Governor Walker's Stimulus Bill - AP Report

Governor Walker's New Budget is more stimulus pork and unnecessary building projects

Wisconsin state building projects total $1.1B in Gov. Scott Walker's proposal

 An article from today's AP wire via the Green Bay Press Gazette

"Walker said in a statement that his proposal released Monday “aggressively uses the funds available to us to maintain state buildings, plan for growth, and most importantly create jobs.”

 "This plan will save or create over three million jobs -- almost all of them in the private sector." Barack Obama,  Feb. 9, 2009

 $900 million cuts from education and Governor Walker is spending millions on what?

• $76 million for a new sports and education center at UW Madison
• $44 million for a new education center at UW Eau Claire
• $5 million for a museum for the state historical society and the Department of Veterans Affairs

"to maintain state buildings"

Over 67% of the funds are for NEW construction and major renovations, not maintenance!

In his inaugural speech, Governor Walker quoted Article 1, Section 22 of the Wisconsin Constitution where it speaks to "fruglaity." Governor Walker's idea of frugality is borrowing $900 million of the $1.1 billion through new bonds!

"Other major projects include $38.5 million for expansion of the west campus and $67 million for the Institute for Medical Research both at UW-Madison, $8 million to help pay for expansion of the Marquette Dental School and $17 million to renovate Carlson Hall at UW-Whitewater"

"Walker has confirmed that he will propose cutting education aid by about $900 million..."                                            theroot.com, March 1, 2011

So the Universities, particularly UW Madison, receive the money taken from the K-12 school. Not really a lot of point in making the campuses nicer and newer when the incoming generations won't be educated well enough to be able to go to college. Or perhaps this is what Governor Walker meant when he said that Wisconsin was open for business. We won't educate our own kids, we'll educate everyone else's. That's a forwarding thinking Wisconsin-centered plan. Thanks, Scott.

Here is a specific list of the projects on this list:

$67 million for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Institute for Medical Research
$50 million for UW-Milwaukee
$44 million for an education building at UW-Eau Claire
$38.5 million for UW-Madison West Campus Expansion
$27.4 million to improve existing DHC and state prison facilities
$17 million to renovate Carlson Hall at UW-Whitewater
$8 million to support the expansion of the Marquette University Dental School 

That's $251.9 million for universities and prisons. Only one is where our uneducated students will end up.