A Democratic state lawmaker said on Thursday that he wanted to see more urgency from the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature in advancing jobs legislation.
State Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, criticized the body for cancelling its September session, and called a package of recently released job-creating bills “good,” but said they were only baby steps toward actual job creation in Wisconsin.
“If you implemented every one of these tomorrow, you would hardly see any change whatsoever on the jobs picture,” Barca said.
He said state Democrats had offered up dozens of job-creating bills -- none of which had been allowed to advance.
Meanwhile, Barca said Gov. Scott Walker had a chance to create thousands of jobs by approving a proposed Menominee Nation casino in Kenosha. Walker hasn't yet approved the measure, saying he wants buy-in from the rest of the state’s American Indian tribes first.
Barca said he believes the governor's delay was “ironic” in light of Walker’s free-market views.
“That’d be akin to saying to Target that we’re not going to allow you in our community unless Kohl's, K-Mart and Walmart all approve it,” Barca said. “We’ve never had that standard before.”
