Author: Tamarine Cornelius

Wisconsin’s dairies and other businesses could gain access to additional, needed workers if Congress passes the Dream Act and allows immigrant youth to stay in the country and improve their job skills. Wisconsin’s farms, particularly dairy farms, depend heavily on immigrant labor to function. Offering young immigrants a secure future would allow those workers to advance their education and develop the skills that employers – such as dairy farms – are looking for. Half of all workers on dairy farms are immigrants, according to a report by the National Milk Producers Federation. According to the report: A complete loss...

With the support of the Trump Administration, Governor Walker has proposed an unprecedented package of businesses incentives aimed at encouraging Foxconn to build a manufacturing facility in southeast Wisconsin. The deal could result in the state paying Foxconn nearly $3 billion in state money over the next 15 years, in exchange for Foxconn spending $10 billion to construct a facility in Wisconsin and creating up to 13,000 jobs. Here are five reasons why the proposed deal is a poor use of public resources: 1. The state would likely pay Foxconn a lavish $200,000 to $600,000 for each new job,...

With the state offering enormous subsidies to lure Foxconn to Wisconsin, lawmakers should at the very minimum build in requirements that the new jobs pay family-supporting wages. But the $3 billion proposed deal could result in the state cutting checks to Foxconn to pay for the creation of new jobs that pay as little as little as $23,000 per year, an income level that would put a family of four below the poverty line. The deal would give Foxconn up to $1.5 billion of state tax money over 15 years in tax credits to subsidize the creation of new...

White residents of the Milwaukee metropolitan area have significant more access to mortgage lending than black and Hispanic residents, according to a 2016 report that highlights how lending patterns affect different communities. Whites represent 70% of the population in the Milwaukee area, according to the report from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, yet received 81% of the mortgage loans made in 2014. African Americans are 16% of the population but received only 4% of the loans. Hispanics represent nine percent of the area’s population, and received four percent of the total loans. The Milwaukee metropolitan area includes Milwaukee County...

Wisconsin’s overuse of jails and prisons has resulted in outsized costs for state residents. By emphasizing high-cost incarceration that has produced questionable results over less expensive alternatives, lawmakers require taxpayers and communities to pick up the bill for the state’s short-sighted priorities. Part of the cost for Wisconsin’s corrections policies come out of the pockets of taxpayers. Wisconsin state and local governments spend about $1.5 billion on corrections each year, significantly more than the national average given the size of our state. The high cost of Wisconsin’s correction policies have made it more difficult for the state to make...

As the new school year approaches, Wisconsin schools face significant challenges, including class sizes that have grown faster than the national average, an increasing number of students living in poverty, and a reduction in state support for education. Schools have long been an engine of our state’s economic growth. Wisconsin has depended on a well-educated workforce, shaped by excellent public schools, to lay the foundation for our prosperity. To ensure that Wisconsin is competitive in the future, our schools must have the resources to offer students a high-quality education. Only then can we create a future workforce that is...