As the state of Wisconsin axed jobs and closed service centers amid a fiscal crisis during the past four years, state departments, universities and colleges kept an extensive list of public relations employees, who provide information to the media and state residents.
Annual salaries and benefits for public relations and public information positions in state agencies, the University of Wisconsin System and the Wisconsin Technical College System came to more than $12 million for 208 people as of Dec. 1, 2004, the date of a Capital Times survey.