The Department of Revenue has revoked $50,000 worth of tax credits from W.W. Grainger, a distributor of industrial and maintenance supplies, after the company failed to create promised jobs, sold subsidiaries employing hundreds of its workers and sent some jobs overseas.
Tag: Scott Walker
Posted inEconomy, Government
Wisconsin’s new debt law not in line with federal recommendations
The FTC has recommended that states boost requirements for what documentation is needed at the beginning of a lawsuit. Wisconsin’s new law does not meet most of these recommendations.
Posted inEconomy, Government
Controversial debt buyers get a break under new Wisconsin law
A new Wisconsin law standardized debt collection; advocates fear it could hurt consumers.
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Walker’s records directive is good news
Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of open government and the people’s right to know, got an unexpected and welcome beam of hope in mid-March when Gov. Scott Walker issued an executive order directing state agencies to speed up responses to public records requests and to track them to show their performance.
Posted inGovernment, Open records, Scott Walker's Wisconsin
Former cabinet members: Top Scott Walker aide ordered them to avoid state email, phones
Two former members of Gov. Scott Walker’s cabinet say the administration has had a policy of communicating official business through private channels. The allegations come as the Walker administration faces criticism for cutting public access to internal text messages and other so-called transitory state records.
Posted inGovernment, News about Wisconsin Watch
Center’s Dee J. Hall receives Lee President’s Award for State Journal WEDC investigation
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism’s Dee J. Hall received an award for reporting from her former employer, Lee Enterprises, on Thursday. The Lee President’s Award, the company’s highest journalistic honor, recognized Hall and Wisconsin State Journal Reporter Matthew DeFour for their investigation into a failed taxpayer-funded loan to one of Gov. Scott Walker’s top […]
Posted inEconomy, Government, Scott Walker's Wisconsin
Scott Walker’s untold story: Jobs lacking after big state subsidy of Kohl’s stores
In its first 15 months of existence, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. awarded $126 million in incentives to 24 companies without a full financial review. Some deals turned out well, others have failed. The largest — up to $62.5 million in tax credits to Kohl’s Corp. — so far has not generated the number of jobs or amount of capital spending promised.
Posted inEconomy, Government, Scott Walker's Wisconsin
8 tales from around Wisconsin: Some WEDC deals worked, others tanked
Snapshots of some of the 24 companies that got a piece of the $126 million in state taxpayer subsidies without full financial review from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.
Posted inGovernment, Open records, Scott Walker's Wisconsin
Scott Walker’s office ‘obstructed’ probe of missing veterans funds, investigators allege
The Milwaukee County executive’s office under Scott Walker “obstructed” a criminal investigation into missing donations to a veterans fund, two investigators alleged Friday in a federal court brief that includes recently unsealed investigative records.
Posted inEconomy, Government, Scott Walker's Wisconsin
Two companies fail after getting $1.4 million from Gov. Scott Walker’s jobs agency
Despite signs of trouble with the companies, Gov. Scott Walker’s jobs agency awarded about $1.4 million in taxpayer money to two northern Wisconsin firms that have now failed to repay the loans.
Posted inWisWatch Blog
Center director recounts media storm over open records
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism Executive Director Andy Hall recounts the media’s response to the state Legislature’s proposed changes to the state’s open records law.
Posted inScott Walker's Wisconsin, WisWatch Blog
Drafting notes silent on author of open records overhaul
Sixty pages of drafting documents included only initials and partial names of legislative service agency staffers.