Wisconsin Works Plan

The Wisconsin Works Plan was a series of public works projects, relief efforts, and laws passed in the state of Wisconsin to handle the Great Depression.

Background
Before his third inauguration, La Follette and the State Planning Board set to work, realizing further reforms were needed to combat the severity of the Great Depression, began working on a program which would come into force alongside the federal reform programs executed by president Norris. The program, as designed by La Follette and the Board, was based on the following ideas:


 * Wealth is created by the application of man's intellect and labor to materials on useful, constructive projects.
 * Many such projects are in the broad field of public works, viz., highways, streets, school buildings and equipment, and hospitals.
 * Others are in education, health, housing, and conservation.
 * Every project must eventually pay for itself and produce a profit.

Following his inauguration in january 1935, La Follette traveled to Washington to discuss the plan with his brother, Robert M. La Follette Jr. and to discuss the specifics with president Norris. During the conference, the president agreed to give full and careful consideration to any program that the state would submit to the federal government, but that he could and would not commit himself to it unless he saw the plan in writing.

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Wisconsin Works Bill
In initial planning, La Follette proposed to assemble detailed list of specific projects of "needed, useful work" that would be undertaken by the state if it were not in "hard times." While also laying out a statewide program of needed, valuable, and useful projects such as rural electrification, conservation, highways, grade crossings, and public buildings which the state could engage on in the present. In the process this would create and provide wealth-creating jobs for able-bodied unemployed citizens of Wisconsin.

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Organizations
Through the Wisconsin Works Bill, numerous organizations were founded to help combat the issues of the Great Depression which affected the state and its population.

Wisconsin Works Administration
The Wisconsin Works Administration (WWA) was the first of the numerous agencies created through the bill. The WWA served as a means of employing those who lost work due to the Depression and encompassed the undertaking of "needed valuable, and useful projects" such as the construction and expansion of public roadways and grade-crossings, the construction of public buildings, the construction of new infrastructure and the repair and expansion of currently existing infrastructure, the construction of dams and other means of electrical generation, as well as home repair and modernization. Between 1935 and 1942, WWA construction crews layed down 22,889 miles of roads, built 1,456 new buildings, set down 1,588 miles of water and sewage pipes, constructed 504 dams, and built 17 different airports.

On average, the WWA employed 43,000 people each year. Wages settled around 60% of those paid to workers engaging in the same jobs within the private sector. Much of the $100 million of the initial grant was spent on the agency, with much of it going to wages.

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Wisconsin Conservation Commission
To help put people to work, the Conservation Commission was elevated by La Follette to the Wisconsin Conservation Commission, which would be empowered to put people to work in various camps across the state to engage in reforestation, fire-management, erosion and flood control, landscaping both purposeful and for general recreation, wildlife conservation, emergency services, geographical surveillance, and pest-control.

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Wisconsin Development Authority
Created as a private corporation through the Rural Electrification Act, the WDA to promote rural electrification as part of the wider works plan. Despite this, Wisconsin's existing power companies protested that by doing this the government was competing with private enterprise, but on a close vote the state Supreme Court approved the law. Financed through the WFA, the Development Authority would give employment to low income workers to help set up power systems throughout rural Wisconsin. The WDA also had the power to give out loans and bonds to companies seeking to construct electrical infrastructure in rural areas, which it did to numerous companies and co-ops. During its heyday the WDA also notably expanded many existing powerlines and electrical infrastructure within the state.

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Wisconsin Educational Authority
The Wisconsin Educational Authority was created in late 1935 as a way to help sustain public education in the state and provide educational services to people entering the work force. As such, the WEA provided apprenticeship opportunities for white-collar jobs, heightened educational programs for students, as well as general aid and work to those who were in school and unemployed respectively. Between 1935 and 1940, professionals and community service programs helped teach 9,437 people how to read and write, served 3.1 million hot lunches to children in school, gave citizenship classes to 3,611 immigrants, and manufactured or repaired 4.5 million articles of clothing or bedding. As a secondary function of the WEA also engaged in other programs which performed work or taught classes in the arts, music, and literature, including the Wisconsin Writers' Project and Arts Project, the Wisconsin Public Records Survey, and the Milwaukee Handicraft Project.

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Wisconsin Finance Authority
To fund La Follette's Works Plan, another agency was created in the Wisconsin Finance Authority, an independent corporation and de-facto state bank, which would fund all the public programs through the issuance of bonds financed by an initial $100,000,000 federal block grant. To manage the WFA, the governor would have the power to appoint Directors to head the Authority through legislative approval, with the first Director being former Adjutant General Ralph M. Immell. As part of a compromise to bring more support for the bill, amendments were introduced to put the administrative appointments and financial aspects of the agency under the budgetary and financial approval processes of the legislature. Due to the compromises, La Follette was able to gain the votes of a few conservatives to help pass the bill as a whole.

To help support for the economy, the WFA would have the power to issue up to, but not more than, $100 million of its own notes, subdivided into denominations of $1 and $5, which could be used to pay for state and local taxes and other expenditures. This is made possible due to the fact the notes were only valid within the state, meaning it encouraged the usage of Wisconsin materials and Wisconsin labor. in addition, these notes would be trackable by the WFA, to ensure they are being used for their proper purpose. Notes could also be exchanged through state appropriations and other dividends at certified banks to finance programs outlined in the bill. To eventually pay off the notes and remove them from circulation, a special surtax on income was introduced, which, it was hoped by La follette, would help the plan pay for itself through economic expansion, though this hope never fully materialized.

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Major legislation

 * Wisconsin Works Bill
 * Old age Pensions Act (WIP name)
 * Public school funding Act (WIP name)
 * Wisconsin Rural Electrification Act
 * Social Security Act

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Important People

 * Ralph M. Immell, to head the Wisconsin Works Administration.
 * Arthur J. Altmeyer, to head the programs managing workers benefits and unemployment.
 * Edwin E. Witte, to head the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance of Wisconsin.
 * David Lilienthal, to head the Wisconsin Development Authority, and to work to establish fair rates for public utilities.
 * John Callahan, to head the Wisconsin Educational Authority


 * Solomon Levitan, to head the Wisconsin Finance Authority.

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Legacy
The Works Plan served as a template by which numerous other states followed in implementing their own relief programs. Some other programs shared similar ideas to the Wisconsin Works Plan, such as EPIC in California or Share Our Wealth in Louisiana. Despite its success, many other states still decided to work with and through federal authorities to solve the Great Depression.

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