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Greener Pathways details current economic and workforce development opportunities in three leading industries: energy efficiency, wind, and biofuels. The report also examines federal resources that can support state green jobs initiatives, and concludes by outlining a plan of action for state policymakers. Documents include Full Report and Summary.

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This report aims at helping elected officials, policy-makers, activists, community-based organizations and city residents advocate for, design and implement progressive city policies toward immigrants. These goals have become particularly important given the recent failures of comprehensive immigration reform initiatives at the federal level. Building on policy experiments and experiences from all around the country, the report offers a menu of local policies aimed at creating immigrant-friendly cities.

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Building retrofits, with their associated cost-savings for the working class and poor and “green collar” job opportunities, are a natural way to meet both demands. This opportunity is especially evident in cities, with their density of inefficient buildings, poor people, generally progressive politics, and leadership on climate.

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Provides a thorough review of jobs, wages, poverty, income, and job quality in the state on a bi-annual basis.

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Madison, Wisconsin, July 3, 2007 – A new report from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS), Corporate Tax and Subsidy Disclosure: Policy Options for Wisconsin, highlights policy weaknesses and proposes a new tax and subsidy disclosure policy that would affect all publicly-traded corporations (“C” corporations) and their subsidiaries doing business in the state.

After reviewing other states’ current and proposed tax disclosure plans, the new COWS report recommends that Wisconsin adopt a policy requiring these companies to disclose, at a minimum, how much they pay in taxes to the state, how much business they do in the state, and how much financial help they get from the state. This information would then be made available to the public in a searchable database.

“This level of transparency is key for policymakers and the public to better evaluate the tax system and see if it is truly working in the economic interests of the state,” said Kate Gordon, lead author of the report and senior associate at COWS.

The report points to Illinois as an important example. Illinois has enacted one of the nation’s most comprehensive corporate subsidy disclosure laws. The 2003 Illinois Corporate Accountability Act requires companies receiving any number of state economic development dollars to report on their progress in achieving job creation, retention and wage promises made in subsidy deals.

“Illinois has developed a database that allows the policymakers and public to understand what investments the state is making,” Gordon said. “Something like this is feasible and realistic for Wisconsin as well.”

Additional transparency would benefit Wisconsin’s businesses as well, because it could lead to a fairer tax system. The fairer tax system would allow companies that shoulder their full tax burden under existing laws to be more competitive with those companies taking advantage of unfair tax loopholes and unchecked subsidies.

As the report points out, exposing the current tax and subsidy system to public scrutiny may well lead to fewer tax loopholes, and in turn to increased corporate tax revenues. The end result is more money flowing to state programs such as workforce training, education, infrastructure and other public resources that are highly valued by firms – more highly valued, by most accounts, than low taxes.

Corporate Tax and Subsidy Disclosure: Policy Options for Wisconsin, can be found online at: www.cows.org/pdf/rp-corp-tax.pdf.

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What can cities do to improve the quality of jobs? How can cities boost the access of the disadvantaged to the good jobs available in their jurisdictions? Building from policy innovations and experiences from all around the country, this report offers a menu of city policies aimed at improving job quality and redistributing job opportunities in favor of the disadvantaged.

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COWS report highlights policy weaknesses and proposes a new tax and subsidy disclosure policy that would affect all publicly-traded corporations (“C” corporations) and their subsidiaries doing business in the state.

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A Robert Lynch study released today shows that the benefits of investing in high quality early education in Wisconsin would be more than 9 times the cost of the program in 2050. Total benefits -budgetary, earning, and crime prevention – would exceed $13 billion, more than nine times the cost to the state for universal 3 and 4 year-old programs.

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A collaborative effort with the Apollo Alliance and Urban Habitat, this report is a reflection of their shared belief in the potential of the “green economy” to generate quality jobs in our nation’s low-income communities and communities of color.

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COWS offers concrete policy ideas that will help build a stronger Wisconsin.

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