Remember When Scott Walker's Reforms Were Going to Deliver a Booming Economy?

Submitted by Mary Bottari

A story in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Poverty across Wisconsin reaches highest level in 30 years, caught our eye. It details a new study showing that poverty is growing rapidly in almost half the counties in the state.

"Poverty in Wisconsin hit its highest level in 30 years during the five-year period ending in 2014, even as the nation's economy was recovering from the Great Recession, according to a trend analysis of U.S. census data just released by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers. The number of Wisconsin residents living in poverty averaged 13% across that post-recession time frame--the highest since 1984, according to the analysis by UW-Madison's Applied Population Laboratory. In 1984, the poverty rate peaked at 15.5% as the nation was recovering from a double-dip recession," writes Karen Herzog for the state's largest newspaper.