Scott Walker’s Economic Disaster Corporation can’t seem to keep staff or create jobs, but if there’s one thing they’re good at, it’s mishandling taxpayer money.
A series of scathing audits, one from an independent outside organization and one from the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau, in 2012 revealed shocking details about the failure at Walker’s flagship jobs agency. While improperly spending taxpayer money on alcohol, Badgers tickets, and iTunes gift cards, the embattled agency lost track of $56 million worth of taxpayer funded loans.
The independent audit by Schenck SC also found that the agency lacked basic internal accounting controls and estimated that it would not collect about $19 million in loans.
Scott Walker’s unaccountable WEDC has faced problems since its sloppy inception.
The quasi-private agency, which is not legally bound to report their financial records and whose employees are not subject to state ethics laws, has also come under fire for a suspected bid-rigging scheme.
“If Walker’s Economic Disaster Corporation couldn’t even implement basic accountability measures to track $56 million taxpayer-funded loans its no wonder it has so failed miserably at creating and attracting good-paying jobs in Wisconsin,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Wednesday. “Scott Walker must take responsibility for the gross mismanagement at WEDC and its role in Wisconsin’s dead last — 10th out of 10 states — job growth ranking in the Midwest.”
