(Madison) – State Senator Julie Lassa (D- Stevens Point) joined Minority Leader Mark Miller (D-Monona) and other Democratic Senators today in calling for the legislature to take quick action to promote job growth in Wisconsin.
“After promising to create a quarter million jobs, the governor and Republican legislators have focused instead on handing out billions in tax giveaways to big corporations, weakening protections for consumers and the environment, and decimating funding for education and health care,” Lassa said at a press conference today. “We see the results of their policies all around us. While the rest of the country is experiencing an economic upswing, and our neighboring states are adding jobs, Wisconsin has suffered its sixth straight month of job losses.”
Lassa said Democrats have proposed numerous jobs bills; most have not received public hearings, and the handful that did have not been allowed to come up for floor votes. As an example, she pointed to Senate Bill 40, which expands the Advanced Manufacturing Training Grants program.
“This bill addresses a problem manufacturers all over the state are calling their biggest hurdle to growth – finding workers with advanced manufacturing skills,” Lassa said. “The bill passed the Senate by a lopsided 32 to 1 vote. Clearly, legislators on both sides of the aisle recognize the urgency of this legislation. Yet since it passed on October 20, over three months ago, the Assembly Republican leadership has failed even to assign it to a committee.
“Senate Democrats understand that the quarter million unemployed workers in our state are tired of waiting for jobs,” she said. “There is no more time for the Republican-controlled legislature to waste. The final legislative floor sessions are slipping away. We call on the Republican leadership to join us, and let’s get working to put Wisconsin back to work.”
