WEDC still a dirty, slushy mess

Gee, you mean all those troubles at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) haven't gone away? Apparently not, according to the Legislative Audit Bureau.

We examined WEDC’s administration of its grant and loan programs in FY 2013-14. Our file review found that WEDC’s contracts did not contain all statutorily required provisions. We assessed WEDC’s program administration based on the policies in effect when it decided to make awards and based on the policies in effect at contract execution. In both instances, we found that WEDC did not consistently comply with its policies. We also assessed WEDC’s management and oversight in FY 2013-14 of grant and loan contracts it had awarded in prior fiscal years. Our file review found that recipients contractually required to create or retain jobs were not contractually required to submit information, such as payroll records, showing that the jobs were actually created or retained.

For the loans it administers, WEDC collects loan repayments and pursues collection of delinquent loans. In 2014, the potentially uncollectible balance of loans with repayments 90 days or more past due decreased by $4.2 million largely because WEDC amended 13 loan contracts to defer loan repayments, wrote off 9 loans, and forgave 2 loans.

We examined WEDC’s administration of its tax credit programs in FY 2013-14. WEDC did not establish all statutorily required policies for these programs. WEDC did not consistently evaluate whether businesses met all eligibility requirements in its policies. We assessed WEDC’s program administration based on the statutes and policies in effect when it decided to make tax credit allocations and based on the statutes and policies in effect at contract execution. In both instances, we found that WEDC did not consistently comply with statutes and its policies. In addition, WEDC allocated tax credits for projects that began before contracts were executed.

We also assessed WEDC’s management and oversight in FY 2013-14 of tax credit contracts that it had awarded since it became fully operational in July 2011. Statutes require WEDC to annually verify information submitted by businesses on the extent to which contractually specified outcomes were achieved. Our file review found that recipients that were contractually required to create or retain jobs generally submitted lists of their employees and the wages of those employees to WEDC, which accepted this information as accurate. However, our file review found no documentation that WEDC attempted to verify the information before awarding tax credits.

Hey it's only the people's tax dollars, right?

You can read in greater detail how much of a mess WEDC still is at this link. This capped off an already-bad week for Scott Walker and the Wisconsin GOP, so Scotty went into full panic damage control mode, and backed off his plans to merge WEDC with the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA). The whole idea of merging those two agencies screamed "corruption" from the start, since the handouts for Walker contributors that are a WEDC trademark could now be combined with development plans and other initiatives that WHEDA takes part in. Add in the fact that Walker just appointed former M&I/BMO Harris Bank exec and Walker megadonor Mark Hogan as the Chair of the WHEDA Board, and perhaps these guys realized that the whole exercise was blowing up in their face, so they're backing off this merger scheme....for now.

The lackl of accountability, waste of taxpayer dollars and pay-to-play cronyism that continues at WEDC after 4 years makes the 2012 warning from this former Hoosier seem quite prescient.

Sure makes you wonder if IEDC and Ms. Boykin had another investment in mind- a nice payoff to their well-connected buddies at the Indiana Statehouse, and a good "job creator" headline in the unsuspecting media. Regardless of whether anything actually happened and if it crowded out more legitimate businesses from growing.

So when you see the deceptions and cronyism that have wracked IEDC, and then you know that WEDC has already been afflicted with sketchiness and budget deficits in its short existence, you have a right not to trust either Daniels or Walker's plans. Then combine with the fact that Wisconsin lost more jobs than any other state last month, and you can see where WEDC and Walker staffers might be itchy on the trigger finger when it comes to making for a good photo op that costs us all a helluva lot more in the end.

After all, when you're Scott Walker and want to be like Indiana, why wouldn't you make backroom deals like the corrupt corporatist Hoosier you idolize, Mitch Daniels?

And if anything, WEDC has been run even worse and has been more openly corrupt than IEDC ever was. Funny how things in Walker World tend to work out that way.

It's well past time for Wisconsin Democrats and media to call WEDC what it is, and what it was always intended to be: A slush fund for Scott Walker's campaign contributors to get a nice taxpayer-funded kickback on their "investment."

This tune is quite descriptive of how I frequently have felt over the last 15 years as corrupt, incompetent Republicans screw things up. I'm just tired of having to wait till things are FUBARed to have my side be listened to.