Walker’s jobs failure may hit 2016 poll bid

Reuters/WashingtonWhen Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, a potential Republican presidential candidate, travelled on a trade mission to Britain last week, he brought along top officials from his economic development agency to help drum up jobs. It’s a task they have struggled to accomplish at home.The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, a public-private body set up by Walker shortly after he took office in January 2011, was supposed to help the state climb out of recession by shedding bureaucratic rules and drawing on private-sector expertise.But the WEDC has fallen short of its own goals by tens of thousands of jobs and failed to keep track of millions of dollars it has handed out. One reason for the agency’s disappointing performance: Walker’s overhaul of the state bureaucracy drove away seasoned development workers, economic development experts who work closely with the agency told Reuters.Critics say the WEDC’s struggles highlight a significant gap in Walker’s resume as he lays the groundwork for a likely Republican presidential bid in the 2016 election: his middling record on job creation.“Essentially we’ve been surfing on the national recovery,” said Marc Levine, a senior fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s centre for economic development. “The idea was that Wisconsin policies are better than the national policies and we were going to move ahead of the national rate. That clearly hasn’t happened.”Walker’s office dismisses such criticism, saying the WEDC, which he chairs, is one part of a comprehensive strategy that includes tax cuts, streamlined regulations, worker training and targeted investments in areas like energy and shipbuilding.“The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation has been an important driver in spurring economic growth and opportunities in Wisconsin,” Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick said. The increased pace of job creation - 54,100 new positions in the past 12 months - is a sign that Walker’s economic stewardship is paying off, she said.The WEDC also defended its performance, saying investments typically take time to create jobs.Some economists say agencies like the WEDC have limited impact on job creation in any state. Development efforts tend to move the needle less than other factors like taxes or spending and the state of the US and global economy.Private-sector employment has grown by 6.8% in Wisconsin under Walker, behind the national pace of 8.4%, according to preliminary data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Private-sector employment in the industrial Midwest, from Ohio to Minnesota, grew by 7.1% over that period.BLS data show that Wisconsin has created 158,000 private-sector jobs under Walker’s leadership, short of his pledge to create 250,000 jobs by 2015.Manufacturing-heavy economies like Wisconsin tend to recover more slowly from recessions, and the political turmoil of Walker’s first few years in office may have slowed investment, according to economists on the left and the right. Walker’s push to curb pension and health benefits and limit collective bargaining for public sector workers prompted mass protests and a recall election in 2012, which Walker survived.“The 2012 election caused a lot of uncertainty,” said Jesse Hathaway, a budget and tax expert at the conservative Heartland Institute. “Businesses put off expansion plans, waiting it out until things calmed down.”