Election Matters: Milwaukee's Walker wants no fed funds; Dane's Falk will take them

John Nichols — 1/16/2009 5:27 am

CALENDAR:

PRIMARY ELECTION: Feb. 17

GENERAL ELECTION: April 7

WALKER DEFINES "FISCAL CONSERVATISM" AND TAKES A HIT

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker is readying a 2010 Republican gubernatorial run, which explains Walker's bizarre announcement that his cash-strapped county does not want federal stimulus funding.

Nothing says "fiscal conservative" like refusing money when your county is struggling to deal with a reported $300 million backlog in repairs for parks, a $300 million shortfall in the budget for rebuilding the mental health complex and $43 million less in transit funding than is needed. So, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes, "Unlike Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who sent the federal government a $599 million wish list, or Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, who asked for $3.7 billion from what could be an $800 billion to $1 trillion federal shot in the arm, Walker said Tuesday the county and the country are better off without the spending.

"Walker's stance fits with his conservative ideology and the turf he's begun to stake out for himself as a potential Republican candidate for governor in 2010..."

Conservatives are giving Walker high marks.

But the move is not playing well in Milwaukee media.

What's the media response?

Milwaukee's Shepherd Express, the popular and widely distributed local weekly newspaper (for which your humble correspondent has written over the years), headlined its article: "Scott Walker Puts Milwaukee County Residents at Risk: His untraconservative stance means the county will get stiffed."

Democrats sense an opening that might allow them to beat Walker before the 2010 race begins. And they are seizing it.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair Joe Wineke took his shot with this statement:

Political observers were left scratching their heads last week when Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker essentially said, "thanks, but no thanks" to President-elect Barack Obama's proposed stimulus funding to help create jobs in Walker's own county and across Wisconsin.
Most Wisconsinites were not too concerned about Walker's stance, however, assuming he was all alone on this issue. Surely, we thought, Wisconsin would still benefit from the thousands of jobs the stimulus will bring to our state because there would be no widespread opposition to accepting this funding.

This week, however, the Republican Party of Wisconsin did something inconceivable: they rushed to Walker's defense. It is now the official position of the Republican Party in our state that we should turn away the Obama stimulus and the job creation it would deliver.

Let's be very clear about one thing: there will be a stimulus. We are not debating whether or not there should be a stimulus package; we are debating whether or not we should accept Wisconsin's share of the hundreds of billions of dollars that will create thousands of jobs in our state.

The question that now desperately needs to be answered is this: given that the Chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin has laid down the law on saying, "no thanks" to Wisconsin's share of this money, is this also the position of our Congressional Republicans? Is it the position of Republicans in the state legislature?

If so, the Republican leadership in our state stands alone in the world. Virtually every economist is debating not whether a stimulus is needed, but rather how big it needs to be. Yet Wisconsin Republicans seem to know better. Their solution is a stubborn adherence to bad ideas: tax cuts for the wealthy and nothing for middle-class Americans.

Fortunately, our state can rely on Governor Jim Doyle and our Democratic leaders to fight for Wisconsin families. It would be a lot easier, however, if Wisconsin Republicans could put partisanship aside and join us in the effort to create jobs in Wisconsin.

Yet, unbelievably, Scott Walker and the Republican Party of Wisconsin are fighting against federal stimulus money that would put people back to work and create thousands of new jobs for Wisconsin families.

There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, but we have an opportunity today to seize this moment to transform our economy, create and save thousands of jobs, invest in our economic future, and strengthen the middle class for years to come.

We can't let Scott Walker and the Republicans get in the way of this opportunity.

Milwaukee State Rep. Tamara Grigsby, a rising Democratic star, was detailed in her assault on Walker's reasoning:

County Executive Walker's sentiments highlight the failure of the free-market fundamentalism that has plagued us for the past eight years. We cannot allow trickledown economic policies that have failed us in the past to hinder our future. At a time when Milwaukee County needs more support than ever, our executive is turning away from the countless working families in need of support.
Wisconsin contributes more to the federal government than it currently receives. For every dollar we give to the federal government, we receive only 86 cents in return. There are only 11 states that receive a smaller percentage for what they give. In our state, and Milwaukee County in particular, we face a dire situation where assistance is needed to maintain the programs and services that are essential to our lives. We need hundreds of millions of dollars for refurbishing our parks, repairing our transit system, and strengthening the economy. Scott Walker's irresponsible actions prove he does not understand the problems we face if he is so willing to turn away money offered to confront our needs.

As a member of the Joint Committee on Finance, I am up to the task of working with others to solve Wisconsin's budget problems and provide Milwaukee with the assistance it needs. I have faith in our new Assembly Speaker, Mike Sheridan, Governor Doyle, and Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker. The Democratic leadership in our state is ready to take on the challenges our state faces and I too am ready to fight for what is right for the hardworking people of Wisconsin.

Sounds like Grigsby might be running for something.

SOGLIN'S STUNNED

Former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, the master of all things municipal, is beside himself about Walker's stunt.

Soglin said, "Scott Walker is faithful to neither his constituency or himself."

On his "Waxing America" blog, Soglin writes under the headline: "Scott Walker Looks in the Mirror...":

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker got up this morning, looked in the mirror and turned on the water. The water ran down the drain to the sanitary sewer pipes that run under Milwaukee County public streets and roads. They are joined by storm water pipes as they travel past Briggs and Stratton, the machine shops, Miller Brewery, Miller Park, and his offices.
A hundred years ago Milwaukee had leaders who understood that investment in infrastructure and investment in human capacity would build a great city.

They spent public money.

Schools were built, attracting workers who wanted a public education for their children. Roads were paved, moving goods to market. A public transit evolved that moved employees to work quickly and efficiently. Milwaukee built an airport that would open new markets for Milwaukee manufacturing.

Then came the Scott Walkers. It was a great way to get elected. Attack government spending and ignore the public benefits of investment in infrastructure and human capacity.

Scott Walker does not believe what he says. He knows better, but it got him elected.

This is the girl he brought to the dance and he would look like a cad to dump her now.

The next great Milwaukee County public leader will face the challenge of improving the quality of services through difficult transformations, not meat axe approaches.

WILL NANCY MISTELE TAKE THE SCOTT WALKER PLEDGE?

Former Madison School Board member Nancy Mistele is running for Dane County Executive this year as a fiscal conservative. So ... will Mistele follow the lead of the state's most prominent Republican executive and say no to federal dollars?

The woman Mistele is challenging, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, won't be doing so.

In a letter to Obama, Falk wrote:

Dear President-Elect Obama:

Congratulations on your election and thank you for your determination to pursue a substantial stimulus package with its emphasis on the creation of jobs and useful, sustainable infrastructure. I write to provide you specific examples of such projects in Dane County with the hope that they can be included in your legislation and that they are replicable, especially in the upper Midwest. Like many others, I am tempted to ask for your assistance on a variety of worthwhile long-term projects, especially with regard to transportation and energy creation and sustainability. But in light of the urgency of our economic problems and your decision to take steps that have significant consequences within two years, I focus on projects with the sort of clear, good, and quickly achieved benefits you are looking for.

The first is a request for county highway repaving projects. This probably seems mundane in the extreme but they offer big advantages for your program (a list of the projects is attached):

All of these projects can be implemented quickly -- in the 2009 construction season, between April and October. All are either already planned or can be designed within several weeks (they are included in the County's five year, Capital Improvement Plan). Repaving or overlay projects do not require extensive engineering or environmental studies.

They are locally popular and, conversely, never controversial. The repaved roads are safer and easier to drive.

They are environmentally sound and sustainable. Technology and practices have changed over the last few years so that the old pavement, whether it is some form of asphalt or concrete, is recycled, usually as part of the repaving itself. Also, recycled shingles can be used in repaving asphalt roads. The projects themselves are on roads that have been part of our transportation system for decades -- there is no sprawl issue here. They are long-term improvements with a life span of about twenty years.

They immediately create good paying jobs. All of the jobs are contracted out to local construction companies who pay family-supporting wages and benefits. The work will go to several different companies. The average size paving crew for such projects is ten people. The listed projects will take a total of approximately four months to complete.

You will find ten projects listed; they occur across Dane County and so would benefit both urban and rural residents throughout the County and the thousands of commuters who travel to Dane County from surrounding counties for work every day. Three are on the most heavily traveled roads in the County.

Costs for the projects are $6.18 million. The federal percentage for such projects varies but a common ratio is 80% federal, 20% local. With this letter, I commit to the 20% county match (up to $1.236 million) as soon as the federal funding is available.

A second type of project that fits your program extremely well is bridge deck replacement. The County has three bridge projects for which it could immediately accelerate planning and have construction completed in the 2010 construction season. Again, these projects are contracted out so that private sector jobs are created or sustained. Total costs of the three listed projects are approximately $1.4 million. Again, I commit to funding the local share of these projects ($280,000) in the County's 2010 budget.

Finally, I understand and support your goal of working with state and local governments who will be good partners in the stimulus. In addition to the commitment to local funds that I make in this letter, please be assured that Dane County is already committed to lots of highway maintenance and repair in 2009. Our capital budget contains eleven projects with $2.615 million in local revenue to match another $2.873 million in other local, state, and federal funds. Another $250,000 is contained in our operating budget for repaving shorter stretches of road. These are the highest amounts for several years.

Roads are, of course, a need and priority throughout the country. Hundreds of local governments have repaving projects queued up for the next few years, with many on key roads. However, because of severe floods and winters over the last two years, an abundance of streams and rivers, and extensive county road systems, in place for many decades because of our agricultural economy with its many family dairy operations, the upper Midwest has an especially pressing need for highway repavement and small bridge replacement.

Those thousands of our family-owned dairy farms offer the second excellent opportunity for sustainable, productive stimulus spending. Wonderful Wisconsin cows create two products in almost miraculous abundance: milk and manure. Manure can present farm management and sometimes severe water quality problems. But, properly handled, it has as many beneficial uses as milk. When processed in properly designed and equipped anaerobic digesters, almost all of the phosphorous is removed from the manure and is available for other uses (solving the key water quality issues); clean, useful solid by-products are created (can be used as potting soil, bedding material for cows, or in the manufacture of plastics and synthetic wood); the resulting methane is used to generate electricity or is converted to natural gas or compressed natural gas. From a farming perspective, the digester substantially ameliorates the need to store manure in large, extremely expensive facilities and to spread the manure, which requires a lot of land and generates environmental problems, especially if spreading has to occur in the winter or spring. Because of the carbon released by untreated manure, digesters are also recognized for their contribution in controlling greenhouse gases and are eligible for carbon credits. Finally, digesters are relatively complex operations that require skilled, well-paid construction crews to build and skilled, well-paid technicians to maintain. They are a great source of green, great-paying jobs. Each digester creates about fifteen to twenty construction jobs during its twelve to eighteen month construction period. Each requires at least two technicians. Finally, each will generate additional jobs, depending on the type of material produced at each facility (for example, packagers of potting soil or haulers of phosphorus).

Currently, some large (over 1,000 cows) dairy operations are investing in digesters, often with some form of public assistance. However, as you well know, the upper Midwest has thousands of small to medium-sized farms, which, on their own, will probably not be able to afford digesters for many years. Dane County is addressing this opportunity with a pilot project for a cluster of neighboring farms to develop and operate a digester on a cooperative basis. When successful, this is a model that can be replicated throughout the Upper Midwest, with the results of lots of sustainable energy, reduced air and water pollution, more financially secure farms, and lots of new jobs. The current site of the county's work is Lake Mendota watershed, just north of Madison. In addition to successfully completing a thorough feasibility study for this project, we have budgeted $1.1 million to complete technical and business plans for the facility and participate in the financing should that prove necessary. Construction should start late in 2009 or early in 2010. We believe a second site is ripe for development in the Black Earth Creek watershed. Black Earth Creek is a nationally recognized trout stream imperiled by manure runoff. The surrounding dairy farms tend to be smaller than in the northern part of the county and, as part of the Upper Midwest's Driftless Area (which includes southwest Wisconsin, northeast Iowa, and southeast Minnesota), these farms are located in steep terrain with a world-significant occurrence of spring-fed streams. Including a Black Earth Creek manure digester (for $1 million) in a stimulus package will improve replicability of digesters with all their benefits in a big chunk of the Midwest as well as protecting a natural resource of national and unquestioned value. The $1 million covers planning, engineering, and partial financing.

Finally, the capital markets for local governments will benefit from your attention as will the federal government's return on its recent series of investments. Currently, the credit crisis is restricting the ability of local governments to generate capital or is greatly increasing the cost of such borrowing. You and your advisors undoubtedly noticed the experience of the New York Port Authority last week. As we reviewed the municipal markets, it appears that many credit worthy municipalities rated AA or below are unable to borrow. Even AAA-rated local governments such as Dane County are facing interest at 1.5% higher than they might reasonably expect (Dane County will not be borrowing for some time so this concern is not yet immediate for us). The result is that worthwhile, job-producing, infrastructure-creating local projects are stalled or costing local governments and their taxpayers a lot more than they should. Just about all of these governments are far more credit-worthy and carefully managed than the companies currently receiving federal assistance.

My suggestion is that your Administration use some of the already authorized bailout funds or some of the infrastructure funding to fund some of the local or regional projects. If the federal government loaned the funds at, for example, 4%, it will have locked in a very positive return for part of the bailout/infrastructure effort (especially in light of the interest Treasury is paying) while financing job-creating infrastructure that is of great use to local or regional economies.

If the federal government provided direct loans to local governments, similar to programs offered by the Rural Development Bank, or with the appropriate tax code changes provided a federal guarantee of locally issued debt, many local governments could undertake projects that are now being deferred due to turmoil in the municipal capital markets. In light of the amount of the various bailouts and of the probable cost of a stimulus package, $50 billion would be relatively modest but would be of immense help to local governments in their capital projects.

I hope you find these suggestions helpful. Thank you for considering them. Regardless of your decisions on these, please know that I join millions of Americans in holding you in my thoughts and prayers as you prepare to lead our country in these most difficult times.

Sincerely, Kathleen Falk

Readers will note, with delight, that Falk even slipped in mention of manure digesters.

John Nichols — 1/16/2009 5:27 am

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker says his cash-strapped county does not want federal stimulus funding.

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