Great news! The Legislature is finally considering a bill to help working Americans by implementing Buy American standards in the state procurement processes. Assembly Bill 297 is a “Made in America Act" authored by Representatives Peter Barca (D-Kenosha), Steve Doyle (D-Onalaska) and Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) is up for a hearing today in the Assembly Committee on Government Accountability and Oversight.
This bill would encourage the state to buy American-made goods and services. This move would support American workers and jobs and boost our American economy.
For too long, our state’s procurement statutes have implicitly favored foreign-made goods, and in turn have hurt Wisconsin’s and America’s middle class. When our state must opt for cheap goods, made in foreign countries – whether it be vehicles for the State Patrol, laboratory equipment for UW campuses, or steel used in state construction projects – over American-made goods, the State diminishes the American middle class with each purchase. The race to the bottom procurement policy encourages companies to ship American jobs overseas in the search for the cheapest labor possible.
If our state and local governments want jobs to be created in Manitowoc over Malaysia, then our state and local governments should prioritize purchasing goods and services from companies that perform the work in our country. When taxpayer dollars are invested back in our economy, wages are spent on Main Streets across the country.
The best way to grow our middle class is to create a demand for the products we make by encouraging a Patriotic economic cycle that fuels growth and prosperity in this country.
Make a difference on your own after encouraging the legislature to take up and pass the Made in America Act. Make your Thanksgiving Day Dinner union-made in America! Find Thanksgiving staples that are made right here in the USA by union brothers and sisters at: https://aflcio.org/thanksgiving
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