View from around the state: Doyle leaves mixed legacy

State’s outside contracting still rising

Published: January 11, 2013
Tags: Bill Lueders, Doyle, Scott Walker, UW System, WisDOT

State bureaucrats, it seems, are less than enthusiastic about the law requiring an annual report itemizing how much Wisconsin spends contracting out work to various service providers.

Economic ideas could use history lesson

Published: June 10, 2011
Tags: Doyle, pensions, Pommer, Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance

By Matt Pommer As 1979 began, Wisconsin state government‘s projected general-fund surplus was $1.05 billion. That’s a lot of money even today, but a third of a century ago it was huge number. Four months earlier, Lee Dreyfus had upset the political establishment to win the Republican gubernatorial nomination. He then routed Acting Gov. Martin [...]

Walker kills apprenticeship order

Published: March 11, 2011
Tags: AGC, apprenticeship, Associated General Contractors, Boullion, Doyle, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Joel Allen, Mielke, Rhandi Berth, Scott Walker, unions

By James Briggs Gov. Scott Walker‘s rollback of an apprenticeship requirement for certain state projects removed an unnecessary burden from companies struggling to put people to work, according to several construction representatives. Walker has rescinded Executive Order 108, a directive established in 2005 under former Gov. Jim Doyle that required contractors use apprentices on state [...]

Freight rail gets budget delivery

Published: March 7, 2011
Tags: budget, Cory Mason, Department of Transportation, Doyle, Frank Huntington, freight, high-speed rail, Jeff Stone, Madison, Rail, railroad, Scott Walker, Steve Hiniker, Union Pacific, Wisconsin & Southern

By James Briggs Gov. Scott Walker has signaled a firm commitment to trains in Wisconsin — just not the kind people can ride on. At a time when state aid is being slashed across the board, Walker’s proposed budget would provide $60 million for freight rail acquisitions and projects during the 2011-13 biennium, the same [...]

Walker’s budget allows power plant sale

Published: February 15, 2011
Tags: Darrin Renner, Doyle, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, power plant, Scott Walker
Comments: 2

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker’s budget bill includes the possibility of selling power plants at state facilities, including university campuses and prisons. Legislative Fiscal Bureau analyst Darrin Renner said savings for the state would depend on how much the private sector is willing to pay for the aging plants and how much it [...]

Democrats’ plans die under Walker

Published: January 28, 2011
Tags: American Wind Energy Association, biomass, Charter Street, Charter Street Heating Plant, Doyle, Illinois Wind Energy Association, Pommer, PSC, Scott Walker, wind farms, wind turbines, Wisconsin Realtors Association

By Matt Pommer “Escape to Illinois!” proclaims the Illinois Wind Energy Association in the wake of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed new rules on wind turbine siting. Walker is asking the Republican-controlled Legislature to pass a law that any turbine construction be at least 1,800 feet from the nearest property line unless the adjacent owners [...]

Walker rejects biomass boiler for power plant

Published: January 21, 2011
Tags: Berceau, biomass, biomass boiler, Charter Street, Charter Street Heating Plant, coal, Doyle, energy, Feyerherm, Huebsch, Madison, Plale, Scott Walker, Sierra Club, University of Wisconsin-Madison, UW-Madison

By DINESH RAMDE Associated Press MILWAUKEE (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker scrapped plans Thursday to convert a power plant to run on natural fuels such as wood chips and paper pellets, a move that could save up to $100 million but drew stern criticism from at least one environmental group. The decision affects the Charter [...]

Dayton says Wisconsin owes Minnesota $58 million (UPDATE)

Published: January 13, 2011
Tags: Department of Revenue, Doyle, reciprocity, Scott Walker, tax-reciprocity agreement, taxes

By Dinesh Ramde Associated Press Milwaukee — Minnesota officials said Thursday they were losing patience because Wisconsin has continued to delay paying $58.7 million it owes from an old tax-reciprocity agreement. Under the agreement, taxpayers who lived in one state but worked in the other could file a single income-tax return. The agreement called for [...]

Republicans propose ban on fund raids

Published: January 10, 2011
Tags: amendment, Doyle, Scott Walker, Tauchen, transportation fund

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A constitutional amendment that would prohibit the Wisconsin Legislature from raiding segregated state funds to pay other bills is being circulated by Republican lawmakers. Before the constitution could be amended the Legislature would have to pass it twice, over at least a two-year span, and then the public would have to [...]