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Good afternoon. My name is Howard Husock, and I am a senior fellow in domestic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a leading public policy think tank in [...]

After a protracted legal and political battle, on March 11, 2011 the Wisconsin state legislature passed Act 10, the Budget Repair Act, which increased public employee contributions toward pensions and health coverage and restricted union powers of collective bargaining and dues collection. This study analyzes public sector salaries and benefits in Wisconsin, with a particular focus on disentangling the risk-adjusted value of pension benefits offered in the public sector from accounting conventions that can understate the cost and value of defined benefit pension plans. We find that state and local government employees receive salaries roughly equal to those paid to private sector Wisconsin employees with similar education and experience or working in jobs with similar skill requirements. However, even following Act 10, pension benefits for Wisconsin public employees are roughly 4.5 times more valuable than private sector levels while health benefits are about twice as generous as those paid by larger private sector Wisconsin employers. This difference results in a combined salary-benefits compensation premium of around 22 percent for state workers over private sector workers, with varying but often larger pay advantages for local government employees., Introduction New York Times columnist Paul Krugman declared that for backers of Wisconsin's Act 10 the goal 'is to make Wisconsin--and eventually, America--less of a functioning democracy and more of [...]

Industry News Smart World Cities - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Explores Smart Parking - 28/09/22 The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has tasked eleven-x, a provider of smart city solutions, to improve the [...]

Rejecting the view that states lack criminal jurisdiction on tribal reservations unless Congress specifically grants such jurisdiction, on June 29, 2022, the Supreme Court announced in Oklahoma v Castro-Huerta that [...]

October 2, 2017 On October 3, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Gill v. Whitford, a case that could significantly impact how congressional and state legislative [...]

While choice is administered as a district program, parents experience it at the school level. Districts create the conditions so that all schools can meet standards and so that all [...]

B-401387 August 6, 2009 Argon ST, Inc., of Fairfax, Virginia, protests the award of a contract to Global Technology Systems (GTS), of Virginia Beach, Virginia, under request for proposals (RFP) [...]

Epic Systems Corporation has its headquarters in Verona, Wisconsin. The company develops software for mid-size to large medical groups, hospitals, academic facilities, children's organizations, safety net providers, and integrated healthcare [...]

It's no secret that the United States has slid into educational mediocrity when compared to international peers. That development threatens Americans' ability to adapt in an evolving economy, be productive and content at work, put down deep roots in their communities, and help their nation continue to lead on the world stage. That decline has especially harsh consequences for the Midwest, which has seen industrial instability, slow population growth, and striking inequality of opportunity in rural and urban areas. This report uses Wisconsin as a model, proposing new education reforms for Great Lakes and Great Plains states. These reforms rely on states' unique midwestern characteristics to generate opportunity, prosperity, and purpose. Now that the previous bipartisan education consensus has frayed, it is important to propose new, bold ideas to supplement successful school choice and accountability reforms. I propose eight ideas, coupled into four categories. We should transform the classroom by bringing back phonics-based reading instruction, getting high-quality teachers into the profession, and helping these teachers mentor the next generation of educators. We should grow urban and rural choice by funding district and choice students equally and making better investments in high-speed rural internet. We should modernize school bureaucracy by using a Yelp-like school enrollment system to empower parents to seek out quality and moving school board elections to the general Election Day to boost participation. We should promote working-class college by encouraging 'Guided Pathway' reforms at technical colleges, creating more flexible technical college programs and funding mechanisms, and allowing 529-style accounts to cover apprenticeship expenses, not just college costs. These ideas reach all American children, not only middle-class students aiming for a four-year degree. To complete a comeback, Wisconsin and states like it must invest in their future blue-collar workforce. By making sure that all families have access to high-quality schools, states can generate broad abundance in all sectors--tech and trades, finance and farms., Ask Wisconsin business owners in any industry what their biggest challenge is, and you will get similar responses: Workers. We cannot find enough good workers. We need more young people [...]

For over 30 years, the Supreme Court has held that partisan gerrymandering can theoretically violate the US Constitution. However, the Court has never struck down a plan as a partisan gerrymander. This is because the Court has been unable to agree on a judicially manageable standard to determine how much gerrymandering is too much. In recent years, political scientists and mathematicians have offered various metrics to measure partisan gerrymandering. One of these tests, the efficiency gap, made headlines when federal courts in Wisconsin and North Carolina used the statistic to justify striking down maps. As of this writing, the North Carolina case is pending before the Supreme Court. The efficiency gap is an interesting metric that likely tells us something about gerrymandering. It is a flawed metric, however, for several reasons. For example, the efficiency gap can be changed if a party runs an unusually strong candidate or has an incumbent unexpectedly die or retire. This creates a substantial problem: It is difficult, and at times impossible, to sort out how much of an efficiency gap is due to these factors and how much of it is due to gerrymandering. Likewise, the efficiency gap does not account directly for partisan clustering, which can also influence its score. It is also pseudo-normative, smuggling in several assumptions about what a gerrymander actually is; by adopting it, a court may be deciding things it does not even realize it is deciding. Finally, the efficiency gap does not truly answer the question of how much gerrymandering is too much. It merely pushes the question back a step, arbitrarily selecting a cutoff and then placing a statistical gloss on it. Nevertheless, the Court should not abandon policing partisan gerrymandering altogether. Justice Anthony Kennedy once warned about a state simply declaring that all the state's seats should go to Republicans or Democrats. A similar result could be obtained and would be equally damaging to democracy if a state were to completely abandon all traditional redisricting criteria to push through a map that would tend to elect only its partisans. To help police the outer limits of gerrymandering, the Court should consider proceeding on a rational review standard., The Supreme Court of the United States has struggled to define the limits of partisan gerrymandering for over 30 years. For over a decade, the Court had been largely silent [...]

As part of a court-ordered desegregation plan in 1977, Milwaukee Public Schools created well-endowed magnet schools and a voluntary exchange program with 23 neighboring suburban districts. The initial result, however, [...]

E-learning By Design, by William Horton, Book, 2006, Pfeiffer & Company, $50. I first saw Bill Horton, dressed in his trademark black shirt, at the University of Wisconsin Distance Learning [...]

Complete Results 2015 Best-Performing Large Cities RANKINGS BY COMPONENT Rank 2014 2015 change rank rank Metropolitan statistical area/ metropolitan division 3 4 1 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA -1 1 2 [...]

5757 N. Green Bay Avenue P.O. Box 591 Milwaukee WI 53201 U.S. Tel: 1-414-5241-200 Fax: 1-414-5242-070 Website: www.johnsoncontrols.com 8.8.1 OVERVIEW Johnson Controls Inc. (Johnson Controls) is a diversified company. They [...]

B-402054 December 29, 2009 Chant Engineering Company, Inc., of New Britain, Pennsylvania, protests the issuance of a purchase order to Clover Industries, Inc., of Wausau, Wisconsin, under U.S. Army Corps [...]

B-401841 December 4, 2009 BW JV1, LLC of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, protests the rejection of its bid by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) under invitation for bids (IFB) No. VA-69D-09-IB-0319 [...]

B-400697 January 12, 2009 Marinette Marine Corporation (MMC), of Marinette, Wisconsin, protests the award of a contract to Bollinger Shipyards Lockport, L.L.C., of Lockport, Louisiana, under request for proposals (RFP) [...]

Claire Kent, luxury goods analyst with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, explains the star performance of luxury apparel worldwide in the University of Wisconsin paper entitled Analysis of the Luxury Goods [...]

Claire Kent, luxury goods analyst with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, explains the star performance of luxury apparel worldwide in the University of Wisconsin paper entitled Analysis of the Luxury Goods [...]

Navy runs into swelling costs in the LCS program The Navy's first Littoral Combat Ship, Freedom (LCS-1), was built by Lockheed Martin, christened at the Marinette Marine Shipyard in Wisconsin, [...]

Company name Johnson Controls, Inc Business activity Headquartered at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, Johnson Controls, Inc is one of the major manufacturers of automotive systems and building control products. The company [...]

Headquartered at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, Johnson Controls Inc employed 136,000 personnel and had operations across 52 countries as of September 2006. The company's Automotive Experience segment operated approximately 110 manufacturing [...]

Company Name Johnson Controls, Inc. Business Activity Headquartered at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, Johnson Controls, Inc is one of the major manufacturers of automotive systems and building control products. The company [...]

Headquartered at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, Johnson Controls, Inc employed 136,000 people and had operations across 52 countries as of September 2006. The company's Automotive Experience segment operated approximately 110 manufacturing [...]

Modine, headquartered at Wisconsin, US, also operates regional headquarters in Bonlanden, Germany and Shanghai, China. As of December 2006, the company employed nearly 8,500 personnel at 34 facilities across 15 [...]

Headquartered at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the US, Johnson Controls employed 136,000 people in more than 500 locations worldwide, as of September 2006. The Interior Experience segment operated approximately 250 manufacturing plants [...]

Company Name Johnson Controls Inc Business Activity Johnson Controls Inc, headquartered at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, is a leading manufacturer of automotive components and building control systems. The company operates across [...]

Headquartered at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, Johnson Controls employed 120,000 people in more than 500 locations worldwide, as of early 2006. The Interior experience segment operated approximately 240 manufacturing plants across [...]

Company Name Johnson Controls, Inc Business Activity Johnson Controls Inc, headquartered at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, is a leading manufacturer of automotive components and building control systems. The company operates across [...]

Modine Manufacturing Company is headquartered at Wisconsin in the US, and employed about 8,200 people as of March 2006. The company had 36 manufacturing facilities, four distribution centres, 26 sales [...]

Company name Johnson Controls, Inc. Business activity Johnson Controls, Inc (JCI), headquartered at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, is a leading supplier of automotive systems and facility management, and controls. From the [...]

Headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin, US, Modine employed approximately 9,000 people, as of 2005, at its facilities in Canada, Mexico, the US, Austria, Belgium, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland, [...]

There have been several attempts to measure social capital--the value inhering in relationships--at an aggregate level, but researchers lack comprehensive individual-level social capital measures. Using a combination of direct linkage and imputation across several nationally representative datasets, we produce a comprehensive measure of social capital at the individual level. We validate our measure by aggregating it to the state level, finding strong correlations with existing state-level social capital measures. We document substantial social capital disparities between white Americans, on the one hand, and black and Hispanic Americans, on the other, as well as a strong educational gradient, which is comparatively weaker for Hispanics. We also provide new evidence on the relationship between income and social capital, using a comprehensive measure of income. We find that social capital increases with income but at a decreasing rate. The source of income matters, as an extra $10,000 in market income is associated with a 0.23 standard deviation increase in social capital for those with the lowest levels of market income, while an extra $10,000 in government transfer income is associated with a 0.08 standard deviation decrease. Keywords: Social capital; Comprehensive income; Inequality, August 29, 2024 I. Introduction Over the past several decades, trends in economic and social life in the United States have diverged. Americans have experienced substantial gains in economic wellbeing, [...]

Executive Summary The aftermath of a global public health crisis, combined with the rise of populism at home and growing economic and security threats abroad, has persuaded a wide swath [...]

The 2022 midterm elections were jarring for Republicans. The party went in with high hopes. After the 2021 off-year elections, which saw the party enjoying big gains in blue states [...]

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 included some of the most far-reaching changes to the US income tax code in a generation. In addition to reducing statutory [...]

There is a large professional literature on the correct measurement of the funded status of and indicated employer contributions to government employee pension plans. But static measures do not provide a quantification of the risk that plans could represent in the future in various possible investment environments. This is better done through stochastic simulation projections. Using a 2022 data base of 187 large pension plans, basic plan features and conditions, actuarial relationships, simple economic projections, and varied bond and stock investment returns based on past ten-year historical periods in the US and the current asset allocation of the plans, I create a risk model. This risk assessment is denominated as the range of reasonably possible future actuarial funded ratios and amounts of indicated employer contributions across plans, when investment performance is poor but within historical experience. Several plans would be at or near insolvency, about 13 percent of plans would see very large drops in funded status, while employer contributions would, on average, double, and for about one in eight plans, triple. Highlights * At the median of historical investment experience, the mean plan funded ratio is projected to increase from about 75 percent in 2022 to around 82 percent in 2032. But at the 25th and 10th percentile simulations, the average plan funded ratio is 66 and 56 percent, respectively, in 2032. * At the fiftieth percentile, employer contributions decline by $17 billion in aggregate from 2022 to 2032 or 13 percent. But if investment conditions do not turn out so well, at the 75th percentile (the obverse of the 25th percentile for funded ratios), aggregate contributions increase by $73 billion, or 57 percent, and at the 90th percentile, in a rough investment (and presumably economic) environment, aggregate contributions nearly double, increasing by $127 billion. * Another measure of risk--the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean of indicated contributions projected in 2032--is high, at 0.81, for the median plan, and above 0.97 for about a quarter of the plans. Keywords and JEL Codes Public pension plans, funding, costs, investment risk, stochastic projections G17, G23, H75, J32, Introduction There is a large professional literature on the correct measurement of the funded status of or indicated employer contributions to defined benefit plans, both in the private and public [...]

In August 2021, two school administrators from public schools in Springfield, Missouri, filed a federal lawsuit against their school district over mandatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training. (1) At [...]

April 2024 The stark human and societal cost of the drug epidemic is undeniable, directly taking over 100,000 lives each year since 2021. (1) Due to infrequent and inconsistent testing, [...]

The December 5, 2023, House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing on antisemitism in higher education embarrassed American political science (of which I am a part). Two of the [...]

Federal legislation to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis could have significant impacts on the federal budget. While the specific details of any potential cannabis legalization legislation are unknown at present, such reforms are likely to affect both tax receipts and federal outlays through a wide range of mechanisms including excise tax collections, changes in the size and composition of the labor force, and the major federal health care programs. We identify the main federal budgetary implications of legalizing cannabis and estimate their likely magnitude where possible. JEL codes: H2, H5, H6, I1, K2, K4 Keywords: Cannabis; Federal budget; Health Care; Revenue; Spending; Excise tax, INTRODUCTION While the precise contours of future federal legislation and executive action to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis remain unknown, such policies could have significant impacts on the federal budget. [...]

Statement of R. Eric Petersen Specialist in American National Government Before Committee on House Administration Modernization Subcommittee U.S. House of Representatives Hearing on Chair Bice, Ranking Member Kilmer, members of [...]

Updated September 23, 2024 Background Humanitarian Response Temporary Protected Status Deferred Enforced Departure Historical Use of Blanket Relief. Current TPS and DED Designations Afghanistan Burma Cameroon Central American Countries Ethiopia [...]

Updated September 13, 2024 Laws Implicating Free Speech Protections Levels of Scrutiny and Key Concepts Strict Scrutiny Intermediate Scrutiny Other Tests for Determining Compliance with the Free Speech Clause Types [...]

September 23, 2024 Introduction Federally Recognized Tribes Tribal Lands Data Sources Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Florida Idaho Iowa Kansas Louisiana Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Montana Nebraska Nevada New Mexico New [...]

Updated September 9, 2024 P.L. 117-169, commonly known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), appropriated $9 billion for residential energy efficiency and electrification financial assistance programs. These include [...]

September 16, 2024 Introduction Overview of the ESSER Fund, GEER Fund, EANS Program, ARP-HCY, and Similar Funding for the Outlying Areas Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund Governor's [...]

September 12, 2024 A number of federal lawsuits have alleged that certain race- or sex-conscious federal programs are unconstitutional on equal protection grounds. Challenged programs include COVID-19 relief programs, admissions [...]

Prices for, and the affordability of childcare has received increased attention since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, concerns have been raised about potential differences in childcare costs and access between rural and urban communities. To address these issues, we combine cross-sectional data from a 2018 survey of childcare prices in counties across eleven states with data on wages, rents, incomes, population and other demographic variables to estimate the determinants of county level prices for infant and pre-kindergarten childcare. Childcare prices for infants and pre-kindergarten four-year-old children are positively correlated with county level population, property rents, wage rates, median family incomes, and shares of adults with bachelor's degrees, which are substantially higher in more heavily populated urban counties. Thus, home and center-based care for infants and pre-kindergarten children is more expensive and, relative to household incomes, less affordable in urban counties than in rural counties., Introduction In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the price, affordability and availability of childcare received attention in Congress and the press as many childcare facilities closed their doors either temporarily [...]

With the rise of remote work, the gig economy, ongoing labor and skill shortages, and an aging workforce, employers are struggling to navigate the modern workforce's rapidly changing demands. From [...]