— While poverty rates in Wisconsin have fallen from their latest peak during the Great Recession, they haven’t rebounded to the lows seen about a decade before that.
That’s according to a recent report from UW-Madison’s Division of Extension, written by Prof. Steven Deller, an economist and professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. He notes poverty often gets less attention in policy discussions than other measures of economic performance such as income levels and employment.
“From the perspective of broader economic trends, the change in the poverty rate over time can provide powerful insights,” he wrote.
His analysis focuses on the period from 1993 to 2021, comparing poverty in Wisconsin with rates for Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota. Wisconsin’s rate “most closely tracks” that of Iowa during that period, while the state consistently has lower poverty rates than Illinois or Michigan and higher rates than Minnesota.
The trend across the Midwest region has been fairly consistent, with a general decline in poverty through the 1990s followed by a steady increase from around 2000 to 2011-2013, when each state reached its peak poverty level.
After reaching a peak above 13% near 2013, Wisconsin’s poverty rate was on a steady decline until 2020, when it was near 10%. In the final year included in the report, poverty rates across all five states rose sharply due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Deller notes Wisconsin has lagged behind neighboring states in recovering from the Great Recession, and its poverty rate hasn’t returned to its low of 8.1% in 2000 and 2002.
Suburban counties within larger metropolitan areas had the lowest poverty rates, Deller found. These include Ozaukee with 4.7%, Waukesha with 5%, Washington with 5.3% and St. Croix with 5.4%.
By comparison, counties with the highest poverty rates include Menominee with 24.2%, Milwaukee with 17.8%, Adams with 15.2% and Vernon with 15.2%.
“Studying poverty rates can help policymakers not only better understand economic performance but also help steer limited economic growth and development resources,” Deller wrote.
See the full report: https://economicdevelopment.extension.wisc.edu/2023/10/12/exploring-poverty-as-a-crucial-economic-performance-measure/
— Gov. Tony Evers has funneled $170 million in federal pandemic relief aid to the Child Care Counts Program in order to keep daycares from closing.
The move to spend American Rescue Plan Act money is meant to keep the program funded at current levels through June 2025. Many child care providers and daycare owners have said they would have to close their doors, raise rates or sell to private equity firms if the government doesn’t continue helping the industry. Evers in a statement said he heard their calls.
“So, it’s unconscionable that, even as Wisconsin has the highest surplus in state history, Republicans won’t pass my comprehensive workforce plan to address our state’s generational workforce challenges and prevent the collapse of our state’s child care industry,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu in a statement argued Evers is the one who’s been telling child care providers they would have to close up if Child Care Counts ran out of funds “when he could have used ARPA money to preserve Child Care Counts all along.”
“Governing isn’t a game, and Governor Evers continues to irresponsibly play games with
Wisconsin families’ budgets for political purposes,” the Oostburg Republican said.
The Dem guv earlier this year called the Legislature to hold a special session to take up his workforce and child care funding package. It would spend about $1 billion in total, including funding for the Child Care Counts Program.
Republicans on Friday proposed an amendment to Evers’ plan that would cut taxes by $2 billion and increase financial assistance for parents paying for child care by increasing child and dependent care credit eligibility.
See Evers’ release: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/gov-evers-directs-170-million-in-emergency-funding-to-stabilize-child-care-statewide-prevent-industrys-imminent-collapse/
See LeMahieu’s release: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/sen-lemahieu-gov-evers-continues-to-play-games-with-family-budgets/
— UW-Eau Claire’s Children’s Nature Academy has received $1.8 million in federal funding to expand child care options for low-income student parents.
Starting next year, the funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Child Care Access Means Parents in School program will go to UW-Eau Claire students eligible for Pell Grants.
The academy’s director, Lisa Coen, says the grant will “significantly” reduce child care costs for student parents. She aims to double the number of students that currently use the center’s day care services, which stands at about 20.
“This grant is very important for our student parents at UWEC,” she said in a statement. “Child care is not only difficult to access in our community, but it is expensive.”
Along with covering child care fees, the funding will be used to hire a family services specialist, pay for training and development, expand the program and hire teachers, the release shows.
See the release: https://www.uwec.edu/news/news/federal-grant-will-assist-uw-eau-claire-student-parents-with-childcare-costs-5857/
— A new poll for the group Milwaukee Works Inc. found Wisconsin voters oppose using tax money for improvements at the Brewers stadium.
Fifty-five percent said they were opposed to a stadium subsidy, while 29% supported putting tax money toward the costs.
The poll comes as lawmakers continue working to revise legislation that would require the team, state, and Milwaukee County and the city to contribute toward the costs. An Assembly committee last week amended the bill to require the city and county to contribute $135 million toward the costs over the next 27 years. The state would kick in $411 million in exchange for the team extending its lease through 2050. It now expires in 2030.
The Milwaukee Works Inc. poll, conducted by the Dem firm Public Policy Polling, asked if respondents favored spending around $550 million of tax money on stadium improvements or on other government priorities such as public safety, health care and roads.
Seventy percent wanted that money to go to other priorities, while 16% backed spending it on the stadium costs.
The new poll comes two weeks after VISIT Milwaukee and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce released results from a poll that found 58% of Wisconsin voters said they’d support a “proposal in the state Legislature to cover this shortfall with a combination of funding from the state of Wisconsin, the regional Stadium District, and the Brewers organization jointly paying for these improvements.” The groups — both of which back public money for stadium maintenance — didn’t release anything on whether voters surveyed approved requiring local governments to provide funding for such a deal.
Milwaukee Works Inc. hasn’t taken a position on the stadium financing plan, though Director Dan Adams has been critical of the proposal.
The Milwaukee Works Inc. poll of 1,347 Wisconsin voters was conducted Friday and Saturday. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
FiveThirtyEight rates PPP an A-minus pollster.
Read the release:
See the questions and results:
— Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he is “very confident” the Brewers ballpark maintenance funding package will pass the Assembly today with significant Democratic votes.
An amendment lowers Milwaukee and Milwaukee County’s local contributions from $7.5 million a year to $5 million annually. The package before the Assembly does not include a ticket tax. Vos discussed the bills on WISN’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics.
“I know the Senate is looking at that,” Vos said, referring to a tax on non-game events. “I certainly am open to that idea if that’s what it takes to get through the end. I don’t really want to make it more expensive for people to attend an event if we already have a proposal that has strong support, but if there are good ideas that help it get through the Senate, I want to make sure we’re a team player on that, specifically on non-game events.”
Some Republicans, including Kapenga, have pushed for a tax on Brewers games as well.
See more from the show: https://www.wisn.com/upfront
— Representatives of the state’s creative sector are in Washington, D.C., this week, where they’re calling for greater support of the arts and related industries.
These include Create Wisconsin Executive Director Anne Katz and Imagine MKE Executive Director Adam Braatz, according to yesterday’s release. They’ll be joining meetings that include lawmakers representing Wisconsin.
Katz argues the state needs to invest in “economic, workforce, and civic development” through arts, culture and creativity.
“Without that investment, Wisconsin risks losing out on both opportunities for economic growth and attracting creative individuals and workers,” she said in a statement. “The state has seen a fraction of the economic growth the rest of the nation has – a clear indication that urgent action is needed.”
Wisconsin is ranked 49th among U.S. states for its investments in the creative sector at just 18 cents per capita, according to the release.
And though the sector contributes $10.8 billion to the state economy each year, its economic activity has seen relatively slow growth. The economic impact of the state’s creative sector has grown by 8.44% since 2020, compared to 14.43% at the national level, the release shows.
See the release: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/wisconsins-creative-economy-leaders-meet-with-legislators-in-washington/
— Madison-based Stem Pharm is getting support from the National Institutes of Health to develop new models to help fight Alzheimer’s disease.
Funding comes from the Small Business Innovation Research program, CEO Dr. Steven Visuri said in a statement.
“This funding will allow us to make significant strides in our mission to develop innovative treatments that can change the lives of those affected by neurologic diseases,” he said.
The company also recently announced it is collaborating with Verge Genomics of California to develop a disease model to validate new targets identified by Verge for Parkinson’s disease.
“By combining our strengths and resources, we aim to establish a state-of-the-art Parkinson’s disease model,” Visuri said. “This collaboration represents a significant step forward in our collective mission to discover transformative therapies for patients suffering from this debilitating disease.”
Financial terms were not disclosed for the NIH funding or the Verge partnership.
See more at Madison Startups: https://www.madisonstartups.com/stem-pharm-earns-grant-announces-collaboration/
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report…</b></i>
— WMF Wisconsin has named Ali Muldrow as the group’s first executive director.
<i>For more of the most relevant news on COVID-19, reports on groundbreaking health research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com.</i>
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#TOP STORIES#
# Wisconsin Republican makes case for returning nearly $3B to taxpayers
# Child Care Counts money replenished by Tony Evers after GOP rejection
# What to know about a Minocqua brewery PAC’s lawsuit against Wisconsin’s school vouchers
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– Wisconsin NRCS announces first batching period for agricultural easement applications
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=924&yr=2023
# CONSTRUCTION
– Mechanical contractors, steamfitters’ union check furnaces for Dane County veterans
# ECONOMY
– Evers announces $170M to extend Child Care Counts
# EDUCATION
– What lawmakers are planning for Wisconsin schools and what might actually pass
# ENVIRONMENT
– Wisconsin soil and water conservation
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=926&yr=2023
# FOOD AND BEVERAGE
– Milwaukee-area executives dish on their favorite business lunch spots
# HEALTH CARE
– New partnership will offer prenatal check-ins, pregnancy care in Milwaukee
# LABOR
– Fox Valley partnership seeks to remove barriers to help produce more child care workers
# LEGAL
– Madison is exploring legal action against Grandview Commons apartment owners after shootings
# MANAGEMENT
– Generac CIO Tim Dickson exits to join Milwaukee-based firm
– Jerry Franke named first executive director for Kenosha Innovation Neighborhood
# POLITICS
– $2 billion Wisconsin income tax cut proposal advances
# REAL ESTATE
– Wangard Partners apartment project among nearly 1,000 housing units in the works for Oconomowoc
– Closed downtown Milwaukee Hampton Inn sold for $6 million
# REGULATION
– West Allis mayor tells Burger King ‘I rule’ as city sues over ‘blighted’ restaurant site
# RETAIL
– Kohl’s plans soft opening for downtown store to prepare employees for Nov. 3 grand opening
# SPORTS
– The Buzz: An Appleton business specializes in working with golfers with disabilities
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
Dept. of Natural Resources: Celebrate Wisconsin forest products during National Forest Products Week
Kenosha Innovation Neighborhood: Welcomes Jerry Franke as first executive director
