(WisBusiness) THURS News Summary — 15 Jan. 2009

From WisBusiness.com …

— Economic figures aren’t out yet for the fourth quarter of 2008, but William Strauss, a senior economist with Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago, expects them to be ugly. “There will be steep declines,” Strauss warned a Madison International Trade Association luncheon Wednesday.

The first two quarters of 2009 won’t be very good, either, though the economy has a chance of perking up toward the end of year, he said. “If you had asked me last August, I would have said we’ll muddle through,” Strauss, who also teaches at the University of Chicago. “But September changed all that and we sank to a new level.

“Still, this is an economic cycle that we will get through, though growth will fall the first half of this year,” he said. “And by the fourth quarter, we should have some muted growth again.”

Jane Mezera, a vice president and corporate trader in the Currency Exchange Department at U.S. Bank in Milwaukee, agreed that 2008 was a tough year. But she said she worries that 2009 will be worse. “Every asset class is down,” she said. “And no country around the globe is escaping this recession, which is the worst we have seen since World War II. We have lost millions of jobs in the past few months.”

See more from the luncheon: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=145831

— U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and Howard Learner, a senior energy and environmental adviser for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, will highlight a “Focus on Midwest Energy” conference on Monday, Feb. 23 at Madison’s Monona Terrace. A third keynote speaker and other event details will be announced in the coming weeks.

The half-day event in Madison this February will assemble key business, government and research representatives to explore energy issues in light of the changing political landscape in Madison and Washington, D.C., and look ahead to the future of Midwest energy policy. This is the second annual energy event organized by WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com .

See event details, including registration info: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=145732

— The group that conducted the signature drive to get Milwaukee’s pending sick leave mandate on the Nov. 4 ballot will be allowed to join the city in defending the ordinance against a legal challenge from the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

MMAC had opposed the motion to allow 9to5 to join the suit.

But Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge John DiMotto noted Wednesday that the referendum would never have been on the ballot but for 9to5’s efforts. “I can think of no entity, not even the city, that has an interest so strong,” DiMotto said.

He added that due to 9to5’s central role in the process, “they are in the absolute best position to defend this piece of legislation,” and noted that the city itself agrees it may not be able to adequately represent the group’s concerns.

See more on developments in the sick leave case: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=145818

— A hospital assessment proposal unveiled by the Department of Health Services would bring in $1.65 in federal money for every $1 taken from state hospitals and help fund the next phase of BadgerCare Plus that some had feared would have to be delayed.

The DHS says under the plan the state would receive an additional $300 million each year. The number is higher than previous proposals because of an increase in the assessment on hospital revenues. The previous proposal, which was pulled from the state budget by Assembly Republicans, assessed hospitals at a rate of 0.08 percent of gross revenues. The new proposal has an assessment rate of 1.4 percent of gross revenues, according to DHS spokesman Seth Boffeli.

The Wisconsin Hospital Association and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce praised the proposal in statements.

WHA President Steve Brenton called the proposal “an important step forward” and added, “It will bring Wisconsin’s fair share of federal health care dollars back to the state and use them to better fund necessary health services for hundreds of thousands of patients and families.”

See more on the proposal: http://blogs.wispolitics.com/2009/01/dhs-hospital-assessment-would-bring-in.html

See the full WHA release: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=145713

— Former Public Service Commission Chair Dan Ebert will join WPPI Energy next month as vice president of policy and external affairs.

The company said in a release that Ebert will oversee legislative and regulatory affairs, corporate communications and policy development.

See the release: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=145715

— Racine-based Pioneer Products has notified the state that it plans to lay off as many as 20 employees beginning in March.

See the company’s filing with the state:
http://www.wisbusiness.com/1008/090114pioneer.pdf

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