State Gets A on Economic Options

By Avrum D. Lank
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Wisconsin squeaked out an A on a report card on economic opportunity issued Wednesday by a national organization that promotes grass-roots economic development.

While the state got top marks on measures of financial security, health care and education, it received D's for business development and home ownership, according to Washington, D.C.-based CFED, which released the study, titled "Assets and Opportunity Scorecard."

Until recently, CFED was known as the Corporation for Enterprise Development. It receives money from private foundations and businesses and is interested in promoting economic development through public policy reform.

CFED used public data to rank the states and the District of Columbia in various areas related to how secure the economic future is for residents. Measured were such things as household net worth, foreclosure rates, percentage of residents with college degrees and small-business ownership.

"Relatively few families in Wisconsin are at risk of falling into poverty should their incomes be interrupted, and the vast majority of families have at least some assets," CFED said.

The state ranked seventh in two-year college degrees, eighth in eighth-grade math proficiency and 14th in eighth-grade reading proficiency. It also has the second-highest percentage of women with college degrees.

"Wisconsinites tend to have jobs with good benefits, and the state does a commendable job of providing health coverage to low-income families and children," the report says.

The report is a good reflection of what is happening in Wisconsin, said George Lightbourn, a senior fellow with the conservative-leaning Wisconsin Policy Research Institute in Thiensville and secretary of the state Department of Administration during the tenure of former Gov. Tommy G. Thompson.

"Education and health care are traditional values in the Badger State," Lightbourn said. "We are not a high-income state, but we have always shown a willingness to spend money on education and health care."

However, the state ranked 50th when the difference between men and women owning homes was measured, and had the 47th-largest gap by race.

It also ranked low in minority business ownership.

Nine other states received an A overall: Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wyoming.