Wisconsin: Cheeseheads discovering stuff...

Catchy, isn't it?

Wisconsin introduced its new tourism "brand platform" yesterday ... yawn.

If you were hoping for something akin to "I (heart) New York," you were bound to be disappointed.

Or the equal of "Big Sky Country" (Montana), or "Vacationland" (Maine), "The Spirit of America" (Massachusetts), "SayWA!" (Washington) or even "Stay Just a Little Bit Longer" and "America's Dairyland" (Wait, that's us!). HERE's a list of all the states' tourism slogans.

To be fair, a brand platform is not supposed to be a catchy slogan or an ad headline. According to the release from the Governor's office, "The brand platform is ... a strategic framework from which a new theme line, advertising concepts and marketing materials will be developed."

The platform was released this week, at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism at The Grand Geneva Resort & Spa. The brand promise, revealed to the audience of nearly 1,000 attending the Governor’s speech, reads:

“Because of the passionate nature of the state’s people to create fun, express themselves in original ways and feel more comfortable doing it here than anywhere else, in Wisconsin originality rules.”

(Translation: beer, cheese and Harleys. No, seriously.)

Or, as the governor put it:

"This new brand platform pays tribute to the state as a place where the people are fiercely proud, passionate, hard-working, loyal and where we have fun. Yes, we can be a state where we both wear cheese on our heads and are making the greatest discoveries in medical science. It's all happening here in Wisconsin." The sound bite is HERE.

Got a few words encompassing that? It would help if they'll fit on a bumper sticker... The state's $13 billion-a-year tourism industry (third largest, behind agriculture and manufacturing) awaits your best efforts.

'Income out-migration' cost county $76 million in year

Southeastern Wisconsin is losing income: The people moving out of seven counties, including Racine, are taking with them $400 million more personal income than newcomers to the counties are bringing in.

$400 million in one year alone.

"This net loss," writes the Public Policy Forum in a report analyzing 2005-2006 figures, "represents the largest such out-migration of income from southeastern Wisconsin in the last 10 years."

Of the seven counties -- Kenosha, Walworth, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Milwaukee, Washington and Racine -- "Racine County lost the greatest percentage of total income -- 1.9% in just one year. Kenosha County, on the other hand, was able to add a full 1% to their county's total personal income through the attraction of those from outside southeastern Wisconsin -- primarily Chicagoans. Walworth County, also close to Chicago, was the only other county in southeastern Wisconsin to bring in more income than it lost last year," the report states.


(The report doesn't mention KRM even once. Nor, having eviscerated RUSD earlier this month with its 10th annual report on the district's dropout rates and student test scores, does this Public Policy Forum report mention local schools.)

Income migration data are "the result of a joint effort between the IRS and the U.S. Census Bureau, matching records of individual income tax returns filed in a base year with tax returns filed in the subsequent year." Taxpayers who move are considered emigrants from their original county and immigrants to the one they settle into. The Public Policy Forum calculated "net migration" by summing the inflow and outflow of income for each year. Got that?

Some of the report's key findings include:

-- While aggregate personal income in southeastern Wisconsin grew last year by a healthy 3.7%, record net out-migration of $400.2 million in personal income reduced overall growth by one percentage point.

-- Chicago continues to send southeastern Wisconsin households with high personal income. We added $392 million from the six-county Chicago region in the past five years.

-- Chicago emigrants to southeastern Wisconsin brought an average of $47,880 in personal income per tax return, significantly higher than Wisconsin emigrants coming here with average incomes of $34,124.

-- Despite the influx from Chicago, southeastern Wisconsin bled income to the rest of the state, and to the Sunbelt. Popular destination for our region's income are Florida, Arizona, northern Wisconsin and Jefferson and Dodge counties.

-- This region is not alone in losing income. Chicago lost $2 billion from 2005-2006, and the Twin Cities lost $518 million.

Although Madison is considered a boom town thanks to the presence of the University of Wisconsin, it was a net loser in the income migration sweepstakes -- but just by 1/10th of a percent. Still, Dane County netted $63.4 million in income migration from southeastern Wisconsin since 2001. Other areas benefiting from the outward migration of our region's wealth, the report states,,is northern Wisconsin, including such 'second-home' destinations as Lake Tomahawk and Lake Minocqua.

The report concludes: "Incomes are growing in southeastern Wisconsin, but they could grow faster if we found a way to plug the relentless leakage of personal income to areas outside the region. From 2001 to 2006, households moving out of the seven-county southeastern Wisconsin region took with them $1.3 billion more in personal income than those moving into the region brought in. This is a challenge for the entire region. With five of seven counties having net income losses, every county could do more to plug the income drain.

"Stopping southeastern Wisconsin's income drain would have meant expanding the region's economic pie by $400 million in the last year alone. A larger income base would circulate more money to fund government services like schools and police; more money to support the arts and bolster retail trade; and more investment to assist the housing market."

The full report is HERE.

Commuter rail funding in state budget limbo

As the state budget negotiations drag on, I've spent the past two days trying to gauge where the funding proposal for KRM, the commuter rail expansion to Racine and Milwaukee counties, stands.

To recap, the Senate passed included in its version of the new state budget a hike in southeastern Wisconsin's rental car fee to pay for annual operation of the system, which could start as soon as 2011. The Assembly didn't include the fee increase in its budget. The result: a conference committee will decide the proposal's fate.

It's unclear how big of an issue the KRM funding is for either side. It's certainly not on the level of the cigarette tax, education funding or the tax on big oil. But it's not a small item, either. Local legislators on both sides of the issue confirmed that commuter rail is getting attention - it's just hard to say what, exactly, is being said.

Here's what we heard from local legislators on the issue:

State Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine

Mason said he gets the senseKRM funding is a tier 2 issue that will come up once the big issues are resolved. He couldn't say what direction the committee was
leaning.

He did say he's pushing State Rep. Jim Kreuser, head of the Assembly Democrats, to fight for commuter rail. Kreuser, who represents Kenosha, is sympathetic to the issue.

Mason added that a recent letter from Racine CEOs backing KRM was a boost for the proposal. The business leaders continue to press the issue, and that's helping commuter rail's chances in the budget process.

State Rep. Robin Vos, D-Caledonia

Vos clearly says he's not opposed to KRM. He is, however, opposed to using the rental car fee increase to fund the annual operation. He's pushing for alternatives, and his opposition to the current plan could influence the conference committee. After all, his district would get a commuter rail station - if he's opposed,
why should legislators from around the state support the plan?

Vos said Wednesday he favors a two-tiered referendum on funding for commuter rail. First, local governments vote on whether they want to hold a referendum on joining a regional transit authority that would fundKRM with a sales tax. Then, residents in each community would vote on commuter rail. Vos said a similar system worked in Michigan, and he feels it's the fairest way to implement commuter rail.

He also suspects the proposal would go down, at least in his district. Vos said he's heard overwhelmingly negative comments from constituents, which makes it easy for him to stand against Racine business leaders.

He added that he believes mostKRM supporters are so desperate to get commuter rail they're backing a flawed funding plan that will lead to deficits in the future.

State Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine

A strong supporter of commuter rail, Lehman pushed theKRM funding through the Senate's budget. Now, he's working with the conference committee to get it included in the final draft.

In an e-mail Wednesday, Lehman said KRM is still on the table and the rental car fee remains the most viable funding option for commuter rail. He also noted that in the last week that leaders from Milwaukee, Racine andKenosha counties failed to reach consensus on a broader proposal to fund regional transit. That could clear the way for KRM funding - a possibility Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker discussed on
Wednesday.

Lehman: Public safety jeopardized if no state budget

State Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, sent out a press release today listing local projects on hold, or in danger, if a new state budget isn't passed. Wisconsin is the last state in the nation to not have a budget for next year. Here's Lehman's list:

Lack of overtime pay for Department of Corrections workers, including the 1,040 full time employees work at the two medium-security prisons, two minimum-security correctional facilities and the juvenile institution in Racine County.

Grants for a "clean sweep" waste collection project in the Town of Rochester.
A project to reduce infant mortality countywide.

Funding for the Cops 'n Kids reading program in Racine.

No increase in road aids for towns and increase in youth and court aids for the county could increase local property taxes.

Funding for commuter rail to Racine is on hold.

Two new buildings on the UW-Parkside campus are on hold.

No expansion of drug treatment programs for inmates, making it more likely some will commit more crimes.

No funding for GPS tracking of child sex offenders.