State agency spends $60,000 on iPads for all staffers
Gov. Scott Walker's message has been clear.
"Wisconsin is broke, and it's time to start paying our bills today so our kids are not stuck with even bigger bills tomorrow," Walker said earlier this year.
But one state agency may not have gotten the message.
The newly created Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. has dropped a little more than $43,000 to buy 73 iPads for everyone on the staff. The agency, formerly the state Department of Commerce, currently has 63 employees but is in the middle of filling other positions.
Toss in the activation fees and the monthly cost for 3G service for 35 of the iPads, and the cost rises to just about $60,000 for the year.
Tom Thieding, spokesman for the new agency, said the iPads were cheaper than buying everyone a laptop.
"There was a need for a technology upgrade," Thieding said. "The old Department of Commerce - it was just lumbering along."
Though the Economic Development Corp. is a private-public hybrid, Thieding confirmed that iPads were purchased with state dollars.
The only staffers who won't get an iPad, he said, would be limited-term and temporary employees.
Original Story posted here: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/131336349.html
"Wisconsin is broke, and it's time to start paying our bills today so our kids are not stuck with even bigger bills tomorrow," Walker said earlier this year.
But one state agency may not have gotten the message.
The newly created Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. has dropped a little more than $43,000 to buy 73 iPads for everyone on the staff. The agency, formerly the state Department of Commerce, currently has 63 employees but is in the middle of filling other positions.
Toss in the activation fees and the monthly cost for 3G service for 35 of the iPads, and the cost rises to just about $60,000 for the year.
Tom Thieding, spokesman for the new agency, said the iPads were cheaper than buying everyone a laptop.
"There was a need for a technology upgrade," Thieding said. "The old Department of Commerce - it was just lumbering along."
Though the Economic Development Corp. is a private-public hybrid, Thieding confirmed that iPads were purchased with state dollars.
The only staffers who won't get an iPad, he said, would be limited-term and temporary employees.
Original Story posted here: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/131336349.html
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