HARTFORD, WI (WTAQ) – Governor Scott Walker defended the state’s job creation agency Wednesday, saying it did not “cut corners” when its staff failed to do formal reviews of 27 loan requests to various companies.
The Republican Walker said the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation did staff reviews of the awards, which totaled $124 million. But he told reporters in Hartford the reviews were not done in what he called the “traditional” manner.
It was Walker’s first public comments on documents that the WEDC made public late last Friday.
Wednesday, the two legislative Democrats on the WEDC board — Peter Barca and Julie Lassa — called on agency CEO Reed Hall to resign. They said the agency’s document release was poorly organized and left some key items out.
An agency spokesman said Hall wasn’t on the job yet when the 27 loans were approved. That includes the half-million dollar unsecured loan made to Milwaukee’s now-defunct Building Committee.
It was sought by a campaign donor, and pushed by former Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch. The state has gone to court to get the money back.
Walker said Wednesday it was appropriate for the administration to work on the type of energy efficiency project for which the Building Committee sought funding.
Since that time, the governor said the agency has made reforms which “enhance where things were” under the old Commerce Department which the WEDC replaced.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)