Wisconsin
Related: About this forumWisconsin: Blistering audit faults Wis. job creation agency
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268748/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=F3QaazbcMADISON, Wis. (AP) - A blistering audit released Wednesday said Gov. Scott Walker's premiere job creation agency repeatedly broke state law in its first year of operation, failed to adequately track money it awarded for economic development projects and sometimes gave money to ineligible recipients. Employees of the public-private entity also made unexplained purchases of University of Wisconsin football season tickets, alcohol and iTunes gift cards, the far-reaching audit of the nearly two-year-old Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. found.
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"This audit shows there is a significant disconnect between our expectations of WEDC and the reality of their performance with regard to transparency and accountability," said Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay, co-chair of the Legislature's Audit Committee. He said WEDC must immediately correct problems identified in the audit, saying there was "no excuse" for breaking the law.
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The audit faulted WEDC for not having sufficient policies to administer its $520 million worth of grant, loan and tax credit programs effectively, including some policies required by law. It awarded $80 million in its first year. The agency did not consistently follow the law or existing policies when making awards, and had no policies for determining how to handle delinquent loan amounts, the audit said. It lacked invoices or other contractually required documentation showing authorized costs for seven of 29 grants reviewed, the audit said. Four contracts gave $906,000 total in tax credits for job creation and employee training that had already occurred, the audit said.
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It also faulted WEDC for not including all the required information, and including some inaccurate information, in its annual report to the Legislature submitted in November 2012. It also did not clearly present information about the number of jobs created and retained as a result of its programs, the audit said.
Walker's pet project teeming with corruption, hides information from lawmakers, then awards the job of auditing itself to an accounting firm that got $1.1 million in tax credits and a $300,000 grant from the program.
The latest crony they hired to head the agency quit after less than 24 hours.
Don't you wonder what else he saw?
Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts)Not surprised really, this is the guy who allegedly said about the state house lawn protests that he would unleash the National Guard on them.
He seriously thought to chase the peasants away from the castle with the knights. He thought he was made King.
mokawanis
(4,441 posts)The WEDC has been a disaster since day one, and the responsibility rests squarely on Walker.
ewagner
(18,964 posts)It's a crappy idea to start with...
go back to commerce department under strict government regulations
it wasn't broken and it didn't need to be "fixed"..
kimbutgar
(21,155 posts)Again. His poll numbers are above 50 %. Something must be in the water making these people insane to support him. He has destroyed the good of Wisconsin.
Just like those in new jersey with short memories who forgot Christie is an ass.
Pharaoh
(8,209 posts)I do not believe he won the recall.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... it's because the corporate overlords bought every newspaper, TV and radio station in the State, bussed in astroturfers, tried to intimidate our activists and spent a gazillion dollars convincing the uninformed that recalls were a bad idea and Walker was a savior anyway long before we even finished the primary to determine who would represent our side.
Despite that edge, it was close. Despite a well-organized State-wide effort to recount the vote manually, we still don't know how close because only 71 of the State's 72 Counties have provided the legally mandated access to the ballots. One large, red County remains a holdout. Can you guess which one?