More scandal at WEDC

Wisconsin’s chief job creation agency is no stranger to scandals. Handing out money to companies which lie on their applications for state money to provide jobs, recipients facing criminal charges, the plying of would be recipients with alcohol and game tickets, and failing to keep track of loans. The list is pretty long. And it is getting longer. It seems that the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation isn’t even aware of when companies which receive money for promised jobs fail to provide those jobs, or even send existing jobs oversees. The agency has a policy designed to give the state early warning of any company which fails to provide promised jobs. That policy was adopted almost two years ago. But an open records request by the group Citizen Action of Wisconsin finds there are no records of any companies properly notifying the state that it would be sending jobs oversees. That doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. It is. But the state can’t seem to keep track of it. It took WEDC 11 hours to review the files to look for any notifications of layoffs. That sure suggests there is no system for checking, other than the occasional open records request. Wisconsin taxpayers should expect these companies to be accountable for their use of public money, but clearly that is not the case.