{"id":1470,"date":"2023-03-22T22:21:28","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T23:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=1470"},"modified":"2023-03-23T00:10:22","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T00:10:22","slug":"governor-tommy-thompson-backs-workforce-referendum-in-wmc-webinar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=1470","title":{"rendered":"Governor Tommy Thompson Backs Workforce Referendum in WMC Webinar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This post originally appeared at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wmc.org\/press-releases\/governor-tommy-thompson-backs-workforce-referendum-in-wmc-webinar\/\">https:\/\/www.wmc.org\/press-releases\/governor-tommy-thompson-backs-workforce-referendum-in-wmc-webinar\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>MADISON<\/strong> \u2013 Wisconsin Manufacturers &amp; Commerce (WMC) \u2013 the combined state chamber and manufacturers\u2019 association \u2013 hosted a webinar on Wednesday to talk about the workforce advisory referendum, featuring former Gov. Tommy Thompson. The referendum, which asks if able-bodied childless adults should be required to look for work in order to receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits, will be on the April 4 ballot statewide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you can work, you should work. You shouldn\u2019t get paid for not contributing,\u201d said Gov. Thompson during the webinar. \u201cIf you\u2019re capable, if you\u2019re healthy, you should apply for work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gov. Thompson, during his tenure as Wisconsin\u2019s 42nd and longest-serving governor, pioneered Wisconsin Works, a nationally recognized welfare reform policy. Under Gov. Thompson\u2019s leadership, the state\u2019s welfare rolls were reduced nearly 90 percent, drastically improving the overall economy. Additionally, the state\u2019s labor force participation rate peaked in the late nineties at nearly 75 percent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were honored to have Gov. Tommy Thompson here with us today,\u201d said WMC President and CEO Kurt Bauer. \u201cAs a long-standing leader on this topic, Gov. Thompson is able to bring a depth of experience to our conversation about the referendum. As Wisconsin grapples with a severe worker shortage, it is imperative we find ways to increase our labor participation rate and encourage able-bodied adults to contribute to the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wisconsin\u2019s labor force participation rate is now the lowest it has been in recorded history, which exacerbates supply chain issues and historically high inflation. In manufacturing alone, tens of thousands of jobs are unfilled in the state, slowing down production. A recent WMC survey found that 85 % of employers can\u2019t find the workers they need. The advisory referendum, while non-binding, was introduced by Republican lawmakers to gauge public opinion on workforce policy.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TcH7CQOgk5w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to watch the full webinar.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n###<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wmc.org\/press-releases\/governor-tommy-thompson-backs-workforce-referendum-in-wmc-webinar\/\">Governor Tommy Thompson Backs Workforce Referendum in WMC Webinar<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wmc.org\">WMC Wisconsin&#8217;s Chamber <\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This post originally appeared at https:\/\/www.wmc.org\/press-releases\/governor-tommy-thompson-backs-workforce-referendum-in-wmc-webinar\/ MADISON \u2013 Wisconsin Manufacturers &amp; Commerce (WMC) \u2013 the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1471,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470\/revisions\/1471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}