One on One with Jim Doyle, Governor of Wisconsin
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
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SUSIE GHARIB: All across the country states are feeling the pain of the recession, including Wisconsin, where unemployment is close to 10 percent. The state expects to receive nearly $4 billion in stimulus money from the federal government. The number could reach as much as $9 billion when tax credits are counted. So where is Wisconsin spending the money, and will it help revive the state's economy? As we continue our series "Reviving the Economy: Government Response," we talk tonight with Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle. Governor Doyle, welcome to NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT.
GOV. JIM DOYLE (D), WISCONSIN: Good evening, Susie.
GHARIB: So where do you plan to spend the stimulus money that will give the biggest boost to the state economy and create the most jobs?
DOYLE: Well, first, let me say I don't know where we would be if we didn't have the stimulus package. The Recovery Act, if we didn't have it, the situation in Wisconsin and every other state would be so dire. One place that it is going to go that I think sometimes doesn't get a lot of attention is that there are funds there that will help support our basic education system. We would be looking at cuts to education of 10, 15, 20 percent if it weren't for the Recovery Act money committed to education. The same is true with health care. We would have to be cutting back dramatically on health care for children and seniors in Wisconsin if it weren't. So a good deal of the funds will go to help support and to avoid large lay-offs of educators and health care workers. In addition, there is a good deal of this will go into basic infrastructure. For example, we will probably have 50 percent more road and bridge projects this summer season than we would otherwise have had. Major water improvement projects to clean drinking water and water treatment, of significant new investments in green energy which is, in the long term, one of the areas that we are really focused on in Wisconsin. In addition.
GHARIB: Governor...
DOYLE: . there is money coming -- yes.
GHARIB: Let me interrupt because I want to get a little bit more color on what the economic situation would be. Your unemployment rate is now around 10 percent. With this stimulus money, with this job creation and all of the jobs that you're going to protect, where do you see the unemployment rating getting, let's say, by the end of the year? Is it going to come down?
DOYLE: Oh, I hope so. I mean, we're generally a very low unemployment state. We were -- when this started in September, we had an unemployment rate of about 4 percent. Our manufacturing economy actually was doing pretty well. Agriculture, high tech was also doing well. After the collapse of the markets in September, the freezing of credit, we have now soared to 10 percent, numbers we haven't seen since the early 1980s. In fact we're now going down into Depression kind of numbers. So we certainly have hoped that this is going to turn around.
GHARIB: I hope so too, for your sake. I want to know, what are you able to do to attract business investment in the state that would create even more jobs?
DOYLE: We really have to be focused on what our strengths are, high- end manufacturing, high skills. So we're putting real investments, even in this difficult time, into worker training to really have a highly skilled work force, a great educational system. We also have a booming -- what was booming and is still a strong high-tech industry particularly around our universities. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is one of the great medical research institutions in the country. It's where stem cell research began. And we're continuing to make investments there, and also in green energy, a lot of investments in wind, solar, and biomass to really help transform our economy.
GHARIB: Governor Doyle, we're hearing a lot from like the Federal Reserve chairman and other policy makers in Washington that they're beginning to see signs of recovery in the economy. As you travel around the state and you look at the situation in Wisconsin and you talk to people, what -- are you seeing signs of improvement? What is the mood of people in the state? Are they feeling better about the economy?
DOYLE: No, I wouldn't say so. We've had, in the automobile bailout area, the Chrysler bankruptcy has come down very heavily on Wisconsin, as has GM's problems. So I think people are still really struggling. Having said that, however, I think for people who are really looking at this, there are a few glimmers. Our real estate markets are beginning to bounce back. Realtors are telling me that people really are sort of figuring right now they'd better get into the market right now. Prices are good. Interest rates are low. So we're seeing some of that. We are seeing -- we're a significant manufacturing state. And we're seeing that we've been really working through inventories. And I'm hearing from manufacturers that they're really going to have to start producing again because they've gone as far as they can up through their inventories. So I think there are a few glimmers of hope. But the real issue for us is that unemployment number. We're a hard-working state. We're a really strong, good middle class state. We don't have a lot of really rich and a lot of really poor. We are really focused on good-paying jobs. And that 10 percent is what is really our -- you know, that isn't just a percent. Those are really good, hard-working people that didn't do anything wrong, never had -- never bought or sold derivatives and now they're really paying a heavy price for it.
GHARIB: I understand. I understand. I feel your pain. Well, good luck to you and to everyone in Wisconsin. And we really appreciate you coming on our program tonight.
DOYLE: Thank you very much, Susie.
GHARIB: My guest tonight, Jim Doyle, governor of Wisconsin.
