Republican legislators want to merge Wisconsin's two major economic development agencies into a new entity with a stand-alone bill rather than through Gov. Scott Walker's budget.
The governor's budget proposal calls for merging the troubled Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority into the Forward Wisconsin Development Authority.
Sen. Rick Gudex, R-Fond du Lac, and Rep. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, sent a memo to lawmakers Wednesday saying they've crafted a separate bill implementing the merger at Walker's request and need co-sponsors by Monday.
Gudex aide Lance Burri said the governor wanted the merger to be more transparent. Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The Legislature's finance committee is currently revising the budget before sending it on to the full Senate and Assembly for votes. WEDC and WHEDA leaders told the committee last month that the merger would create a one-stop shop to help communities and businesses grow.
Minority Democrats on the panel blasted the merger, saying the merger would create an unaccountable entity. Audits in 2012 and 2013 showed WEDC, Walker's flagship job creation engine, lost track of $12 million in overdue loans and gave money to ineligible projects between July 2011 and June 2012. The agency also has seen considerable turnover in its upper ranks.
The budget calls for doing away with the agencies' boards, both of which include legislators, and creating a single board of private-sector employees whom Walker would appoint. The spending plan also would permit state auditors to review only the new agency's programs biennially. Right now, auditors can check both WEDC's programs and finances every two years.
Under the bill, the governor would appoint eight members of the board. The remaining four would be two state representatives and two state senators chosen by the chambers' majority leaders. Most of the rest of Walker's merger plan would remain intact.
Gudex and Hutton's memo states that the merger language has been removed from the budget. That's not true; the finance committee hasn't made any moves dealing with yet. Burri called the statement a "screw-up."
Tony Palese, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, issued a statement likening the merger to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Walker, a likely 2016 Republican presidential candidate, also has asked GOP lawmakers to address another contentious budget proposal that would eliminate a decades-old board that regulates for-profit colleges as a stand-alone bill. Walker officials have said they made the request in order to facilitate a deeper debate on the issue.
Republicans have obliged; they're moving legislation to wipe out the board.
