican-sponsored. About a third we took were from job creation listing sessions that we held so for us, some of the Democrats said, ‘well if you put them on the list will they actually get passed?’ the good news is they are.”
The governor is hoping the session is going to give businesses some peace of mind. He also wants to find ways to get people trained for the jobs that are available.
So far, the first day of this special session is almost over and some lawmakers aren’t really impressed with the work they’ve accomplished.
“At least for the first day of session I’m a bit underwhelmed as far as what I’m seeing as far as having any significant impact on job creation. I’m more than willing to work with my colleagues but show me something and I’m not seeing much here,” said Rep. Chris Danou, (D) 91st Assembly District.
The governor’s long term goal is creating 250,000 jobs in the private sector by 2015.
The jobs tax credit bill was the only bill up for discussion tonight. The bill passed overwhelmingly and is now looking for approval from the senate in the next couple of weeks. The bill would create earlier tax credits to businesses that have created jobs in the past year and a half.
