By
Senator
Burke
; cosponsored by Representative Gard
.
To joint committee on Finance.
Senate Bill 411
Relating to: increasing the tourism marketing appropriation and making an appropriation.
By
Senators
Jauch and Breske; cosponsored by Representatives Hutchison, Handrick, Musser, Ainsworth, Lorge and Linton.
To committee on Insurance, Tourism and Rural Affairs.
__________________
The committee on Economic Development, Housing and Government Operations reports and recommends:
Senate Bill 333
Relating to: creating a certified capital company program for companies that make certain types of investments, providing tax credits to persons who make certain investments in certified capital corporations, granting rule-making authority and making an appropriation.
Introduction and adoption of Senate amendment 1.
Ayes, 4 - Senators Moore, Plache, Fitzgerald and Weeden.
Noes, 0 - None.
Introduction and adoption of Senate amendment 2.
Ayes, 4 - Senators Moore, Plache, Fitzgerald and Weeden.
Noes, 0 - None.
Passage as amended.
Ayes, 4 - Senators Moore, Plache, Fitzgerald and Weeden.
Noes, 0 - None.
Gwendolynne Moore
Chairperson
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Justice
January 15, 1998
The Honorable, The Legislature:
Section
165.90, Wiscosnin Statutes, requires that you receive an annual report on the performance of the county-tribal law enforcement programs funded under this section. Please accept this letter as the report for awards made in January 1997.
Sincerely,
James E. Doyle
Attorney General
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Senator Risser, with unanimous consent, appointed Senators Farrow, Jauch Weeden and Wineke to escort his excellency the Governor.
__________________
Senator Risser, with unanimous consent, asked that the Senate recess for the purpose of awaiting the Governor's State of the State Address in Joint Conventin in the Assembly Chambers at 6:00 P.M. and upon the rising of the Joint Convention adjourn until Wednesday, January 21 at 10:00 A.M.
The Senate stood recessed.
10:01 A.M.
__________________
The President of the Senate in the Chair.
The committee to await upon the Governor appeared with his excellency the Governor, who delivered his message as follows:
__________________
Speaker Jensen, President Risser, Members of the Legislature, Constitutional Officers, Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court, tribal leaders, members of the Cabinet, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
It all began 150 years ago. An event that must have seemed so inconsequential at the time.
Europe was in turmoil as the thirst for democracy sparked revolution in Paris, Vienna, Prague and Berlin.
Yet, an ocean away, those very democratic principles gave birth to a small state in a very young nation. While Europe burned and bled in the throes of revolution, a melting pot of nationalities, race and religions came together to forge a future world leader.
A state those European nations - with all their history, experience and tradition - would one day come to for leadership in welfare reform, education, trade and agriculture.
1848 was a year that would revolutionize the world
..for that year, the state of Wisconsin was born.
This year, we proudly mark our 150th birthday. Let the celebration begin!
Our Sesquicentennial provides us with a unique opportunity to connect with our past while reaching toward the future. A time for families to return to their roots and communities to celebrate their heritage.
We welcome to the chamber tonight, a family-owned business that shares our state's birthday and exemplifies the enduring strength of Wisconsin's people.
Bentley and Sons is one of 11 existing Wisconsin businesses founded in 1848. Joining us tonight are Tom Bentley, his wife Virginia and his grandson Todd who is a business major at the university. If Todd goes into the family of business, he would be its sixth generation. We wish all these companies an even more prosperous next 150 years.
But more importantly, our Sesquicentennial is a time to look forward at the great potential that remains untapped in this young state called Wisconsin.
So it is with great honor and even greater hope that I come before you this evening to deliver the Annual State of the State Address.
For, ladies and gentlemen, this is the state of the state: The most visionary, vibrant and vigorous state in America.
We are young. We are bold. We are strong.
And we are charging forever forward.
Ladies and gentlemen, as great as our state stands today our greatest days lie on the horizon. Tonight, I will unveil another aggressive and innovative agenda; the path to lead us toward that horizon.
There, we will find financial security in the cutting-edge jobs of tomorrow.
The world's best schools for our children.
A pristine environment.
And the safest, healthiest families in America.
This is the Wisconsin Dream, a dream rooted in the family -- inspired by youth and built by experience.
So in this Sesquicentennial year, we look to the past for wisdom and we look into the eyes of our children for inspiration.
In the youth of Wisconsin, we see our future. And we boldly pursue their dreams, for they are the Wisconsin of tomorrow.
Economy:
I am the Youth of Wisconsin. My dream is to have an exciting, adventurous job when I grow up.
Ladies and gentlemen, more people are working today than any time in our history. Six straight years of record employment.
We have the strongest work ethic in America, with the highest percentage of people working in the nation. Three out of every four people work in Wisconsin. More than any other state!
At 3.4 percent, our unemployment rate has been below the national average since Ronald Reagan was president - 11 straight years. In fact in November, we had 10,000 more job openings in the state than we had unemployed workers.
What's most exciting about our economy, however, is that it is raising the standard of living equally for all Wisconsinites.
While others just talk about economic growth for all, we're making it happen in Wisconsin.
We have the fourth smallest gap between the rich and poor in America, bucking a national trend that sees this gap widening. During the past decade, income grew at the same rate for low-, middle- and high-income families -- between 10 and 12 percent.
Our poverty rate is the fifth lowest in the nation, with the average income for our poorest families 45 percent higher than the national average.
In Wisconsin, the poor are getting richer.
No state in the nation is attacking poverty more aggressively than Wisconsin with W-2. W-2 is succeeding beyond our most optimistic projections, as even some of our harshest critics are seeing the value of expecting work in return for benefits.
The public housing complex used to be a place where families collected their welfare checks. Now, it's becoming a place where people come home after a hard day's work. Just take a look at the Hillside Terrace Public Housing complex in Milwaukee where the number of working families grew from 17 percent to 55 percent.
Tonight, we announce our most remarkable news yet in welfare reform. 1997 ended with only 18,655 families remaining on public assistance. An 80 percent reduction - and our lowest welfare caseload since 1969 - the last year the Beatles performed together.
W-2 works and so do our families.
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But what's most exciting about W-2 is what the people tell us. Last week, I had lunch with a group of women who left welfare. Their stories and faces are an inspiration to every person in W-2.
One woman bragged about the new car she bought. And another was so proud to show me her pager - something most of us would love to toss in the trash. But to this woman, the pager meant she was so important that her boss needed to know how to find her.
Then there was Tina Miller, a mother of three who had been on and off AFDC for 12 years. Tina and her mom first went to Maximus to attain their GED's, but she eventually got a clerical job with the company. She has since been promoted twice and is now a financial employment planner helping other women in W-2 succeed in the workforce.
Tina said, and I quote, "Now that I receive a paycheck, it is twice as much as I have ever received during the time I was on AFDC."
To the men and women in W-2, the message from your peers and myself is simple: You can do it.
If you ever have doubts, just give Tina Miller a call.
