(WisBusiness) WED News Summary — 13 May 2009

— DOA Secretary Michael Morgan said the state’s business community should have confidence in the state’s business climate despite a series of recent measures that have strained the relationship between Gov. Jim Doyle and business interests.

“Up until the national economy began to deteriorate, the state of Wisconsin was doing very, very well,” Morgan said of Doyle’s record on business issues.

Many in the business community opposed the inclusion of combined reporting in the state budget repair bill earlier this year, and some have similarly lined up against legal liability reforms, the oil profits tax and other measures in Doyle’s budget bill now before the Legislature. Republicans have also gotten in on the action, holding a series of roundtable discussions as part of the legislative GOP’s “Wisconsin Jobs Now” task force.

Morgan told a WisPolitics.com Luncheon at the Madison Club on Tuesday the governor remains committed to engaging with the business community to maintain and build the economy, even during the recession. He argued that a number of proposals from Doyle’s first term, including Grow Wisconsin, tax law revisions and regulatory reform, helped generate some 144,000 new jobs.

Read more from the luncheon: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=158434

— In spite of the recession – or perhaps because of it – interest in cutting energy costs in the Badger State is growing.

“Wisconsin is doing quite well,” says Mary Schlaefer, executive director of the 28-year-old Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation. She said a recent national study rated Wisconsin fifth overall for energy efficiency achievement and programs.

“So despite the economic downturn, we are still seeing quite good participation,” adds Schlaefer, whose agency runs the state’s Focus on Energy effort and manages more than 30 other state, regional and national programs. WECC has a staff of about 160 and has a budget of roughly $90 million, up 20 percent from 2008.

Schlaefer said her agency sometimes has to work to convince people that it doesn’t always costs an inordinate amount of money to save energy.

“It depends on what kind of measures you are trying to implement,” she said.

“The state program focuses only on cost-effective energy savings,” she added, which means the up-front cost is usually paid back in several years with reduced utility expenses.

Read more in a new WisBusiness interview with Schlaefer: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=158448

— Thanks to a balanced local economy in the Dane County region, “the glass is half full” during these tough economic times, a top banking official said Tuesday.

“I do not want to be too pessimistic. These challenges can be worked through,” M&I Bank’s regional lending director, John Ronzia, told a city of Madison small business conference. “Most of the problems have been national. The Madison market is relatively strong. The banks in and around Dane County are going to survive.

Diane Pasley of Wisconsin Business Development Finance, which assists businesses seeking federal Small Business Administration Loans, said while there are tough standards for borrowers to meet, many of the local banks are able to provide capital to small businesses.

See more on the credit situation in Dane County: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=158449

— Four of Wisconsin’s federal lawmakers sent a letter to Obama administration officials seeking more information on why Chrysler plans to close a Kenosha plant while shifting some work to Mexico even though there’s adequate manufacturing capacity at its U.S. plants.

The lawmakers – U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold and and Reps. Gwen Moore, Tom Petri and Paul Ryan – noted they urged administration officials last month to “give full and fair consideration to auto industry restructuring plans that prioritized retention of domestic manufacturing jobs.”

But they pointed out Chrysler is seeking another $8 billion in taxpayer money to implement a restructuring plan that would shift some engine production to Mexico while shuttering the Kenosha facility. That money would push the government’s total investment in Chrysler to $12 billion.

See the letter. http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/Chrysler_May2009.pdf

— Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen asked a Dane County court for $212 million in forfeitures from Pharmacia as well as an injunction requiring the pharmaceutical company to honestly report prices.

DOJ won a ruling against the company in February that it had violated the state’s Medicaid fraud statute by manipulating prices. The trial found 1.44 million violations of the statute, and the state is allowed to seek between $100 and $15,000 per violation. Van Hollen is seeking about $147 per violation.

See the release: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=158383

— The Assembly and Senate will both take up the statewide smoking ban bill today. The Assembly session is slated to begin at 10 a.m., and the Senate at 11:15 a.m.

— The Legislative Audit Bureau is recommending a series of additional steps to ensure highways are built to state specifications following reports that contractors failed to pour the proper thickness of concrete on some state roads. 

The Department of Transportation made changes to its requirements to better check on the quality of work performed by contractors. 

But the Audit Bureau also suggested steps like a new test for measuring the thickness of concrete poured for highway projects. 

“This is particularly important because the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will provide Wisconsin with $529.1 million in federal transportation funds, much of which will be used for state highway projects,” State Auditor Jan Mueller wrote in the report’s cover letter. 

The audit also found Wisconsin relied on private consultants to work as construction engineers on a higher percentage of its highway projects than other Midwestern states except for Michigan. 

See the audit: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lab/reports/09-dotconstructionengineering_ltr.pdf

— Gov. Jim Doyle’s office has announced its annual Export Achievement Awards recognizing Wisconsin firms and organizations that have achieved extraordinary results in international sales or have contributed to Wisconsin’s increased ability to compete in a global market.

Award winners include fire-fighting equipment maufacturer W.S. Darley & Co. in Chippewa Falls, Hurd Windows & Doors in Medford, Alliance Laundry Systems in Ripon and Schreiber Foods Inc. in Green Bay.

See the full list of award winners: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=158388

The Wisconsin Department of Commerce’s International Trade Team will be traveling throughout the state the week of May 12-16 meeting with industry representatives interested in growing their export businesses. There are events scheduled in Sheboygan, Green Bay and Wausau.

See details: http://www.wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=158389

— Wisconsin has become the 23rd member state of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Governing Board at the board’s meeting in Arlington, Virginia.

SST is a national effort to simplify the administration of state and local sales taxes for businesses and government. Gov. Jim Doyle signed legislation in February conforming state law to the standards of the SST Agreement, making Wisconsin eligible to become a full member.

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