Wisconsin had said 80 jobs were in jeopardy
By Larry Sandler of the Journal Sentinel
Dec. 31, 2010
Only 12 workers are losing their jobs because a high-speed rail project was canceled, far less than the 80 layoffs predicted by outgoing Gov. Jim Doyle's administration, state and corporate representatives say.
Job losses have been a major issue for supporters of the aborted plan to link Milwaukee and Madison with 110-mph passenger trains. Doyle, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and other backers say the federally funded $810 million project would have created thousands of jobs.
The route would have extended Amtrak's existing Milwaukee-to-Chicago Hiawatha line to Madison. It eventually could have been extended to the Twin Cities, as part of a Midwestern network of fast, frequent trains.
But canceling the rail line was a key plank in the platform of Governor-elect Scott Walker, who defeated Barrett in the Nov. 2 gubernatorial race. Walker said he didn't want state taxpayers to pick up operating costs of $7.5 million a year, after fare revenue, although revised ridership projections could have cut the taxpayer share by $2.8 million and the state could have used federal funds to cover most of the cost.
After Walker was elected, Doyle froze work on the route. The U.S. Department of Transportation later withdrew nearly all of the $810 million stimulus grant and redistributed the money to other states' train projects.
The week after the election, Doyle said stopping the rail project would cost the state 412 jobs in the near future.
But about 330 of those jobs had not yet been created. They were potential jobs at companies that had either been awarded contracts but had not yet started work, or that would have won contracts not yet awarded.
That left about 80 people who were already working on the project and whose jobs were in jeopardy, according to state officials. Of those, 70 were employed at HNTB Corp. and CH2M Hill, two major engineering firms active in planning the rail line.
HNTB spokeswoman Sara Prem said ending the project "has had no significant impact" on the Kansas City-based firm's employment.
And at CH2M Hill, "We are working very hard to redeploy our staff to other projects. We do not expect to lay off employees at this time," said John Corsi, spokesman for the Colorado-based firm.
In November, a representative of DAAR Engineering said the Milwaukee firm laid off two employees after Doyle suspended work on the job.
The remaining 10 workers are at the state Department of Transportation. They are in the process of wrapping up the project and are expected to be laid off sometime in January, said Cari Anne Renlund, executive assistant to state Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi.
At its peak in 2012, the rail project was expected to create 4,732 direct jobs in construction, at supply companies and in government, with 55 permanent jobs after service started in 2013.
Among the potential suppliers was Talgo Inc., the Spanish train manufacturer with a new plant on Milwaukee's north side.
The company is producing two trains for the Hiawatha and two trains for Oregon. It had hoped to hire 125 people if the state exercised an option for two more trains to extend service to Madison.
But after the project was canceled, Talgo said it would end production after finishing its existing work in early 2012, then convert its factory into a maintenance base for the Hiawatha trains. Talgo plans to cap hiring at 65 to avoid laying anyone off in the transition from manufacturing to maintenance.
Rail supporters say hundreds, if not thousands, more jobs would have been created by the project's spinoff economic effects. That impact is harder to measure reliably, however. A Madison businessman has dropped plans for a restaurant near that city's planned train station.
In another development, an attempt to send Walker an open letter from business leaders critical of losing the federal funds has collapsed because Republicans refused to sign it, an organizer said.
A bipartisan group of local communications professionals, led by public relations executives Jason Lusk and Christel Henke, had circulated the letter, telling the Republican governor-elect that signers are "gravely disappointed over the loss of $810 million that could have been invested in our state," along with the loss of jobs and track improvements for freight rail.
The letter also urged "greater thoughtfulness, civility, creativity and compromise in the future" than the rail debate displayed.
But Lusk said GOP rail supporters - even some who helped draft the letter - backed out of signing it.
Some called the letter "too strident" toward Walker, while "others told us they were concerned that criticizing Governor-elect Walker would harm their efforts to bid on state projects," Lusk said by e-mail.
"In the end, we were left with a few dozen signatures, many from Democratic supporters, none from outspoken Republicans."
With that split mirroring the election debate, in which Democrats such as Doyle and Barrett attacked Walker's stand, the letter lost its original meaning, Lusk wrote.
He said his group's members "will continue to advocate forcefully for Milwaukee's business community to engage the new administration with an independent voice."
Find this article at: http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/112734699.html
Thank you Scott Walker - for following through! Listen today at 12 noon for Walker Inaugural events (click here for WISN 1130AM radio player)
The Cap Times features Scott Walker's pre-inauguration governing style - And with plans to call a special session soon after his inauguration at noon Monday to address the state's "economic emergency," he has given no indication that he plans to slow down.
Republican Women of the North, Northern WI, rwotnorth@gmail.com
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