&nbps; By George Christenson - Feb 4th, 2021 01:47 pm
MILWAUKEE – An overwhelming majority of the Board of Supervisors postponed a final decision on whether to re-join the Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA) today, voting 15-1 to request that Milwaukee County’s top lawyer assemble the outstanding issues of concern on behalf of the County, with a focus on specific actionable process and policy improvements.
Supervisor
Czarnezki, who sponsored the resolution, voiced his desire to see a written commitment from WCA to address the Board’s concerns prior to funds being released.
County Clerk
George Christenson commended supervisors for working proactively to encourage positive reforms within the WCA and forge a new relationship with the statewide organization, which counts all but Wisconsin’s two most populous counties – Dane and Milwaukee – as members.
New reports documenting how COVID-19 widened the gap between Wisconsinâs broadband âhavesâ and âhave-notsâ show why Democratic Gov. Tony Evers proclaimed 2021 the Year of Broadband Access and promised to include about $200 million in his budget to close that gap.
The Governorâs Commission on Rural Prosperity, UW-Extension researchers and Forward Analytics Director Dale Knapp reached the same conclusions:
Rural communities and low-income households without 25 megabytes per second of Internet access are falling significantly behind in educating and retaining the next generation of workers, in starting and nurturing new businesses, in maintaining home values, and keeping residents healthy.
In his online State of the State speech, Evers said, âMore than 430,000 people who make up 25% of our stateâs rural population lack access to high-speed internet. Our state ranks 36th in the country for accessibility in rural areas.
Rural areas and urban poor left out. Evers calls 2021 the Year of Broadband Access. By Steven Walters - Jan 25th, 2021 02:17 pm //end headline wrapper ?>Laptop. (CC0 Public Domain)
New reports documenting how COVID-19 widened the gap between Wisconsin’s broadband “haves” and “have nots” show why Democratic Gov.
Tony Evers proclaimed 2021 the “Year of Broadband Access” and promised to include about $200 million in his budget to close that gap.
The Governor’s Commission on Rural Prosperity, UW-Extension researchers and Forward Analytics Director
Dale Knapp have all reached the same conclusions: Rural communities, and low-income households, without 25 megabytes per second (25 Mgbps) of internet access are falling significantly behind in educating and retaining the next generation of workers, in starting and nurturing new businesses, in maintaining home values and keeping residents healthy.
Some county officials say no, and are pushing to withdraw from the group. By Graham Kilmer - Jan 25th, 2021 10:04 am //end headline wrapper ?>Get a daily rundown of the top stories on Urban Milwaukee
Milwaukee County Courthouse. Photo by Sulfur at English Wikipedia (GFDL) or (CC-BY-SA-3.0), via Wikimedia CommonsMembers of the Milwaukee County Board held a lengthy debate Thursday concerning whether they should remain members of the Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA).
This association is an organization that is meant to represent and advocate for all 72 counties at the state level for legislative agendas and policies that meet the interests of county governments.
Following a thorough analysis of available EMMA filings, it is clear that PFA-financed projects account for less than 3% of the 700 plus total unique payment defaults posted to EMMA during the last three years.