By: Brian Sikma
Last Thursday, the Madison CapTimes published an editorial highly critical of legislation designed to streamline Wisconsin’s mining regulations and revitalize the state’s long dormant iron ore industry. The paper’s complaints were several, but chief among them was the concern that the legislation doesn’t “guarantee” that jobs will be created. To support its position the paper referenced similar concerns raised by the Wisconsin Business Alliance, an allegedly neutral pro-business organization.
The paper argues that in order for the reforms to be worth it, the bill itself must meet a basic standard of guaranteeing job creation will take place. How this is to happen in a logical fashion is not clear. If heavy handed regulations killed nearly an entire industry in Wisconsin, and wiped out thousands of jobs in the past, how imposing more regulations magically leads to job creation is something both the paper and the Alliance conveniently fail explain.
According to the Wisconsin Business Alliance website, the reform legislation really isn’t about jobs. Here is what they have to say:
If this is really about Wisconsin jobs, the bill should require mining companies’ permit applications to describe, in detail, how many local jobs will be created at a particular mine, what the work will entail, and what the pay scale and working conditions will be. The bill should have strict penalties, with steep fines going to the regional economic development fund if local hiring targets are not met.
States and municipalities have, with varying degrees of success, dangled economic development incentives in front of companies to encourage them to create jobs in various locations. Some experts have even looked at the data and argued that government payments to companies to incentivize job creation have actually had no measurable impact on job growth.
Reversing that concept of offering payments and incentives for job creation may sound like a neat plan to liberals, but it may also be illegal. If a potential mine operator were to be fined or penalized for not creating enough local jobs, it could lead to legal problems for the state. The U.S. Supreme Court found in 1978 that states could not legislate that certain jobs be filled only by state residents. Saying that only state residents could apply for and be given certain jobs was found to violate the privileges and immunities clause of the U.S. Constitution.
As an observer of the mine reform process, the Wisconsin Business Association is hardly neutral, as the CapTimes editorial would seem to suggest. The Association was founded last year, and its president, Brad Werntz, boasts of climbing into the State Capitol through an open window during the protests in 2011. As a small businessman, he has hardly been shy about his strong opposition to Governor Scott Walker.
While the Wisconsin Business Association may wish to be seen as neutral, they are promoting a Left-wing ideological approach to business issues. When cited, they should be recognized as an ideological group and not an entirely neutral source.