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6/1/2009
These are just the earmarks from Thursday's session!
Representative Rick Zipperer (R – Pewaukee) listed the earmarks approved, not in the entire budget so far, but just those approved during the marathon budget session ending at 5:30 a.m. Friday morning. Many of these were considered for the first time just hours before the Finance Committee voted to pass the budget. Zipperer notes that while some of these projects may be worthwhile, they all use your tax money in a way decided by the whims of a handful of politicians in Madison rather than through regular appropriation formulas or a competitive grant process.
Update: In an AP story printed Sunday, prospective earmark recipients defend the state's largesse. Speaking of the $500,000 earmark to renovate the Grand Opera House in Oshkosh, Joseph Ferlo says "I understand why earmarks like this would come under scrutiny. But under that scrutiny, saving a structure of this significance is a reasonable use of discretionary funds."
Discretionary funds? What?
It goes on, with all sorts of defenses. Reading it might get your ire up, especially when you see the cuts coming for municipalities and schools - and the $2B increase in taxes and fees. Grrrr.
Dane County Yahara River $6,600,000
Aids Network & Resource Center of Wisconsin $1,100,000
Manitowoc Road in Village of Bellevue $1,250,000
Bradley Center $5,000,000
Madison Children’s Museum $250,000
Huron Road in Village of Bellevue $100,000
La Crosse Eco Park $500,000
Planning New State Historical Society Museum $4,000,000
Oshkosh Opera House $500,000
Aldo Leopold Climate Change Classroom $500,000
Village of Bagley Flood Study $19,000
Bike Path Facility Grants $5,000,000
County Trunk Highway X, Chippewa County $430,000
City of Racine Road Enhancements $900,000
Reid Road in Town of La Prairie $250,000
Pedestrian Path in Rock County $20,000
Love Incorporated Food Bank $10,000
Union Grove Food Bank $5,000
Rio Area Food Pantry $5,000
Lodi Food Pantry $5,000
Eau Claire County Public Shooting Range $50,000
Root River Education Center $25,000
Beloit Children’s Playground $50,000
Beckman Mill Park in Rock County $10,000
L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire $125,000
Stone Barn Historical Site in Town of Chase $100,000
Restoration of Beloit’s Turtle Island Park $35,000
City of Stanley, Chippewa County $37,500
Begin Planning Highway 12 Expansion in Whitewater
Begin Planning Highway 13 Expansion in Marshfield
Begin Planning New Bridge over the Wisconsin River at Wisconsin Rapids
Begin Redeveloping Highway 16 at Dickeyville
Wow. Add that up. Nearly $27,000,000. Not approved through normal appropriation channels. Tacked on in the dark of night. And this state is $6.6B in the hole?
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
The intelligence (really lacking thereof) of Ferlo is very apparent.
When he says
"is a reasonable use of discretionary funds"
He obviously thinks discretionary means borrowing money is the same as pocket money.
Dumber than a rock comes to mind as a discription of such thought
Rich (Mon Jun 08 20:20:39 2009)
The stone barn was built in 1903 and is on the State and National Register of Historic Places. It was nominated to be on America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list for 2009. It is a symbolic icon on Wisconsin's landscape. Wisconsinites are proud to be the "dairy state" which is why the town asked the state for some help funding this project over two years ago.
This is not just a stone barn in need of restorations. it will be a unique historical park that represents what this great state was built from; farms.
The barn will be used for public and private events such as receptions, reunions, tractor shows, auctions, convensions, etc. It will also have a historical museum representing the lifestyles of rural Wisconsin settlers. Students from all over northeastern Wisconsin will have fieldtrips here to learn about Wisconsin history.
But how will this help our economy, people ask? The barn will not restore itself. The town will have to hire people to do most of the restorations and development of the park, providing work for many locals. The materials needed for this project will have to come from other companies, also producing work.
But the full economic impact won't be felt until the park is completed. Once it's open it will generate a lot of tourism to this small rural town. People will need to eat, they will need gas, they might want a place to sleep or shop, etc.
Wisconsin has lost over 80% of our old barns. I challenge each of you as you are driving around the countryside to imagine what this state would look like without these old barns. Most of them will be gone in 20 years. We can't save them all, but need to save some, which is why the Town of Chase municipality purchased the barn. They want to protect it.
This is a good thing and will be a great example of what this state money was designed to do. Using these funds to help the unemployed people is only putting a bandaid on the economic situation. We need to create jobs and revitalize communities, and that is exactly what the Chase Stone Barn Park will do for their small rural town.
Before you pass judgement, please check out our town website to learn more: www.townofchase.org
Thanks
Kris (Sat Jun 13 07:28:08 2009)
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